Inside the KGB
When Senet Bischoff, who grew up in Miami’s Coral Reef Yacht Club, decided he wanted to buy a racing sailboat with his friend Ben Kinney, they didn’t have to look far to find a competitive class. Senet and Ben, who team race together in NYC, wanted to find a boat they felt was “the most competitive keelboat with a spinnaker.” With their third partner, Colin Gordon, they decided on an Etchells and named it KGB (the initials of their last names). They’ve been campaigning the Etchells in Miami and New England since 2007.
A full time attorney, Senet is no slouch when it comes to sailing. He was a two-time all American at Tufts, college sailor of the year, and a winning team racer with Kinney. Their home base is now NYYC.
The Etchells gives the team the chance to “play with the best in the sport, and race against a lot of our old friends,” Bishoff said. “The openness of Dave Ullman, Jud Smith, Jeff Madrigalli and Eammon Delisser helps with figuring out how to make the boat go fast. “And finally,” Bischoff said, “we don’t have to bend over and hurt our backs to hike.”
In 2008, KGB finished her first Jag event in 42nd place – and have continued to improve ever since. For this Jag Season, Kinney was out for the last two regattas to have a child, so Bischoff raced with a different crew. Jay Kehoe, a past coach for their team, was aboard along with Olympic team member Stu McNay.
The conditions in the Mid-Winters tested the mettle of the most versatile sailor. Bischoff says “we saw every possible velocity” over the three-day event, from a shifty 3-7 knots up to 18 knots on Saturday afternoon. “There were a lot of competitors just hanging on,” according to coach Larry Suter. In that race, Peter Duncan, sailing with Jud Smith and Tom Blackwell, thrived in the pressure. They soundly won the race, and ultimately, the regatta.
The tuning on KGB was a whole new ball-game for the seasoned crew – very different from team and dinghy racing. Sail selection was as critical as tactics and strategy in the wildly variable conditions on the racecourse, and they progressively improved over the weekend – ultimately finishing in 15th place – 5th overall for the Jaguar series.
Next up for the KGB team are the Etchells Nationals in Miami, followed by a circuit of five regattas, including the North Americans in Newport.