By LEN BOSE
This summer has sailed past us at the speed of an America’s Cup boat on its foils, yet we still have a couple of marks to round before fall arrives and the harbor cools down. This week, I had a chance to catch up with a couple of my harbor sources regarding dredging, the Harbor 20 fleet preparing for the fleet championships this weekend, and let’s not forget, the Pacific Airshow in Huntington Beach.
While attending the Yachtsman’s Luncheon at the Newport Yacht Club on September 4, it was brought up that the city has found a new way to dispose of the unsuitable materials that are in the lower harbor. The original plan has been the Confined Aquatic Disposal (CAD) Project, which is the hole in the harbor, that can be dug and placed in the anchorage off of Lido Isle and later capped off after the unsuitable materials have been placed inside the hole.
We’ve all read that many residents did not like that concept and found a way to hold up the dredging through the courts. The city recently learned that another option has resurfaced taking place in the Port of Long Beach Pier G fill next year. This is very similar to the process that we used to dispose of unsuitable materials during the harbor’s last dredging. These materials are placed on a scow and towed up to Long Beach for disposal. Problem solved. Let’s get to dredging the lower harbor back to its original depths and now everyone is happy. Well, guess what, the devil is always in the details and there are a whole lot of hurdles to get past before this idea can be implemented. My take is that this is an option that has worked in the past, and an all-out effort must be undertaken to achieve the same goal. By no means is this a done deal, and it is my understanding that the CAD project is not off the table, should the other plan not work out. For some strange reason, this is analogous to taking my dog to the park and picking up after him. Let’s just hope we brought enough waste bags, and there is a trash can nearby.
Moving on to my favorite subject – sailing – this weekend is the 27th Harbor 20 fleet championships with 25 competitors entered at the time of this writing. There are seven boats entered in C class that are only racing on Sunday, which I feel is a great idea after racing both days last weekend in the warm-up events. My money will be on Team Kovacevic – Carolyn and Dominic – who had a strong showing in last week’s NHYC Fall Regatta. At the same time, Team Kelly with Devon on the helm while Greg is crewing is a very fast team; this will be very close, as anyone in the fleet placing the dots together can win. In B fleet, there are six boats entered; this is going to be a very close race between Tucker Cheadle and Steve Schupak sailing Summer Dream and John Bubb sailing Tiger. Bubb has been on fire this summer finishing in second in the Flight and showing great boat speed all year. With team Cheadle/Schupak having the consistency to win this division, I’m betting on them to take the pickle dish. In A Fleet with 12 boats entered, don’t look at last weekend’s results in the Fall Cup because somehow I won that race. Like I said, sometimes anyone can connect the dots, and Chuck Simmons and I were going fast. The real race is going to come down to four teams: Team Wiese, Team Legg and Helias, Team Campbell, and Team Thompson and Conzelman.
My guesses over the years are kind of like my chances of being on the cover of Sports Illustrated – I rarely have been proven right. So with great thought, I am going with Team Legg and Helias, who both sailed together at USC. Legg has returned home to Cape Cod for the summers and has been on top of the very competitive Herreshoff 12 fleet for a long time, teaming up with past fleet champion Greg Helias, who is without a doubt one of our harbor’s best. This team showed speed to burn last week and would have easily won last weekend if it was a two-day regatta. They will have to show up with their game faces on because Team Thompson and Conzelman are the most consistent team on the harbor. Teams Campbell or Wiese (if sailing at their best which they normally do) could sail away with the regatta on the first day. It reads as if I spread enough bad juju over my competitors and can only hope for the best. I know it will be fun because it always is when sailing with Simmons. Both A and B fleet are sailing in the normal two-day regatta.
Keep in mind the Huntington Beach Pacific Airshow is October 4-6, and it’s one of the busiest times on the harbor. It reminds me of the Ensenada Race back in the day with hundreds of boats leaving the harbor all at once. The show is best experienced from the water, so you need to call up your long-lost friends with a boat and ask them what they are doing that weekend. Make sure you bring some good rosé with you.
Sea ya.
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Len Bose is a yachting enthusiast, yacht broker and harbor columnist for Stu News Newport.
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