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| Volvo 70's at Mason Park Irvine |
By LEN BOSE
Alright, “Boats in the water!” We are on the clock. This is what we hear going into the starting sequence when remote control (RC) sailing. The sailing season is teed up, so let’s head out to the starting line for the 2023 season.
Every odd year is the main event – TransPac, a yacht race to Hawaii. In preparation for this, teams will compete in two big events: Newport Harbor Yacht Club’s Islands and the Cabo race.
The Islands race can smack you upside the head, requiring you to be at the top of your game to start off the season with your new team. Extremely cold, hazardous conditions with large seas and strong winds will test your skill level while rounding the back side of San Clemente Island. All this shakes out your crew quickly, with skippers making the hard decision to substitute crew members going into TransPac.
Our harbor has four very strong teams preparing for this season’s offshore events.
Craig Reynolds sailing his Nelson/Marek 70 Bolt, his boat was at the builder’s for most of the off-season refitting her to make her faster. The Ker 51 Fast Exit II has been continuously upgraded, if the crew can hang on to her, she will be a contender. Speaking of contenders – Steve Sellinger’s Santa Cruz 52 Triumph is the boat to bet on. She too went through a refit during this off-season, so I’m hoping she has kept her team together and I am looking forward to seeing that team on the podium. This will not be easy with two very strong teams shaping up from the Long Beach area. My good friend Dave Clark, sailing his Santa Cruz 70 Grand Illusion is always strong, being one of the best-prepared boats in the fleet. These two teams, Bolt and Grand Illusion will be competing in the most competitive division in this year’s TransPac, with the odds-on favorite being Roy Disney’s Andrews 68 Pyewacket.
Back on the local front, the Bahia Corinthian Yacht Club (BCYC), has completed its Hot Rum series with six on-the-harbor races over the last three months. At the time of this writing, the results have not been updated, although 14 boats have entered the series. Standouts in this series have been Dan Rossen’s Problem Child in A fleet, The Rosene Family sailing Radical Departure in B fleet and Bob Wine aboard Carioca in C Fleet. BCYC will be hosting this year’s Harbor 20 MidWinters on February 25 and 26, the Angelman Series on February 11 and the Bogart Race to Catalina on March 18 and 19, one of the best PHRF races of the year. I plan on looking for a boat to sail on for this one, as Catalina will be extra green this year.
The Newport Harbor Yacht Club is carrying the most sail area up going into the sailing season by hoisting the Winter Series for H20s and Lehman 12s, the Islands and Cabo races, along with the Spring Gold Cup for the sabots on March 11 and 12. If that’s not a full boat, let’s add in The Palmer and Baldwin Team racing regattas at the end of March. NHYC sailing director Jess Gerry has installed a pipe berth in his office, because he is going to be on watch for the next two months.
Over “across the pond” at Mason Lake in Irvine, the Orange County Model Sailing Club (www.ocmsc.org) hosts four different classes of RC boats – the Volvo 70s and Dragonflite 95 and 65s along with the US1 Meters. On December 10 and 11, the Volvo 70s had their class championships with 15 competitors on the starting line. Looking over the results you will find many familiar names including Jim Sears, Gene Elliot, Chuck Simmons and me, who all belong to local yacht clubs. That’s just the Volvo 70s, because if you own a Volvo 70 you also should have a Dragonflite 95 (DF95s). In the last event of the 2022 season, 18 DF95s showed up. The DF95 is an international class with regattas sailing around the world, attracting many of the world’s best sailors. Locally in our harbor, Sears has made it into the top 15 nationally. Long Beach sailor Mark Golison has made it to the top nationally and into the top 12 globally.
If you are interested in sailing an RC boat, the Volvo 70s will be sailing their MidWinters on Saturday, Feb 12 and the DF95s will be sailing at Mason. One quickly appreciates the nonexistent slip fees with these RC boats. Let’s go sailing!
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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