The Harbor Report: And the best of 2012 is....

Mayol receiving BCYC Commodore Bussey Award

By Len Bose

November 29, 2012 | 4:50 p.m.

We are in the final countdown for 2012. That means it's time for me to pull out all my Christmas Reyn Spooners and recognize this year's harbor winners. I attended the Bahia Corinthian Yacht Club's awards banquet and presented at the Balboa Yacht Club's. This weekend is the Harbor 20 Fleet 1 ceremony, which I will be attending; and if I am not mistaken, the Newport Harbor Yacht Club's annual meeting is also this weekend.

Here are this year's big winners from BCYC. It was great fun to see the entire Mayol family come up and accept the Commodore Bussey Award for being the most active family at the club. Erik and Lisa and kids Maxwell and Jake had been up to the stage to bring home quite a few of the junior awards prior to the family award. The Mayol family had a fantastic season this last year, and it was fun to witness. While I am touching on the juniors, I need to give a shout-out to BCYC sailing administrator Shannon Heausler. She made one of the best junior awards presentations I have ever seen and also led one of the best junior programs our harbor has to offer.

Peter Haynes Accepting Elmer Carvey Memorial 

The award I want to win someday is the Elmer Carvey Memorial  (formerly Balboa Bay Club Yachtsmen of the Year until 1982), now awarded to the yachtsman who most contributed to the organized yachting community. Past winners of this award have been Cooper Johnson, Jim Emmi, Ted Kerr, Hobie Deny and Lorin Weiss — the list reads on and on with Newport's best yachtsmen. This year's big winner, most deservedly so, is Peter Haynes. Hats off to Peter and a big thank you for all the hard work he is doing for the sport of sailing in Newport Harbor.

Another big award was given to my Harbor 20 skipper Mary Bacon. Mary received the Officers and Directors 1962 award, given to the member for outstanding service to the club. Well done, Mary.

Marry Bacon Winning the Officers and Directors 1962 

Jeff Burch, owner of the J 105 Hot Ticket, took home most of the club's racing awards, and Guy Doran won the Gaudio Family One Design award for his third-place finish in this year's Harbor 20 Fleet 1 Championship.

Over at the Balboa Yacht Club, Max Moosmann won the Big Boat Sailor of the Year award. Max was everywhere this year, from the Big Boat Series in San Francisco to the Chicago Yacht Club Race to the Mackinac race on the Great Lakes. Max was living the dream this season and sailing on some of our country's best racing sailboats.

This year's Newport High Point winner, Roy Jones, aboard his J 133 Tango, received the BYC High Point Award, Overall 66 Series award and Ocean Racing Sailor of the Year. What an outstanding season, Roy.

Roy Jones accepting The Newport High Point Series Award

The big winner over at BYC is Kelly Buchan, who received the Sportsman of the Year award, given to the racing skipper who consistently displays outstanding sportsmanship.

Kelly is one of my favorite people in the harbor and will play a big part in sailing's future in Newport Harbor.

I will be sure to update you on who wins the Newport Harbor Yacht Club's Burgee of Merit, Vince Healy Award and Jack and Meta Going Cannon Award once Jennifer sends me over the winners this year.

Max Moosman BYC Big Boat sailor of the year

I had a senior moment last week while writing Newport's 10 most interesting boats. The name of boat No. 7, the Hinckley 52, is Dauntless. The owner was understanding and has invited me down to take a look at his boat.

As for the group Stop the Dock Tax boycotting the boat parade this year, I have to unfurl my protest flag on this one. Let's not mix politics with the boat parade; you look like a spoiled kid, taking your ball and going home. I say let's have the biggest boat parade ever and have a entry with a big Grinch on it telling people to get involved with our harbor and make sure we have a marine-friendly city council after the next election.

Sea ya.

LEN BOSE is an experienced boater, yacht broker and boating columnist.

Len Bose winning the Leo Collin for most active sailor

2012 Newport Beaches 10 Most Interesting Boats

This Friday The Daily Pilot will run my annual story on Newports 10 most interesting boats. Will another Duffy be on the list this year, what will be the most interesting boat of 2012? Please keep me in mind on Fat Friday!

# 10  “Watt R Winery” 22’ Custom Duffy Electric Boat. She was customized by Newport Shipyard with a hard top, teak trim, satellite TV, underwater lighting, heater, windless, wine cooler, head and one very large horn. She can be seen every Thursday afternoon on a harbor cruise and is berthed at the Balboa Bay Club.

The Harbor Report: Harbor 20 team still going strong

(left) John Cazier  & (right) Richard Blatterman

By Len Bose

November 15, 2012 | 3:50 p.m.

