By Nick Curcuru
GLOUCESTER — The pretenders have been sent packing and all that stand now are the contenders following yesterday's men's seine boat elimination races at Pavilion Beach.
Paul Giacalone's Crew, Kaos and The Best of What's Left won their respective elimination heats and will face off against one another in Saturday's qualifying race. The top two finishers in Saturday's race will square off against the two-time defending champions Seize the Moment in Sunday's championship race.
"Saturday is going to be a barn burner," Kaos coxswain Joe Novello said. "It's going to be anyone's race."
In the first heat of the evening, Paul Giacalone's Crew proved why they are one of the favorites to take down the champs winning by more than five boats. Giacalone got his crew off to a good start and they never looked back. At the midway point of the race the victors turned the flag before the other two crews even started to turn and cruised to victory.
"We took care of business, now there's one more step to go," Giacalone said. "We have a very experienced crew and we worked through it, now we're getting ready for the weekend."
The second heat, which was the most anticipated of the evening featured Kaos, Juggernaut and the Gumbattis, last year's junior champs. The three crews were deadlocked at the start and most of the way out to the flag when Kaos took the lead thanks to a great turn from scuttler Tim Oakes.
"We have been working on our turn," Novello said. "It came together today."
Kaos was not out of the woods yet as Juggernaut was just a boat behind after the crews made their transition out of the turn. Kaos, the 2000 and 2002 champs, pulled away down the stretch to come away with a three-boat win.
"I think our experience was the difference," said Novello, as Kaos was racing the two youngest crews in the field. "They are both strong crews and were right with us the whole way out to the flag."
The third heat was the upset of the evening as the Best of What's Left, who were listed as 33-1 underdogs in the St. Peter's Club, shocked the fans on the beach with a win over Defiance, who were slated as one of the favorites coming into yesterday's races.
It was a wire to wire win for the Best of What's Left as they turned a one boat lead at the flag into a two and a half boat lead by the time the boats hit the beach.
"We were awesome today," coxswain Bill Goodwin said. "We put it all together. I kept looking at (Defiance) out of the corner of my eye and there was never a point where I was worried."
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The women's seine boat final was also settled yesterday with 2006 and 2007 champion Oar'Dacious and Inseine Oars moving on to face defending champion Sista Act.
Oar'Dacious built an early lead and never looked back as they blew away the field by more than five boats. Inseine Oars finished in second, two boats ahead of Backlash.
Oar'Dacious and Inseine Oars will now face Sista Act. The champs and Oar'Dacious have combined to finish first or second in the last four years.
