Timely Gust of Wind Blows British to Overall Title in Super Cup ’88

The British caught wind of one last gust at just the right time Saturday to sail away with Super Cup ’88.

Going into the fourth and final race of the first-time regatta for One Design 14s on San Diego Harbor, International 14s world champions Ian Tillet and James Hartley of England were tied for first in the overall standings with countrymen Bruce Grant and Will Henderson.

As the horn sounded to begin the finale, spectators patroling the shore watched as the top teams jockeyed for the lead. Canadians Jamie Kidd and Steve Wimmer, fourth going into the final, ripped away from the start and remained first for most of the eight-minute race.

Tillet and Hartley were holding steady in second ahead of Grant and Henderson and needed to stay there to clinch the overall championship. Victory had two criteria: beat Grant and Henderson, and don’t capsize.

New Zealand’s Chris Dickson, a former skipper in the challenger trials for the America’s Cup in 1986-87, and teammate Steve Rosenberg made a move at the reach mark, the second turn, to pull into second.

At the final turn, the leeward mark, Kidd and Wimmer remained first, still followed by Hartley and Tillet and Grant and Henderson.

“We knew we were pretty close,” Tillet said, “Will (Grant) decided to sail us away from the shore line. We knew if we could just stay inside of him, we could control him, stop his tacking and hold him on the downwind leg.”

They not only held off their compatriots; a burst of breeze sent Tillet and Hartley soaring past Kidd and Wimmer to win the race and the cup by three points over Grant and Henderson, who were fourth in the final. Dickson and Rosenburg were third overall, Kidd and Wimmer fourth.

The winning low score for Tillet and Hartley was eight points, with finish places converting directly to points (1 point for first).

“We had a little problem on that last mark,” Tillet said. “The wind shifted, but we got through it, that’s when it comes down to the time in the boat. (Experience) makes an enormous difference.”

That and confidence, which Tillet said he and Hartley were lacking after practice sessions Thursday and Friday--”We weren’t looking so good in practice races,” Hartley said--and Saturday’s first race, in which they were fourth.

A victory in the second race did wonders.

“Once we won one,” Tillet said, “we got the confidence we needed.”

Confidence that was bolstered by the wind. “The windier it gets, the more we like it,” Tillet said.

Hartley agreed: “When the breeze gets up, it puts a premium on boat handling. Chris Dickson’s a good sailor, but the breeze comes up, and the pressure’s on (him). The wind coming up really helped us . . . but a lot of it is the luck of the draw, practice and teamwork.”

For Grant and Henderson, the turning point came in the third race. They were second going into it, but were forced to make an extra turn while in the lead.

“That was crucial,” Grant said. “We had to go back to the mark and make the turn again.”

The English, who have to return to Great Britain and can’t stay for America’s Cup, said they would return for next year’s staging of this event.

“It’s an ideal setting,” Henderson said. “There’s a good steady wind here, 90-95% of the time, the wind is flowing in the same direction in San Diego.”

“This race is a challenge for everyone,” Tillet said.

The first race was the closest and most pleasing for the crowd on the shoreline of Embarcadero Marine Park in Seaport Village. Grant and Henderson crossed the finish line just seconds before Dickson and Rosenberg.