During this year's Harbor 20 fleet championships I was reviewing the entry list in B fleet and sizing up the competitors when I noticed the boat Chloe. The skipper was Richard Blatterman, crew was John Cazier.

I thought to myself, "We should be able to take them." But then again, Richard and John have some history sailing in our local waters.

That's when it hit me: I need to interview these guys and find out what keeps them coming back and always finishing in the top five of the major regattas.

I had a chance last week to meet the two of them for lunch at the Balboa Yacht Club and took it upon myself to drop the formalities and not address them by their proper titles — which would be commodore, for both of them. Both Richard and John are staff commodores; and assuming they have the same difficulty as I do in listening to people in small, crowded rooms, the whole commodore thing might have gotten a little comical.

The interview could not have started out any better when John came into the club and said, "I am not going to talk to him," referring to Richard. "He just took my parking place."

In front of the club is a parking spot for our staff commodores. Richard was just pulling into it when John pulled into the lot.

They both gave a short laugh and we all sat down.

I found it interesting that both started sailing in 1939 when the Southland Sailing Club house, which later became BYC, was on the little island of Balboa. Richard's father used to rent a place on the island for the summer and informed him and his brother that he would buy them a boat if they would learn to swim. By the end of summer they were sailing a Balboa dinghy, a type of Sabot, around the harbor.

During the same time John had built himself an ocean-going Frostbite dingy and came into town to race in the 1940 Southern California Yachting Assn. summer regatta.

Around this time Richard and John became members of the town's sailing club.

In 1955 Richard sailed in his first of 15 Transpac races to Hawaii and quickly became one of the most sought-after navigators of the time. He sailed on the overall winning boat one year and from what I can tell, always placed third or better in class.

John was known for sailing in the Thistle fleet.

"That was the best boat I ever raced," he said with passion in his voice. "With 38 boats racing outside off Newport Beach, the racing was gorgeous. Racing performance dinghies, that's really the best sailing there is."

This was only the start of the racing careers of these two fierce competitors. John owned a famous Schock 35 by the name of ButterCup that won four straight Lipton Cups, one of the preeminent events in Southern California racing. Richard just happened to helm the winning Lipton winner himself years earlier.

From my conversion with them, it sounded like John had also put in his time offshore, competing in some Mexico races and a Transpac or two. So blend all that experience together and you have one strong Harbor 20 team.

When I asked the guys what their goals were for next year, John quickly replied, "Stay Alive!"

They both laughed, and John explained, "We always like to sail better and get frustrated when we do not sail well. When something goes wrong, we just laugh the whole time. We both have done well in the past, we don't need to prove anything."

I then asked them about the state of the harbor.

"The most positive item is the dredging," Richard said. "It's fantastic, how clean the harbor is now. It's also strange to see so many empty moorings."

John added, "This place would be a different world if we took all these moored boats and placed them onto a floating marina. Floating docks are a big change to try to institute. Every square foot of water out there is worth a lot of money and we are using it very badly."

I was completely taken aback by this team and am having troubles finding the proper words in closing, so I am just going to use one word: respect. I have much more to share with about these two at lenboseyachts.blogspot.com.

Sea ya.

(latter today I will complete the rest of the story)

LEN BOSE is an experienced boater, yacht broker and boating columnist.

The Harbor Report: BYC, harbor lucky to have Ray

Ray Dasilva, the assistant dock master at the Balboa Yacht Club.

By Len Bose

November 8, 2012 | 3:12 p.m.

As a local yacht broker, it is my job to know a lot of people around the harbor. Some I like saying hello to and some I try to ignore. Then there are those few people I go out of my way to give a big hello to because it just feels good.

One of those people is Ray Dasilva, the assistant dock master at the Balboa Yacht Club. It's always a big friendly hello with Ray, followed by that big smile and then, "How's your back, Len?" Years ago, I pulled my back out and Ray has asked about it each time we meet.

His family moved to California from Brazil when he was 8. Living in Costa Mesa now and spending most of his time taking care of his mother, who is recovering from a small stroke, Ray still finds time to surf and mountain bike. He has worked at BYC for seven years and puts in 40 hours a week. With all that time on one of the busiest docks in our harbor, Ray has seen it all.

"These Indian summers are my favorite time of year. The kids are back at school, the days are a little shorter and the weather is perfect," he said, followed by his deep laughter.

When asked what have been the most precarious moments on the harbor, he said, "February, when those clearing westerlies come down the harbor with a vengeance. Last year we had winds over 40 knots and it's my job to check on the moored boats and make sure their mooring lines are all secured. There is nothing worse than when a boat breaks free in gale conditions and we have to go out and try to gain control of her."

