2011 National Championships

2011 Mercury National Championships 

Sponsored by The Monterey Peninsula YC

Monterey in August can be cool with a high fog or overcast compared to the warmer parts of the country. This climate tends to keep the breeze down and the sun hidden. Nineteen Mercs entered the regatta including Merc No. 1. It's owner, Chris Bunn, enters the Merc when the big show comes to Monterey.

Race one was a double, twice around, sausage finishing on the wind with a gate at the leeward mark. Due to the light winds and the length of the course the course was shortened after the first lap. Pat and Brendan Bradley got off to a great start, covered all, taking the shifts up the windward leg. They won the race easily. Second were John Hansen and Tony Basso, holding off third place Mac Kilpatrick and Jim Taylor. Mark and Liz Chandler, in their first race in their newly purchased Merc, placed fourth ahead of Bill and Katy Worden.

The breeze was 6-8 knots most of the day with a shear down the middle of the course. Sailing farther out on the bay or closer into shore resulted in two different wind directions. Race two saw that exact type of condition. Kilpatrick chose to stay off shore and won the race unchallenged. The rest of the top group chose the shore and had quite a race on the double sausage twice around with a downwind finish. The leeward mark was the starting pin. Jack McAleer and Eddie Schaup led this group finishing second. Pax Davis and Aaron Lee fended off the tight group for third.Very close in fourth place was Brad Bergeron and Jim Kennard. Half a boat length behind Bergeron was Chris Messano and Doug Baird.

Race three was more of the same conditions and the Mercs sailing in shore were big winners. The course was a twice around finishing on the wind with a gate to leeward. The course was shortened at the weather mark after the second weather leg with the first four Mercs finished within a minute. McAleer took the lead on the run followed by close challenge by Randy and Kathryn Smith on the final beat. While  Chandler and Davis werw closing up the shore Smith tacked away from McAleer to cover Chandler. However a big shift came in and lifted McAleer to the finish. Barely beating Smith who had Chandler overlapped under him, McAleer was first, Smith second, Chandler third and Davis fourth. Worden, who had been in the hunt until halfway up the last leg, finished fifth.

Going into day two, McAleer was leading with Chandler leading the Silver group and the Jack and Jill Trophy.

Day two was different. The sun peaked out, breeze was stable with no chop. Race four was a twice around sausage with a leeward gate and upwind finish.  WIth a nice 6-8 knot breeze at the start, Bradley got off fast along with Smith and Hansen. The leg downwind presented some holes in the breeze and this changed the order of the fleet. The next leg pretty much defined the finish. Smith won, followed by Hansen, Bradley, Bergeron and Chandler.

For race five the breeze was 10-12 knots from the same direction. Messano took off at the start and was never headed on thethree lap sausage course. In pursuit every inch of the way was Bradley. Kilpatrick had his work cut out as he held off Hansen and Worden. Messano won, Bradley was second, Kilpatrick third, Hansen fourth and Worden fifth.

Pat Bradley wins his seventh National Championship, his first in 1966. The Chandlers in their first Merc Nationals placed fifth, won the Silver Fleet and won the Jack and Jill Trophy.

MCYRA Vice President Eric Conn presided over the awards ceremony. He opened by commenting that this was a family class. This year nine of the nineteen Merc's skippers and crew were family including: father-daughter, father-son, father in law-daughter in law, husband and wife and brothers. He thanked MCYRA President Hal McCormack and wife Anne for planning the event.

The Race Committee got a nice hand. Those mentioned were PRO Jerry Stratton, Garth Hobson, Brad Naegle, Art Sutton, Dave Broch, Donna Womble, Dave Blaskovich, Andrew Arolla, Randy Frye and Eric Andersen. Kit Ruck and Joe Hedley handle the scoring.Thanks to Patti and Jim Womble with their power boat TOOT patroling the course and helping Barbara Worden take pictures. The Monterey YC was an excellent regatta host with Dick Clark setting up the event.

This was a CLEAN REGATTA, organized by Liz Chandler, to clean up and preserve the Oceans. Liz also sold water bottles and regatta shirts. She deserved the trophies she and Mark won.

 2011 National Championships Results

A History of the Mercury Class Yacht and the Mercury Class Yacht Racing Association

A practical boat for all weather sailing...at a moderate price is just as true today as it was in the early 1940’s when Ernest Nunes was advertising his new Mercury design in Sausalito, California. Designed for the rugged conditions of San Francisco Bay in summer, the Mercury proved to be equally at home in the very light air of Carmel. As a result of this versatility, the Mercury is found up and down the Pacific Coast from San Diego to Seattle including several lakes and rivers. The popularity of the class in part stems from the original Nunes idea that the boat should be simple in design so that anyone could build one. In fact, the original Mercury could be purchased as a plywood kit for home assembly, partially assembled waiting to be finished, or complete and ready to sail. To this day plans are available from the Association for the home builder. After twenty years of plywood only construction, the MCYRA made the bold decision to authorize the building of fiberglass Mercuries by a franchised boat builder. The idea while controversial at the time, proved a boost to the class. Not only was the Mercury now low maintenance with major repairs completed with amazing ease, the boats became relatively inexpensive and were uniformly well built. Another major step was taken in 1970 when the Association allowed the use of tubular aluminum spars. It was at this time point that the class evolved into the sophisticated realm of sailboat racing. Now, not only was the mast more controllable, it was stronger. The sail-making technology of other development classes was utilized making the Mercury even more popular with serious racing sailors. The advent of mechanical pushers in 1979 added to the new sophistication. Contrary to the trend in other classes, the Mercury Association has insisted that the boats be well built, durable and safe. As a result, with the advent of sealed bulkheads the seaworthy Mercury has become even safer. It is also not unusual to see wooden boats and the original fiberglass boats among the highest finishers in any regatta. The MCYRA has held its championship every year since 1947 rotating the hosting of the regatta among its nine member fleets in such varied locations as San Francisco Bay, Huntington Lake, Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, Monterey, Santa Cruz and Clearlake. A very active racing calendar that encourages travelling has created a circuit that has its own yearly champion and trophy — the Rosman Travel Trophy. The Mercury Class has been described as a great class to get started in and a better one to come home to. A large percentage of the association have been active participants for more than ten years. The boat attracts good sailors and the association attracts good people. It truly is a practical boat… Good Sailing!

Past Championship Skippers and Crews

 Past Silver Championships Skippers and Crews

Jack and Jill Championship Skippers and Crews