Hobie 17 National Championship : Alter Chooses the Right Course in Final Race : After Taking an Early Lead, He Holds Off Smyth by 25 Meters and Wins Title

The strategy of Hobie Cat racing says that the shortest distance between two points isn’t necessarily a straight line.

Hobie Alter Jr. of Capistrano Beach used that strategy Friday to defeat Huntington Beach’s Randy Smyth to win the Hobie 17 U.S. National Championships here.

Alter, who sailed right, reached the first mark of the final race in first place and went on to gain a victory that clinched the national championship. Smyth, the leader going into the final race, sailed left and reached the first mark in 15th place. He rallied strongly after that but still finished second by 25 meters.

“The left had been working best all week long,” Smyth said. “But, in the final race, it didn’t work out that way. That was the race right there.”

Smyth, a catamaran silver medalist at the 1984 Olympics, sailed past several boats in pursuit of Alter. However, he couldn’t quite catch him.

“Even though I had a big lead at the beginning, I knew I couldn’t count Randy out,” Alter said. “He’s such a great sailor, you always have to keep an eye out for him.”

Going into the final race, Smyth, who won Friday’s first of three races, held a 1-point lead over Alter. Alter, who finished second in the first two races of the championship round, needed to either win Friday’s final race or finish two boats ahead of Smyth to win the championship.

Said Alter: “It’s very hard to beat Randy by two boats, so I knew I’d have to go all out to win that last one.”

After taking the early lead, Alter slipped to second place behind Paul Tobie. As Smyth crept ever closer, Alter knew he had to pass Tobie to insure his victory. He accomplished this between the third and fourth marks and then held off Smyth’s charge to the finish line.

Alter and Smyth both finished the championship round with 6.25 points but Alter was awarded the championship because his worst race--which doesn’t count in the scoring--was better than Smyth’s. Alter threw out a third-place finish from Thursday while Smyth was forced to throw out a last-place finish in Friday’s second race.

In that race, Smyth started badly and was in 20th place when another boat took his right away. Smyth wanted to make an official protest but could not because he left the protest flag, which all sailors are required to carry with them, at home.

“That was just a bad race all the way around,” Smyth said. “As it turned out, it really didn’t matter.”

What hurt Smyth more was Alter’s choice of course to begin the final race. While Smyth was floundering with little wind, Alter found smooth sailing to the first marker.

“I got out to a good start and that’s what I wanted,” Alter said. “He put a lot of pressure on me at the end and I was getting a bit nervous. It’s a good thing I got started so quickly.”

Alter was especially pleased because this national championship for 17-foot boats was the first ever contested. Hobie 14 (for single sailors) and Hobie 16 and 18 (for doubles) championships have been contested since the sport started in the late 1960s.

Alter had already won national titles in the other three classes.

“I’m happy with this,” Alter said. “It’s fun to be able to get that first title, and it’s especially pleasing to have now won championships in all four classes.”