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| Photo Courtesy Joysailing.com |
By LEN BOSE
I can feel the close of summer approaching in many ways, one is that my body keeps telling me to look for shade and stay out of the sun, along with asking myself how did the days go by so quickly? Another way of accepting summer ending is that I have just completed Long Point Race Week and have added to all my memories of the good times I have had with my close friends in paradise.
I can feel the close of summer approaching in many ways, one is that my body keeps telling me to look for shade and stay out of the sun, along with asking myself how did the days go by so quickly? Another way of accepting summer ending is that I have just completed Long Point Race Week and have added to all my memories of the good times I have had with my close friends in paradise.
It is amazing just how close to paradise we live, just “twenty-six miles across the sea, Santa Catalina is a-waitin for me...a tropical heaven out in the ocean covered with trees and girls. Water all around it ev’rywhere, tropical trees and the salty air,” quoted The Four Preps. The race from Newport Beach to Long Point, Catalina is sailed on Friday. Saturday’s race is from Long Point to Bird Rock, which is at the isthmus and returns to Long Point. On Sunday, we race back to Newport Beach. The racing is always extremely competitive, with most of Southern California’s top grand prix sailing boats entering the event. In attendance this year was Roy Disney’s Andrews 70 Pyewacket, Jim Devling’s Rogers 46 Carbon Footprint, Jim Bailey’s TP 52 Destroyer and Dave Clark’s Santa Cruz 70 Grand Illusion, just to name a few.
This year’s race over to Catalina was unique, because of the southerly breeze that showed up on Friday morning. This allowed us to head straight for Catalina, rather than heading up the coast before taking over in the prevailing westerly breezes. Most of the participants were tied up to their moorings before all the horns and cannons rang out, indicating it was happy hour or five o’clock. Many crews were setting up their sunshades and swimming before the last horn blast.
Saturday’s sail is always one of my favorite sails of the season, and this year was no disappointment. The breeze filled in earlier than forecasted and we had a lot of weather beat up the face of Catalina. With a fleet of 36 boats and the smaller boats starting first, the intensity level is always high if you can cross in front of your competitor or duck behind them. Once around Bird Rock, the colorful spinnakers pop like popcorn from the boat foredecks, the intensity is increased along with the wind speed, as many crews still needed time to clear their heads from the previous night’s antics. The downwind sail is always memorable and the blending in of the beauty of Catalina just adds that much more flavor to the event.
Over the last 15 years, much attention has been focused on the competitors’ escort boats. Boats reaching the status of megayachts await the racing teams with full staff, five-course meals and a three-page wine list, and let’s not leave out the hot freshwater showers for all the crew members. Less than a dozen of the teams go to that extravagance, yet many of us – the little guys – still seem to be having just as much fun as the one-percenters. The event is quickly becoming who has found this season’s most unique inflatable pool toys rather than being on a megayacht.
We have started the tradition of a parade route starting within the smaller moorings and towing our inflatables in a parade route that takes us outside to where the larger boats are kept after Saturday’s race. Here we come with our inflatable docks, ducks, islands and flamingos with cold beverages in hand and infectious laughter. All tied up together and being pulled by a small powerboat. The one-percenters could barely place down their umbrella drinks without spilling them, while asking if they could join in on the fun, or wonder if they should join the commoners. As one of the jesters, it was quite comical, and we plan on doing it up even more next year.
Saturday’s party was full-tilt, because it still felt like I had my jester costume on come Sunday morning during my walk of shame down the trail from the BYC facility to the local pier that leads back to the boat. I recall four pretty ladies referring to me as their dance partner, and with the need to hydrate as one of my top priorities before the start of the last race home.
The god of wind has been very kind to us over the last few years, and we had another great sail home. Some of our harbor’s top finishers were Lew Berry’s It’s OK finishing 2nd overall, Steve Sellinger’s Santa Cruz 52 Triumph in 5th and Jim Devling’s Carbon Footprint taking 6th place. We were a little disappointed in our results. We still had 100 beers onboard the boat, yet our race results were good...finishing in 7th place overall.
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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