Tin Man Shows Heart, Sails to First Overall in 156-Yacht Regatta

Tim Lynch and his crew had plenty of reasons to scratch from Saturday’s third annual BMW Sailing Classic on San Diego Bay.

For starters, the spinnaker pole on their 30-foot aluminum yacht, Tin Man, broke several weeks ago. And Lynch was supposed to go to a wedding on Saturday.

But a replacement spinnaker pole arrived on Wednesday, was assembled on Thursday and the Tin Man won Saturday, ahead of 155 other yachts, with a corrected time of 2 hours 4 minutes 20 seconds.

“We had no expectations,” said Lynch, 36, who has been sailing for 30 years. “All I wanted to do was get to the wedding.”

Lynch missed it but arrived in time for the reception--after collecting a first-place trophy and an expenses-paid trip to San Francisco. His crew will also be the guests of the New Zealand team for a ride on their America’s Cup boat.

Cadenza, skippered by Carl Eichenlaub, was second in 2:06:52, and Crackerjack, captained by Dave Neal, was third in 2:09:29.

The 156 yachts--the largest local regatta of the year--lined up in eight different classes, with approximately 20 boats in a class and each group starting about five minutes apart. The race, which covered a 10-mile course from Harbor Island to Shelter Island, was scored under the arbitrary handicap system.

Things got off to a slow start because of light winds. But it was the start that was the key for Lynch and crew.

“We had a perfect first eight minutes,” Lynch said. “And it’s a perfect crew to work with. I just sit in the back and smile a lot.”

Tin Man started well as a result of positioning and picking up good speed off the starting line. Lynch called to go to the right side because of the wind, and when the yacht got into position, it caught a strong wind and current.

Once in position, the crew took advantage of the wind, which became increasingly strong as the race progressed. In the beginning, it favored the port side, but by the end it was favoring the starboard. The Tin Man crew cut back across the course twice, and came out on top.

“He’s a tremendous sailor,” Tin Man crew member Brian Dunn said of Lynch. “He called everything himself, and he kept his head in the boat and drove as well. Usually skippers don’t call the race, call the sails and drive the boat, but he did it all.”

Along with Lynch and Dunn, other Tin Man crew members are Peter Mirrasoul, Rex Riley, Scott Henderson and Al Pleskus.

The same crew took second in last year’s BMW Sailing Classic, with Pleskus skippering the Zipper.

Eichenlaub’s Cadenza, which received the award for being the first boat across the line, was the second-place finisher.