Trophy for Great American : Crippled Trimaran Tops NY-SF Record

The crippled trimaran Great American sailed through the Golden Gate today, snapping a 3-month-old New York-to-San Francisco sailing record by three days after an exhausting 77-day, 14,500-mile voyage.

Latvian-born skipper Georgs Kolesnikovs, 46, of Niagara Falls, Canada, and crewman Steve Pettengill, 37, Newport, R.I., sailing slowly in light morning winds, received a raucous greeting from a fleet of boats which met the 60-foot, 12,000-pound vessel.

“We thought he was blown at the beginning,” said Commodore Mike Fortenbaugh of the Manhattan Yacht Club, which sponsored a trophy for the fastest trip. “When we were seeing him off in New York, his was the slowest start.”

“This is terrific,” he added. “Georgs sailed a perfect race.”

The Great American crossed the finish--an imaginary line between Alcatraz Island and Pier 39--at 10:46 a.m., an hour short of 77 days after departing New York for the arduous journey around Cape Horn. Kolesnikovs and Pettengill broke the 80-day, 20-hour record set Feb. 12 by Warren Luhrs’ sloop, Thursday’s Child.

At stake at the start of the challenges--the Great American is the last in a series of boats which have tried for the mark this year--was the 135-year-old record set by the American clipper, Flying Cloud, which took 89 days to complete the voyage in 1854.

Frenchman Philippe Monnet’s trimaran Elle et Vire missed Luhrs’ mark by nine hours after losing a week to repairs after a collision with an iceberg.

Also failing to better the mark was Anne Liardet, who made the run with fiance Joseph Le Guen aboard the 50-foot trimaran Finisterre Bregtane. She did become the first woman to complete a bid for the mark.

“The worst time came when they lost the headstay a week ago,” said Kolesnikovs’ father, Roman, 79. “He could have lost the mast and the boat, but everything is alright now. My son can do anything.”

In addition to battling uncooperative winds, the two sailors had to contend with a broken water maker, which converts salt water to fresh water, and damage to the cable that supports the Great American’s 75-foot mast. The cable broke loose from the deck on May 18, but Pettingill was able to rig a makeshift chain link between the deck and the cable.