Trey Sheehan, Hooligan: Flat Stanley Racing

What a fun season! What a great group of people in this fleet!  What a terrific boat to sail! The final T-10 regatta of the year, the 2019 North American Championship, proved to be a fabulous week for the Hooligan family.  We were blessed with perfect conditions a well prepared boat and crew, a fabulously planned and executed regatta by the Mentor Harbor folks.  Above all, we also received our fair share of lucky breaks.  

History

A little history might be helpful.  Chuck Simon, Terry McSweeney and I bought the Black Boat (Hull 376) in 2012 we named Hooligan for the season.  The three of us spent years with Bill Buckles and the rest of the team racing Liquor Box successfully all over the country.  Liquor Box and its’ blender became synonymous with Lake Erie racing and pushed us to new levels of Class and PHRF racing. When Chuck decided to focus more time in Key West and travel the boat was sold and now sits in Winnipeg.  Shortly after Terry and I made the jump into the Melges32 Flat Stanley and still enjoy sailing that boat. 

Trey Sheehan and Hooligan Racing have won the 2019 T-10 North American Championship in commanding fashion with 27 points over 10 races! Second place Greg Kinney and Nick Ward on Proper Villain moved up to second place on the final day with a 3rd and 1st to finish with 44 points. Scott Irwin and Team I-Ball rounded out the podium with 48 points. Hanson Bratton and TAZ finished strong with two 2nd place finishes on the final day to move into 4th place with 57 points and Brian Kaczor and Erica finished out the top 5 with 61 points. Congratulations to all the racers!

T-10 NAC Day 3 - Hooligan Racing dominates the day with 3 bullets and seven points separates 2nd from 4th. And look out for TAZ who moved up aggressively in the fleet with a 3-2-2 for the day.

Update from James Keane on Nuts:
Day 3 of T-Ten NA’s featured perfect conditions of 12-17 knots and 2-4 foot seas. Race management was excellent yet again and we were able to get three great races off in quick succession. Tight racing once again led to some hairy weather marks, especially so for anyone coming in from the left side. Hooligan went 1-1-1, out hiking the fleet and leaving the rest of us as mere witnesses.

Day 2 Update courtesy of James Keane

Race Four began with a T-Ten class rule abandonment due to a sustained 30 degree shift, with Liquor Box being among the unfortunate leaders at the time. With the wind filling in from the west at 12-15, the restart saw even speed across the course with nearly all competitors trying for the same spot at the weather mark. Team I-Ball and Proper Villain fought it out for 1-2 with somewhat aggressive play on the final downwind.

Race 5 had similar conditions with Troll and Bear benefitting from a right shift on the first leg. Hooligan and I-Ball outworked the competition, playing the shifts up the second beat to find their way into the top 3.