By Kathleen May

The Largest entry in the Annapolis to Newport Race will not make it to the starting line on Saturday June 16. The eighty - foot ILC maxie yacht Falcon 2000 that was chartered by Al Van Metre was dismasted during a test sail on the Chesapeake Bay Thursday June 14th off Annapolis Maryland. With so little time remaining before the race to replace the mast a withdrawal from the race was the only option. Falcon was the only maxie entered in the four hundred and seventy-three-mile biannual classic.

The Falcon 2000 was launched in 1997 designed by Nelson Marek and served as a training vessel for the Young America Syndicate for the New York Yacht clubs last Americas Cup campaign. The New York Yacht Club has been gradually selling off the assets of their last cup bid. The mast, built, installed and rigged by Southern Spars has already broken once before during the Antigua Race Week in the Caribbean.

Beau Van Metre who was organizing this campaign for his father Al explained what happened. "We were sailing slightly off the wind in smooth water with the number three genoa. We hadn't even loaded up the rig. We heard two pings then the mast suddenly exploded. I couldn't believe it." Luckily the yacht was on a starboard tack as the 115-foot mast made of carbon fiber fell to the leeward side of the boat. For nearly three hours the crew worked to cut away the massive mainsail and rigging to clear the mast from the side of the hull. So the mast would not put a hole into the hull of the yacht if the water got rough. After the rigging and mast were freed from the yacht, the Falcon's tenders floated the mast into Bert Jabin's boatyard located on Back Creek near Annapolis. The break occurred about four feet off the deck between the gooseneck and the boom.

Soon the realization set in of the seriousness of the situation with Beau Van Metre. Beau summed it up this way " This is really, really disappointing because my father and I had put a lot of time and trouble into getting this boat ready for this race." He went on to say " To have something so catastrophic happen at this stage is devastating".

Al Van Metre is considering buying the Falcon 2000 from the Young America Foundation. Sailing it in The Around Block Island Race that is no walk in the park with its strong winds and currents last month. The yacht was put through its paces. Falcon flew a masthead spinnaker and beat upwind in wind that at times reached thirty knots. It was following the race the crew noticed a small crack in the mast where the feeder goes into the main headboard. The boat's Captain Stuart proceeded to repair the crack to Southern Spars Specifications right after the yacht was delivered to Baltimore Maryland. The sail on Thursday was to test the repair that was made on the mast, to see if it could stand the heavy load of sail and wind. The Van Metres spoke with John Marshall of the Young America Foundation at length.

The Van Metres were looking forward to the Annapolis to Newport Race as a chance to see how the yacht stacked up against quality competition. The four hundred and seventy three mile race would have given them an excellent opportunity to do just that. Beau Van Metre stated "We were going to decide whether or not to buy the boat based heavily on how it did in this race". If they decide to buy the yacht the mast would be replaced. "I'm not an expert on these things, but it appears the mast was designed a little too light for the boat," Van Metre said. The Van Metre's were thankful that the team pushed so hard to complete the test of the repaired mast on Thursday. It could have been much worse had the mast come apart in the Annapolis to Newport Race.

Ironically they had just about decided to call off the test. Van Metre explains "We almost called off the test, which obviously would have been a big mistake. We probably would have dropped the rig during the prestart". Fortunately that will not happen.