wooden ships & iron men   

Updated 11/17/2011

2011 WBC Report     

 2012 Status: pending 2012 GM commitment

George Deutsch, MD

2011 Champion

Links

 

Event History
1991    Jim Truit      23
1992    John Boisvert      29
1993    John Boisvert      36
1994    William Rohrbeck      28
1995    Larry York      21
1996    David Cross      16
1997    David Metzger      20
1998    Michael Brannaman      20
1999    Paul Risner       8
2000    David Cross     16
2001    Curtis Dietrich     26
2002    William Rohrbeck     23
2003    William Rohrbeck     27
2004    Arthur Davis     22
2005    William Rohrbeck     19
2006    William Rohrbeck     21
2007    William Rohrbeck     14
2008    Evan Hitchings     16
2009    Derek Whipple     19
2010    Tim Hitchings     25
2011    George Deutsch     20
 Laurels

Rank  Name              From  Last  Total
  1.  William Rohrbeck   NH    07    116
  2.  Tim Hitchings      DE    11     99
  3.  Evan Hitchings     DE    11     52
  4.  Keith Hunsinger    OH    07     50
  5.  Arthur Davis       MI    04     41
  6.  George Deutsch     MD    11     31
  7.  Derek Whipple      WA    10     28
  8.  Larry York         CA    02     20
  9.  Curtis Dietrich    FL    01     20
 10.  David Cross        NJ    06     18
 11.  Dale Long          NC    08     16
 12.  Ron Glass          FL    09     12
 13.  Wade Fowble        MD    03     12
 14.  Joseph Belyeu      AL    11     10
 15.  Rob Doane          MA    08     10
 16.  Paul Risner        FL    99     10
 17.  Benoit Groulx      qc    04      9
 18.  Mark McCandless    LA    03      9
 19.  Stephen Field      IL    02      9
 20.  Paul Owen          VA    11      8
 21.  Bill Thomson       TX    10      8
 22.  Isaac Clizbe       VA    10      6
 23.  Joe Pabis          VA    05      6
 24.  Kevin Boles        AL    04      6
 25.  Ed Majeski         IL    02      6
 26.  Mark Sciera        NY    09      4
 27.  Kathy Hitchings    DE    08      4
 28.  Verity Hitchings   DE    05      4
 29.  Michael Bergt      FL    03      3
 30.  Joseph Abrams      CT    00      3
 31.  Stuart Smart       NY    99      3
 32.  Robert McKinney    VA    11      2
 33.  Brian Wool         DE    09      2
 34.  Keira Herzfeld     DE    08      2
 35.  Stephen Shedden    TN    07      2
 36.  Joe Doughan        NJ    05      2
 37.  Jim Jordan         MD    04      2
 38.  Francis Czawlytko  MD    01      2

2011 Laurelists                                        Repeating Laurelists:

Evan Hitchings, DE
2nd

Paul Owen, VA
3rd

Joseph Belyeu, AL
4th

Tim Hitchings, DE
5th

Rob McKiney, VA
6th

Past Winners

William Rohrbeck, NH
1994, 2002-03, 2005-07

Larry York, CA
1995

David Cross, VA
1996, 2000

David Metzger, NY
1997

Michael Brannaman. SC
1998

Paul Risner, FL
1999

Curtis Dietrich, FL
2001

Arthur Davis, MI
2004

Evan Hitchings, DE
2008

Derek Whipple, WA
2009

Tim Hitchings, DE
2010

George Deutsch, MD
2011
     

Joseph Belyeu vs Paul Owen

Defending champ and GM Tim Hitchings vs Paul Owen

Master & Commander

Mix in some old salts with some young sprouts, season liberally with nautical humor, simmer for the better part of a week, and bring to a vigorous boil on Saturday for a delicious helping of combat in the age of sail. It sure beats a maggoty ship's biscuit.

The first of the semi-finals to get under way was the match between 2008 champion, Evan Hitchings, and Paul Owen, making his first WBC appearance. Both opted to sail with two elite British 74 gun ships-of-the-line (SOL). Paul may have been new to WBC, but he had been playing the game before Evan was born. Here are Paul's comments:

"On Turn 14, waterline damage to one SOL early on was a crucial deficit. It took one crew section out of action and reduced his gunfire one table throughout the scenario. When it came down to attrition in trading broadsides, Paul had no chance at that point. Taking out one rigging section of one of Evan's ships on Turn 16 allowed Paul to concentrate fire from both his ships on the hull of the other SOL and force a relatively early strike of her colors. Paul couldn't translate that into a victory, though. One of Paul's ships struck on Turn 25. When time was called, Evan won by virtue of having inflicted more damage on Paul's remaining ship than Paul had inflicted on his.

The other semi-final match pitted George Deutsch against Joseph Belyeu. Joseph was introduced to the game in 2009 and barely missed the semi-finals in 2010. George has played the game for many years, having visited the Final once and the semi's at least twice. Missing the tournament in recent years, this was something of a comeback. Incidentally, George is one of the few players with actual sailing experience, having served for several years as a volunteer crew member on the working replica of the U.S.S. Niagara, one of America's ships in the Battle of Lake Erie.

The Final was a rematch of Hitchings and Deutsch. Evan had bested George earlier in the tournament in a closely contested two on two encounter. This time, the players could choose from a selection of three squadrons, prepared by the GM. George chose a perennial favorite of three crack French 80 gun SOLs. Evan experimented with five (count 'em, five) crack Turkish 64 gun SOLs. Ultimately, the superior range of George's French outfought Evan's Turks.

Saturday's Fleet Action pitted a French fleet, determined to break the British blockade of the port of Toulon. The British began the battle, having suffered rigging damage from a passing storm, enabling the larger French fleet to approach at full speed. The French soon dismasted one of the lead British ships, concentrating their fire to force her to strike her colors.

As additional players appeared, sailing on the map as reinforcements, the battle could have gone either way.

The entire battle played out as a match between greater French numbers and the higher rate of fire of the British crews.

This played out both generally and locally, as the key event of the battle was the collision and fouling of the two flagships. After a brief melee, the antagonists disengaged and resumed gunfire. Despite the French flagship having 120 guns, the British 74 had an elite crew, which enabled her to fire more effectively, causing the French ship to strike and leading to the British victory.

Soon-to-be champ George Deutsch vs Evan Hitchings

The always impresive fleet action

 GM      Tim Hitchings  [10th Year]   330 Kemper Dr, Newark, DE 19702 
    hitchings@juno.com   302 593-4404

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