Veteran Finn sailor Andrew Kern (left) leads fleet to windward mark on way to first place in Labor Day Regatta.

ABYC's annual Labor Day Regatta

Alamitos Bay Yacht Club Long Beach, Calif.

Sept. 2-3, 2006

Sept. 3, 2006
Labor Day glory for the young and old(er)
LONG BEACH, Calif.---Forget the price of gasoline when all some people need to fuel their ambitions is stiff competition and the brisk Long Beach sea breeze delivered for Alamitos Bay Yacht Club's annual Labor Day Regatta Saturday and Sunday.
Winners among 177 boats in 13 classes included local resident Andrew Kern, who has been sailing singlehanded Finns for 16 years, or since Nick Dugdale of San Francisco was born to sail a Laser Radial to first place in the largest fleet of 38 boats.
Then there was another local, Howard Hamlin, with Australian Euan McNicol as crew, to reprise their recent victory here in the International 14 Nationals in preparation for next week's I-14 Worlds on the same waters.
One might not think that Kern, 45, and Dugdale, whose 16th birthday was Saturday, share a similar dream, but both covet an amateur sailor's hope of sailing in the Olympics.
"I'm going to try again," Kern said, "but I have problems downwind I need to work on."
That wasn't apparent in his score line that showed four wins in seven races in southwest winds that started at about 9 knots and built to 15 both days.
Dugdale, who weighs only 130 pounds, isn't yet big enough to handle the full-rig Laser in such conditions but edged Chris Barnard of Newport Beach by one point on the strength of a second to his rival's third in the final race.
Kern and Hamlin sailed through deep swells and steep chop on the ocean course outside the breakwater while the Lasers played inside the outer harbor with Cal 20s, Coronado 15s and Thistles. Six age and skill groups of Naples Sabots shared the protected waters of Alamitos Bay.
Dugdale said, "I didn't think I was going to pull it off. I had a disappointing [Youth] Worlds at Marina del Rey a few weeks ago, but this is the biggest thing I've won."
Eventually he hopes to sail the Olympics in a 470 dinghy, a class where smaller sailors enjoy an advantage.
Another youngster, Bob Falk of Long Beach, graduated reluctantly from the Laser Radial class into the full-rig version this weekend and found himself a winner by a point over veteran Vann Wilson. It was Wilson who talked him into it.
"I have to thank Vann," Falk said. "I didn't think I was big enough at 145 pounds."
Hamlin has no Olympic ambitions. The boats he sails, including the I-14, aren't Olympic classes, but at 53 he's sailing them collectively better than anyone in the world. A week earlier he had won the 18' Skiff International Regatta in San Francisco for the second consecutive year, following wins this summer in the I-14 Nationals and the European 18s and a second in the 505 Worlds in Great Britain. But that won't make him overconfident for the I-14 Worlds because not all of the elite were in the 22-boat fleet this weekend.
"A lot more are going to show up," Hamlin said. "We're pretty good in all-round conditions like we had this weekend, but we suffer in heavy stuff. Trevor and Tina Baylis [of Santa Cruz, second in the Nationals] weren't here, and Shark and Paul have 15 or 20 pounds on us when the wind blows hard, so you can't look at this too much."
Shark is 17-year-old Samuel Kahn of Soquel, Calif. and Paul is his crew Paul Allen---for the past two weeks Hamlin's strongest rivals in the 18s and 14s, at least until Kahn fell off the boat---a common occurrence in the class---and failed to finish two of Sunday's four races aside from two firsts and three seconds overall.
Class winners:
CAL 20 (19 boats)---Chuck Clay, ABYC, 2-(8)-2-1-3-5-2-2, 17 points.
CORONADO 15 (5)---Daniel Gilboa, ABYC, 1-(3)-1-2-2-1-2, 9.
THISTLE (5)---Ron Smith, Fremont Sailing Club, 1-1-1-1-1-1-(2)-1, 7.
SENIOR SABOT (10)----Lee Berlinger, ABYC, (7)-2-1-1-1-1. 6.
FINN (22)---Andrew Kern, Long Beach, (7)-1-1-3-2-1-1, 9.
INTERNATIONAL 14 (22)---Howard Hamlin, ABYC/Euan McNicol, Australia, 1-2-1-1-2-1-(DNF), 8.
LASER (20)---Bob Falk, ABYC, 1-1-(8)-3-1-1-3-4, 14.
LASER RADIAL (38)---Nick Dugdale, St. Francis YC, San Francisco, 2-6-1-6-3-2-(8)-2, 22.
SABOT A (10)---J.P. Barnes, San Diego YC, 1-1-1-2-1-(3), 7.
SABOT B (6)---Ginger Luckey, ABYC, (2)-2-1-1-1-2, 7.
SABOT C (7)---Greer Wattson, Newport Harbor YC, (5)-2-1-2-3-1, 9.
SABOT C-2 (6)---Zack Downing, San Diego YC, 1-1-3-2-(4)-1, 8.
SABOT C-3 (7)---James Temple, ABYC, (2)-1-2-1-1-1, 6.
Complete results and more at www.abyc.org
Media information
Rich Roberts
(310) 835-2526
cell (310) 766-6547
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Hamlin and McNicol won the I-14 class.

I-14s crossing at top speed.

A wet and windy ride on an I-14.

Capsizing was a common occurrence.

A serious Sabot sailor wears his mascot.

Heeling helps downwind.

A senior moment at the leeward mark.
High-resolution photos available free to print media
I-14 Worlds information