I then asked him if he has seen any recent changes in the harbor.

"Well, there's not as many boats on the moorings as there used to be, and the activity at the club has gone way down over the last three years," Ray said. "It's also been amazing how clear the water is, now that the dredging is almost completed. I can see the bottom of the harbor almost on a daily basis. It appears that there is a lot more marine life around and we have eelgrass coming out of our ears, which is kind of funny, because there was a group of people down here last week planting more eelgrass. Hope the city is not paying for that."

When I asked Ray about the most common mistake he sees boaters make, he said, "People do not always take in account the weather conditions. I have seen a number of people go out and try to place their boats on their mooring alone and get into real trouble. Another one is when people try to fend off from hitting another boat or the dock. They forget that fiberglass is much easier to fix than hands or legs when two boats meet. I try to tell them to grab an extra fender and place it between the other boat or dock, rather than place themself at physical risk."

Ray enjoys his job and works hard at it. When I tried to get out of him what his favorite type of boat is, he just leaned back in his chair with that smile and said, "I like all the boats, Len. You know what, I would like to go out on a sailboat race sometime. I have never had a chance to go sailing before, it looks like it would be a lot of fun."

At 54 years old, Ray moves around the club faster than most people half his age. He is truly one of our harbor's best, and BYC is very lucky to have him as an employee. If you don't believe me, just say hello to him sometime. I promise you, it will make you feel better.

Sea ya.

LEN BOSE is an experienced boater, yacht broker and boating columnist

The Harbor Report: Why is business so slow?

                                 2012 Newport High Point Winner  TANGO                                                         Photo by Joysailing.com

By Len Bose

November 1, 2012 | 8:43 p.m.

It could just be me fighting through the ups and downs in today's marine industry marketplace, but as I run into work companions, it seems that most of us in Newport Beach look like we have just completed a triathlon.

As I look around the harbor, I notice many open moorings, which is strange because with the years of dredging, there are not that many moorings. They will be replaced and realigned, but when will the boats return?

Over my 25 years of yacht brokerage, I have never seen this many open slips in town.

Additionally, our local boat show has never been so thin as it has over the last two years. No new large boat dealers are flooring new boats. All the marine trade people have left the waterfront.

Local participation in 30- to 50-foot boating activities, such as sailing regattas and fishing tournaments, has never been so low.

What frightens me most is how will people ever be able to afford a 25- to 40-foot boat between the ages of 30 to 60 in Newport Beach?

My job takes me from San Diego to Santa Barbara almost on a monthly bases with an occasional showing outside the state and even the country. What I have observed is that slips are full in San Diego, Dana Point, Marina del Rey and Santa Barbara. New boat dealers are staying busy in these locations and in San Francisco.

Why is the marine industry so flat in the best harbor in the world? Is it because boaters are looking for better value in storage costs, shipyard fees, fuel costs and shopping price rather than convenience? It seems strange to me that we anted up and dredged our harbor and expect boaters to accept the higher costs of boating in Newport Beach.

A marina manager in San Diego said it best last week while I was checking out a gate key: "I have to thank you guys for sending me all this new business; here have a cookie."

That all said, I did notice this week a couple things that placed a short smile of hope on my face.

While at Basin Marine Shipyard, I saw a late-model Beneteau 34 arrive in town, and the J 122 TKO was having one of the best new racing bottoms I have ever seen being applied. While glancing around the Ardell marina, I noticed a Santa Cruz 70 has been added to our local fleet.

The Balboa Yacht Clubs High Point Award

I am also looking forward to being one of the presenters for this year's Newport Beach High Point Series winner. The Balboa Yacht Club is fortunate to present the award to member Roy Jones and his crew aboard Tango Saturday night.

This J 133 came out of the blocks this year at full speed by winning the Midwinters and the first race of the 66 Series. She then sailed well in the Ahmanson and was able to hold back Amante end-of-season charge during the Gil Knudson and Argosy.

In an effort to increase participation within our harbor's PHRF racing fleet, the BYC and Bahia Corinthian Yacht Club are recognizing the winner of this event at their respected awards banquets. This, along with a change in venue by the Newport Harbor Yacht Club in the Ahmanson series, is slowly gathering momentum again. We had 37 local boats competing to be named Newport Beach's top PHRF boat.

Maybe next year when I again ask the city for eight annual parking permits at a total cost of $1,200 to be awarded to the winning crew of this event, they might be able to afford to give a little something back to our local harbor users.

LEN BOSE is an experienced boater, yacht broker and boating columnist.