Hat-trick man Hess steals the show
the 1992 Comet International Championship, fending off challenges from local favourites Stevie Dickinson, Rudy Bailey and Malcolm Smith.
Hess, the winner in 1981 and 1990, followed a second place finish in the first race with a win the next time out to surge into top spot and add his name added to the list of three-time winners along with Phillip Somervell, Howard Lippincott and John MacCausland.
Hess totaled 123 points in beating Dickinson, who managed 151 . Bailey (153 ) followed in third with Smith (163 ) and Jamie Hilton (19) rounding out the top five.
"It took a lot of things to win this championship,'' said Hess. "It took a good boat, good teamwork, and some luck along the way.'' Indeed Hess was fortunate in that others vying for the title seemed to disregard him which allowed him to sneak up and overhaul them.
"Mark Hess went out there and most of us forgot all about him,'' said Rudy Bailey, the leader entering the day. "He ended up with two good finishes and stole the whole thing from us.'' "We were thinking of Stevie (Dickinson), Malcolm (Smith) and myself because we were all within two points of one another. It was one of those oversights I guess.'' The first race saw Dickinson assume his usual position at the head of the fleet and hold it for the first three legs before another Bermudian, Howard Lee, decided to enter the equation. Several tacking duels ensued with Lee coming out ahead when it counted...at the end. Dickinson faded to third as that man Hess, who had sailed with remarkable consistency throughout the regatta, clinched second.
Bailey was a disappointing seventh while hero of the first day Smith also had a disappointing effort, trudging in at number 11. Defending champion Jamie Hilton wound up fourth.
The scene was now set for a thrilling final race and from the outset Malcolm Smith staked his claim, leading around the first two markers under heavy pressure from Hess, Dickinson, Bailey and another former champion Mark Beaton.
By the second windward mark Hess had assumed a comfortable lead, but on the final leg Smith took a gamble that almost paid off as he went all the way to the shoreline and got a good lift only to have Hess nip him over the line by a boat length.
Hess and crew Ann Filbert had high praise for the way the regatta had been organised and vowed to return.
"The facility and the level of interest people have is nothing that we're used to,'' said Filbert, Hess' partner the past four years. "This is better than any regatta I've ever attended. People really care about sailing here...I mean this whole country is interested in sailing or at least knows somebody who sails.'' "We pulled it off'' were the words of a relieved race committee chairman Jamie Harvey in relation to helping organise the event, held in local waters for the first time. Harvey, together with several others, including business partner Raymond Lambert, Colin Clarke, Howard Simmons and Gladwin Lambert were largely responsible for the event coming to Bermuda.
"I feel it was quite successful with a good six races and decent conditions for all except one when there was very little wind...and even then there was plenty of excitement,'' said Harvey. "This regatta has been the best thing for Comets which have not been very active in recent months and hopefully this regatta will rejuvenate interest.
"The response from sailors both local and foreign has been that they were pleased with the courses which were quite challenging and they look to doing this again in Bermuda. Overall it's been a lot of work, but it's been fun.'' Organisers are now gearing up for Saturday's Comet invitational Championship Regatta expected to attract Bermuda's best sailors in other classes.
TOP TRIO -- Champion Mark Hess (rear) follows Stevie Dickinson (front) and Rudy Bailey through the water. He was in front, however, at day's end.