Thursday, May 20, 2010

No Excuses

By Len Bose

A shot of the bay on Taco Tuesdays.

There are many reasons how lucky I was when I met my wife Jennifer. Her understanding for my passion to go sailing is rarely questioned by a roll of her eyes when I remind her “it's work.” This week was a test of her patience with me sailing Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday nights, not to mention volunteering to do mark set at the Youth Match Race Regatta this past weekend.

The inaugural “Youth Match Race Clinic & Regatta” sailed in Governor Cup 21's, and was held at Balboa Yacht Club. The whole idea of this event is to encourage more local match racing and use it as a feeder into the BYC Governors Cup. This concept had been brewing, for a number of years, on the desk of Larry Law. Larry is the Chairman of Newport Balboa Sailing & Seamanship Association (NBSSA) www.nbssa.org, the owners of the Governors Cup 21’s. Larry took a big part in getting this event off the ground and had donated two very large and beautiful trophies for this inaugural event. The “Rose Cup” is awarded to the winners of the event and The “Nick Scandone Memorial” was awarded to the team with the most Corinthian Spirit. The event came off better than I had expected with 10 teams from across the country attending, and the competition was very close. With three teams tying for first place, it was also fun for me to watch this event and see the same names rise to the top, as when I competed. It was fun watching the last match of the event with Newport Harbor Yacht Club's Chris Segerblom, Conner Bathen and Kieran Chung going against San Diego Yacht Club's team of Jake LaDow, Max Hutcheson and Eric Alamillo. I had a flashback when I used to race Chris’s dad, Mike Segerblom, back in the day, when we matched up the likes of John Pinckney, John Shadden and Nick Scandone. I smiled, when I watched Chris Segerblom come from behind on the last run to pass the San Diego team only 50 yards from the finish line. “Wow, this kid sails better than his dad,” I thought. After all the tie breakers, the Newport Harbor team went home with “The Rose” Trophy, while the Annapolis Yacht Club team of Mike Carr, Scott Houck and Brady Stagg held The “Nick Scandone” trophy over their heads. Results can be found at www.balboayachtclub.comunder youth sailing.

Last week, I made notice of all the different events we can sail in during this time of year, and there is a race every night of the week.

Mondays: The American Legion Yacht Club's “Sundowner Series” has been under way since the start of May. This event has the feel of an “Old School Sailing Club” with more than 31 boats participating each week and more than 47 boats registered. The racing starts at 6 p.m. with a random course picked by the wind conditions. Boats vary from a J 124 down to 17 Harbor 20’s registered with six boats sailing in the last race. Most of the fleet is rated 158 to 304 in PHRF. The emphasis is on having fun on the bay, and everyone already knows that the Legion has the best value for beverages and hamburgers. That’s right! There are no $10 burgers here, and it should be no surprise that this event has the largest turnout on the harbor.

Tuesdays: BCYC TACO TUESDAY is in its second year, and is bringing out the boats with 32 boats attending this week and also having 47 boats registered. There was another huge turnout of 17 Harbor 20’s registered and 11 boats sailing in last week's race. The PHRF Fleet ranges from the J 133 to a Cal 25 with 12 boats participating last week and 22 boats registered. The Shields are active with five boats and eight boats entered. This event is all about a good time on the bay, and everyone meets at BCYC for Tacos. Starting on June 8, the Lido Island Yacht Club will start up its Night Flights for all classes. If I recall, this event attracts a number of Lasers and Sabots and is highly recommended for the Laser sailors who want to get back on the water after work, with plenty of good competition.

Wednesday: BYC Twilights. Starting with the time change in April at M Mark, and the Lido 14 fleet returns to the tower in May with Harbor 20’s, Thistle, Lasers, Lido’s, Twichells and Sabots. It is best known for its Sabot turn out, with eight boats last week and 15 sabots signed up. The Lido 14 fleet had eight boats last week with a number of parents and kids teams attending along with 13 boats registered. The Laser Fleet is strong with six boats last night and 16 boats signed up. The Twilights had 35 boats participate last night with 67 boats registered.

South Shore Yacht Club will be starting its Summer Hibachi beginning Thursday, June 2. This event attracts PHRF Boats rating from 10 to 300 with most of the fleet rating from 120 to 216. It's been years since I have been out on a Hibachi. I'm not sure who has been attending this one over the last few years. I'll need to report back to you after they start this year.

Thursday: BYC Beercans – the race that started it all! PHRF boats range from -48 to 192, with PHRF Fleet 3 having the most boats at 10 with a rating from 84 to 125. Fleet 1 is always the most exciting to watch at the starting line, with the first tack off the mooring field with six boats attending last week and a rating span from -48 to 39. The Beercans have 32 entered with 28 boats attending last week. This number will go up as the summer continues. The fun in this race is to see how many people you can invite and get on your boat.

NHYC will start its Twilight Series on June 12 for Harbor 20 and Lehman 12. There's always a big turn out in the Harbor 20 fleet, and some of the best sailors on the bay dust off their Lehman 12 each season. I need to find a Lehman and give this fleet a try ... it appears to be fun.

Friday: Lido Island Yacht Club Adult Sailing. The Laser fleet is out. It's just for adults and its fun. Always good sailing and good people.

Well, that’s it. There are no good excuses for you not to get on the water this summer more than once a week. In fact, it appears that Peter Haynes aboard his Harbor 20 “Spirit” is getting on the water three nights a week: he won two of those nights. Funny how that works. Well done! Peter and I look forward to crossing tacks with you in that Harbor 20 fleet soon.

Sea Ya’
Len Bose


Len Bose is a contributing writer to the Newport Beach Independent and owner ofLen Bose Yacht Sales.

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