Friday, July 24, 1998

Asahi Cup sets sail

By Al Chase
Star-Bulletin

Four races over a triangular course in the waters off Waikiki this weekend make up the Asahi Super Cup '98 sailing competition.

The event matches top boats and crew in Hawaii with visiting sailors interested in racing here. Honolulu's Skip Winterbottom, skippered his PH-1 class boat Desperado to the inaugural title last year.

Each race is scored individually with a handicap factor. Race officials take the elapsed time for each yacht and multiply it by the handicap factor (assigned to each yacht) to get the corrected time.

The yacht with the lowest corrected time is declared the winner in each fleet.

Race director Jon Stanley expects between 25 and 30 yachts to participate this year in four classes -- IMS, PH-1, PH-2 and J-24.

The handicap factor is used in all classes except the J-24 class. Boats in that class are identical.

The IMS is the featured class. "It's the big boys," said Stanley. "Those yachts can cost half a million dollars and up."

Most of the IMS entries will remain here for the Kenwood Cup that starts next weekend.

The local skippers not only charter their boats to the visiting competitors, but race with them.

"This regatta is for primarily for local yachtsman, but I know at least nine yachts have been chartered (from Hawaii owners) by visiting teams," Stanley said.

"We're trying to make this a grass roots regatta. We would like to have 80 boats entered by the year 2000."

There are two races tomorrow and two more Sunday. The first starts at 11 a.m. each day with the second beginning shortly after the last yacht in the first race crosses the finish line.

The triangular course includes one leg that is parallel to the Waikiki shoreline between the Diamond Head Lookout and Magic Island. A good spot to view the races is from the Diamond Head Lookout.