Sailing at San Francisco : Lewis Is a Race Short as Randy Smyth Wins

SAN FRANCISCO —  Cam Lewis said he had the feeling all week that “somebody’s looking over my shoulder,” but Sunday the specter of Tom Blackaller must have been kicking him in the backside.

“I can’t fill Tom’s sea boots, but Tom’s a competitive guy,” Lewis said. “I think he’d be proud of us for what we did.”

If it wasn’t quite enough to prevent Randy Smyth of Huntington Beach from winning his second Salem ProSail championship for 40-foot catamarans, few could fault Lewis and his six-man crew for their effort. He had moved from bowman to inherit the tiller from Blackaller, who died of a heart attack while practicing for a sports car race at Sears Point 11 days ago.

By winning two of the three previous ProSail events, Blackaller had led Smyth by one point coming to San Francisco, and after three races Friday and two Saturday, Lewis started the final round Sunday trailing Smyth in the regatta, five points to 10 3/4.

“This isn’t over yet,” Lewis warned.

Lewis, 32, of Newport, R.I., steered the boat around a three-mile course in San Francisco Bay to three victories in the first four of five races Sunday and, for a time, seemed within reach of a dramatic victory.

What neither sailor knew was that Lewis had run out of races. He needed to beat Smyth in two more, but organizers had planned only one, and Smyth won that with a remarkable comeback.

Smyth, a 1984 Olympic silver medalist, was feeling the pressure when he jumped the starting gun in the final race and had to perform a 360-degree turn in the uncharacteristically light Bay winds.

But then he started picking off the five-boat fleet one by one and streaked past the finish line between Pier 39 and Alcatraz nearly a minute in front.

Smyth, 35, wound up the winner, 13 1/2 to 17. Overall in the four-event series, Smyth broke the 2-2 tie by beating Blackaller/Lewis head to head, 19-16.

For the series, Smyth won a total of $100,000, including $26,000 for the overall title. Blackaller/Lewis won $88,000.

Besides the usual strong and tricky Bay currents, the competitors had to contend with shifting winds and rain. They started the first two races eastward toward Oakland, and when the wind turned they switched the course toward the Golden Gate Bridge.

Lewis called it “one of those weird San Francisco days. These races may take only five or 10 minutes, but it’s a lot more grueling than 12-meter racing because you’re pushing every second.”

Smyth said: “What Cam didn’t realize is that it just wasn’t the loss of one person on board but two. With Cam in the back of the boat, they also lost the best foredeck guy they had.”

Olympic sailor Pete Melvin of Seal Beach, with Steve Rosenberg of Long Beach as crew, had a victory and two seconds Sunday to claim the Hobie 21 title among 21 boats and win $21,300.