Monday, July 27, 1998

Big Apple,
Cash Flow enjoy
smooth sailing

Both sweep all four races
in their divisions in the Asahi
Super Cup yachting competition

By Al Chase
Star-Bulletin

Hideaki Shimakura has been sailing competitively for just three years. The majority of his sailing knowledge is from experience gained in sailing the waters around Japan.

There have been two exceptions -- both in the waters off Waikiki while competing in the Asahi Super Cup.

Shimakura said this year's trip was more enjoyable and beneficial from a yachting standpoint for him and his Team Maze teammates than the first event a year ago.

"Last year the winds were very calm and we didn't really get to experience sailing in Hawaii," Shimakura said. "This year we had a big wind, maybe 25 to 30 knots, and we had a very good time. It was possible for us to enjoy Hawaii's waters."

Team Maze sailed on the 36-foot PH-1 Class boat Quicksilver owned by Douglas Correa and chartered for the competition.

Overall, Team Maze finished sixth in the PH-1 Class. Shimakura was hoping for a fifth-place finish.

Shimakura and his crew got in a day of practice Friday, then finished fifth and sixth (out of eight boats in the class) in Saturday's two races.

Yesterday, they dropped to eighth in the first race, but had much better success in the second race, finishing third.

As the two-day event progressed, Shimakura, 28, said he began to better understand the winds.

"I could sense where the wind was going to come from and when it would change," he said.

Each local yacht that was chartered had at least one crew member who knows the Hawaii waters.

Yesterday, Eric Anderson was aboard the Quicksilver to act as an advisor.

"I don't speak any Japanese so there was a lot of sign language with orders being relayed in Japanese," Anderson said.

"They had a borrowed jib (boom) and not everything was in perfect alignment, otherwise, they did a pretty good job out there."

Shimakura said he plans to return for next year's races.

In the IMS Class, which debuted this year, Big Apple, owned and skippered by Hideo Matsuda of Japan, finished first in all four races.

In the J-24 Class, Cash Flow, owned by Robert Ale and skippered by Fuzz Foster, also won all four races.

Stinger, Poupee and Addiction all finished with 16 points in the PH-2 Class. Stinger won the tiebreaker.

Desperado, owned and skippered by Skip Winterbottom, repeated as winner in the PH-1 Class in a close battle with Urban Renewal, owned and skippered by Les Vasconcellos. Desperado finished with five points. Urban Renewal had seven.

Five Japanese crews and one local and mixed crew from the Asahi Super Cup will compete in the Kenwood Cup, which starts Aug. 3.