Kafka Dominates Seventh Round
The seventh night of the 2008 Cabrinha Race Series belonged to Cabrinha’s Jeff Kafka. Four races were run in winds of 28-33 in some of the largest swell/chop to date. Just prior to the race, a “Red and White†had bow spray go over its bow on its way towards the gate. Most of the riders (43) were on 9s with a few 7, and 10s. More riders would have opted for their 7s but were fearful of a 6:00pm wind fade…didn’t happen.
Kafka (Cabrinha) was first for the night with 7 pts( 1,1,4,1) and was fouled (tangled with another rider) in the third race. Frank Wittke (Fone) was second with 15 pts. (4,4,3,4) followed by Chip Wasson (Ozone) with 19 pts. (2,5,7,5).
In the first race, the port start was definitely favored, as it was the entire evening. At the windward mark it was Chavez (Naish), Chip, Due (Cabrinha) and Kafka. Anthony fell and Due overtook Chavez and Chip and was first around the leeward mark. At the finish it was Kafka, followed by Chip, Anthony and Wittke. Due fell to fifth as he mis-judged the lay line and took 3 tries to cross the finish.
The second race was similar to the first only this time it was Kafka and Anthony first to the windward mark. Anthony fell again, Wittke fell with Due taking the opportunity to pass them both. Kafka led wire to wire winning by one of the biggest margins to date. Due learned from the first race and finished second ahead of Chavez and Wittke.
The third race gave us a new leader at the windward mark...Geoff Headington (SS). He was followed by John Gomes (Cabrinha) Anthony, and Wittke. Kafka was eighth around the mark. Turns out Eric Due tangled with Kafka…Due volunteered to take a 20% penalty back at the yacht club. Although Headington fell, he maintained his lead at the leeward mark and all the way to the finish. He was followed by Anthony, Wittke with Kafka climbing back to fourth.
Strange circumstances surrounded the fourth race of the evening. In fact, because of the strong winds a fifth race was even planned by the race committee, but cancelled because of the strange doings. Somehow, someone thought racing had concluded after the third race and headed back to the beach. Like a heard of lemmings, a little over half of the fleet followed to the beach, even though the flag on the committee boat remained flying. The starting sequence began with the beached riders remaining on the beach. At the windward mark, it was once again Kafka, followed by Headington, and Rob Kindt. (instructor for WOW kite school). Headington again fell and was passed by Kindt, so at the leeward mark, it was Kafka, Kindt, Headington, Wittke and Chip. At the finish it was Kafka, with Headington overtaking Kindt to finish second.
The wind is looking good, about 20, for tonight’s eighth round of racing. The leaders at the half way point of the Cabrinha Series are Chavez by 3 points over Kafka, followed by ShawnRichman (WainmanHawaii), Eric Due (Cabrinha), Jeff Headington (SS), Chip Wasson (Ozone), John Gomes (Cabrinha) and Frank Wittke (Fone).
Following tonight’s racing, awards for the first “mini seriesâ€(first five nights of racing) will be presented along with a free raffle for the riders at the yacht club
The Cabrinha Race Series is sponsored byf Cabrinha, Ozonetravel, Adventure Sports Miami, and hosted by the St. Francis Yacht Club.
