the PMG CanAm CL16 Regatta Hilton Beach, August 12-13, 2006 Sault Star report by Donna Schell

Sailing away with wins By Donna Schell Special to The Star HILTON BEACH Leading with four straight victories and going into the fifth and final race of the Third Annual PMG CanAm CL-16 Regatta, Al Schonborn and crewman Marc Bennett found themselves in a tight race Sunday. Schonborn trailed the leading team of Jim and Alice Hill going into the final leg of the race. But midway to the finish line, the intensity grew and the separation narrowed. Schonborn crossed the finish line seconds ahead of Hill, giving Schonborn and Bennett their fifth straight win of this year's event. "We had a good variety of winds," Schonborn said in an interview following the race. "The competition was keen but friendly and it was joy to sail with everyone here." Schonborn was trailing the Hills until the last five seconds of the fifth race. "Then we got lucky," Schonborn said." Jim fell in his boat just long enough so that we got nip past him. I hated to see it happen to Jim and Alice. They deserved a better finish." Schonborn, of Oakville, Ont., is no stranger to sailing small boats, competing in various classes throughout the summer. He said he and Bennett came to Hilton Beach to have fun and they did. Prior to race day, the duo was asked to coach area sailors, sharing various technical moves and tips, such as the roll-tack, setting the sails and other strategies. "We saw some of the guys using some of the tips during the races that we had learned from others," Schonborn said. The Hills said they felt certain they gave the winners a noble challenge. "It was a fun race . . . a good regatta," said Alice Hill, who along with husband Jim, of Sault Ste. Marie, finished fourth overall and second behind Schonborn in the final race. "We gave Al a run for his money at the end." Alice said there was a glitch in one of their tacks, adding the pair did manage to beat Schonborn in one leg of one race. "That was a real victory for us because we never thought we'd catch the man," she said. Schonborn and Bennett, of Toronto, were among 18 entries to take part in the weekend event. The regatta attracted skippers and crews from across Canada and the United States, competing in five races over two days with a total purse of $7,500. "We had a very successful event," said Mason Phelps of PMG Media Group International, following the race. "In our third year, we can keep building on the event now that we have an inner structure of people who know how it all works." Given this desire to expand, Phelps said the event will be able to reach out to a more international community to possibly sanction these races. "We have gone through three good years of learning and now it's time to get real serious," Phelps said, adding the weather has not failed organizers and participants over the past three years. "We could have used a bit more wind Saturday and Sunday mornings, but that was beyond our control." Phelps said the first race of the regatta was within one minute and 30 seconds of being restarted due to lack of wind. Originally scheduled to be six legs long, the race was shortened to two legs when winds became too weak. Breezes picked up significantly for races two and three, with the pace between marks, set at .6 kilometres apart, hastened to about 20 minutes per leg rather than the 60 minutes seen in race one. Schonborn and Bennett walked away with the Al Gawthrop Jr. Memorial Award (winner of the fourth race), the Peach Taylor Memorial Award (winner of the second race) and the Hilton Beach Cup (first overall). Second place overall went to Kipp and Anne Sylvester, of New York City, with third going to Kirk Iredale and Mike Codd, of Toronto. "The first race of the regatta Saturday was a little slow . . . not much wind. But the conditions (at the end of the race) were ideal and a great way to finish the regatta and the five races," said Al Gawthrop III in an interview following the race. (There was) "great competition with a lot of out-of-towners. It was a 50-50 split of out-of-towners and members of the host club, the North Shore Yacht Club, of Desbarats." Gawthrop, of Centennial, Colo., is stepson of golf legend Arnold Palmer, whose visits to the North Channel last week created a buzz in the community. Gawthrop, who owns a camp off Gawas Bay, said Palmer never visited the area before. Gawthrop's mother, Kit Palmer, who was on hand to watch her son race, urged her husband to visit and he did. The golfer was on hand to watch the NCYC race Wednesday, leaving Thursday. Gawthrop said Palmer didn't dig out the irons during his stay and wasn't seen at St. Joseph Islands only golf course, Island Springs. He (Arnold) had a tour of the area, saw it was beautiful, saw the race, but he mostly relaxed . . . family time, Kit said. Phelps said the legendary golfer did interact with some skippers and crew following Wednesdays race. Palmer planned to extend his stay into the weekend, but business commitments forced his departure. Gawthrop presented a newly introduced award, named in memory of his father, Al Gawthrop Jr., who died a few years ago. "It was a very exciting moment for my family," Gawthrop said. ...

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