Bissell Racing

This regatta is probably my greatest accomplishment in sailing so far.  I was tactician and maintrimmer and organized the entire crew.  A world class sailor Hamish Pepper (2006 Star World Champion and Americas Cup afterguard) was tactician on the boat that finished in 4th overall.  The article below was written by the owner and skipper of Team BOLD Nelson Stephenson.

TeamBOLD accumulated 7 Race wins for the series our of 9 races and added two 3rd place finishes in races 7 and 8, creating a picket fence with a gate! TeamBOLD had a score line of thirteen points for the Regatta. Turbo Duck came second for the week with 26 points and Black Seal (who sailed a very good regatta) was third overall with 32 points. Groovederci, who won the day on Friday with 3 points, came 4th overall with 40 points. Groovederci also was awarded boat of the day on Friday, a great honor for the Mumm 30 Class.

TeamBOLD was crowned the 2005 North American Champion at the awards ceremony, winning the “Irish” Cup, established in recognition of Dave Irish, one of the Founding Owners of the Mumm 30 Class and the first Mumm 30 Class President.

Back at our Team house, the traditional Magnum of Mumm Champagne was sprayed and consumed. Both Nelson and Brian Bissell were thrown into the pool, compliments of the very happy TeamBOLD crew.

To say that TeamBOLD had an amazing week is simple an understatement. KWRW-2006 was the stuff of dreams and capped 8 years of hard work. The Mumm 30 Class is highly competitive and some will say that our win looked easy. Each race win was hard fought and wins were created with quality crew work and good tactical decisions. This week TeamBOLD simply had it all going on and brought our “A” game which was good enough to do something very unusual, to dominate a Mumm 30 Regatta. We really enjoyed the racing in heavy air, the windiest KWRW on record and were able to maintain boat speed, height and control throughout the week. Higher and faster upwind and lower and faster downwind created our winning score line.

TeamBOLD has great respect for all of the Mumm 30 Owners and Crew that sailed so well at Key West Race Week. Whether the teams finished on the podium or simply completed the Regatta, as all Mumm 30 Teams did, they should all be proud of their effort and the seamanship they exhibited. They have all done our Class a great service by competing so well in the conditions we faced at Key West Race Week. Respect to All.

In addition to Owner/Helmsman Nelson Stephenson. TeamBOLD crew included Brian “the Missile” Bissell our tactician and mainsheet trimmer, Aaron Serinis on Jib Trim, Brian (”Woody”)Wood on Spinnaker Trim, Matt Schubert in the pit (and doing a great job all week with passing wind information from the rail) and long-time bowman Nate Frizzell handling his job with ease in very difficult conditions.