Yesterday's breeze of 10 to 15 knots from the southeast gave America's Cup veteran John Kolius the edge he needed to slip into first place in the 1992 Cadillac Columbus Cup regatta when the day's three flights in the double round-robin portion of the regatta were finished.
Kolius, who had handed Frenchman Bertrand Pace his second loss of the series on Wednesday, won all of his matches yesterday. Pace won his first match of the day over New Zealander Brad Butterworth in Flight 11, then sustained two more losses, to England's Chris Law in Flight 12 and Dawn Riley, the regatta's only female skipper, in Flight 13.
In all of yesterday's three flights, the skipper who won the start went on to win the race.
With a single final flight in the round-robin series set for today before the semifinal series begins this afternoon, Kolius, whose position in the regatta standings had been tenuous earlier in the series, has already qualified for a position in the semifinals with his score of 10-3, as has Pace, who led the standings until yesterday, with a series total of 9-4.
Five additional crews are in contention for the remaining two slots, including Annapolitan Gary Jobson, Robert Fry of the Nippon America's Cup Challenge, Butterworth, and Riley, tied for third at 6-7; and Law, in seventh at 5-8.
Tomorrow is the last day of racing for the regatta, when the final competition will be sailed between the the semifinalists..
Standings after Flight 13 John Kolius, U.S., 10-3; Bertrand Pace, France, 9-4; Gary Jobson, 6-7; Robert Fry, Japan, 6-7; Brad Butterworth, New Zealand, 6-7; Dawn Riley, US, 6-7; Chris Law, U.K., 5-8; Doug Kern, U.S., 4-9.
Flight 11 Pace def. Butterworth; Jobson def. Law; Riley def. Fry; Kolius def. Kern.
Flight 12 Kolius def. Fry; Law def. Pace; Kern def. Riley; Jobson def. Butterworth.
Flight 13 Fry def. Butterworth; Kern def. Law; Kolius def. Jobson; Riley def. Pace.
U.S. Sailboat Show facts and figures
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What: 23rd annual U.S. Sailboat Show
Where: City Dock & Harbor, Annapolis
When: Friday-Sunday, 10 a.m.-7 p.m.; Monday 10 a.m.-6 p.m.
Admission: Adults, $8; children 12 and under (including infants), $4. Shuttle buses provide transportation from parking at Navy-Marine Corps Stadium.
Information: (410) 268-8828.
Outlook: With 165 sailboats in the water and dozens more ashore, the show also features schooners Alexandria, Ocean Star, and Tree of Life, plus Providence, a reproduction of John Paul Jones' Continental sloop-of-war, and Fazisi, a Soviet entry in the 1989 Whitbread Round-The-World Race.