Ensenada Race Weather: Race Day

Ensenada Race 2015 Recap:




1st Forecast

If you are doing the Newport Beach to Ensenada race this Friday and Saturday and wondering about the weather these are my thoughts for Monday going into Fridays race. I will be sailing on the SC 50 Horizon and will have no input on which route we will be taking and will be learning from our boats navigator. Odds are good you own a boat that rates PHRF 60 and higher, so I will give you my “seat of the pants” idea what we might be doing and what I would be thinking if I was on our J 109 that rates 69.

My seat of the pants weather routing is all done with two sources of weather information, Sail Flow and NOAA. We might get drizzled on Friday at some point and if I was navigating both boats I would be headed straight to the Coronado Islands. I will also be looking really close at the wind as we approach Coronado’s and could easily decide the shortest distance with the inside route. Not much of a help am I! Seven out of ten races I come off the starting line with my first waypoint the Coronado's and make my mind up, inside our outside when I get there.

Like most Ensenada races this race will be won in the early hours of Saturday morning. If I have decided to go outside, once I was out of the lee of the Coronado’s, I would be heading for the beach. The wind is predicted to increase and shift to the south/west by 12:00 pm on Saturday. With this thought in mind, if I was on the J 109, I would be leaning very hard to the inside at this point. As soon as the morning breeze has filled in sail your VMG’s. Good luck in the Ensenada bay just hope you finish before 6:00PM Saturday night.

2nd Forecast:

My thoughts for Tuesday going into Fridays race. Same general concept. Off the start head for the Coronado Islands. Todays forecast shows more pressure after the start and will make it easier for you to stay on rhumb line. Today, sailing the J 109 with a 69 PHRF rating, I would be leaning with one foot on the Coronado’s and forget about pushing towards the beach in the early morning. VMG once you are around the islands. With our -3 SC 50 I would be hoping we will be past the Coronado’s before the wind slows down for the evening. The bay will play a big part on this race for you, wish I could give you some advice. About all I have, is watch the boats in front of you and if you stayed on your VMG keep an eye on the boats that are coming in from Todos Santos "Outside".

3rd Forecast

Wednesday going into Fridays race. Now we know why we love this game so much it reminds us with dealing with our girlfriends/wifes just before their cycle starts. You never know what you are going to get or how much trouble you are in. TODAY it appears staying north of the rhumb line, at the start, will keep you in more pressure until the late afternoon breeze fills in. Staying in that 10 to 12 knots of breeze will be difficult and you will need to head offshore and away from the coast as fast as you can and still try to make some VMG. I will guess you will start heading back towards Coronados at this point between 18:00-24:00. Now the world as ended and we wait. In the J 109 I would look to slog it out on the inside track and not sail the extra miles and hope for the best. If I was not past the Coronado’s by 13:00 Saturday I would use the iron jenny and call it a race. Lets hope for the best.

4th Forecast
Thursday going into Fridays race observations: Off the starting line I would sail straight VMG to the finish line. The battle, with the light wind, will be starting at 23:00 Friday night and will not fill in until early afternoon on Saturday. At 23:00 Friday the wind will die, shift to the south and we will be close reaching or going up wind. I am now committed to the inside track. The westerly should start filling in late morning and by 14:00 Saturday you will be "cooking with gas" and making good time. Hope you can finish before sunset.

RACE DAY:
This is not going to be easy this year. It appears the race is a day early with the breeze filling in on Saturday. TODAY: Off the starting line I would stay north of rhumb line and as 17:00 approaches VMG towards the finish line. The big boats will probably be heading out to sea and I mean WAY out to sea. By 24:00 you will be close reach heading straight at the make with about 6knots of breeze. 3:00 Saturday if you are near the Coronados you will be doing good. It will be a struggle until mid afternoon when the westerly fills 2-3:00. From there it should be easy VMG sailing. I will be on the Santa Cruz 50 Horizon. I have a feeling we could be one of those boats that went WAY outside. How we get back to land will be interesting because it looks like we will be dead upwind of the mark with 6 knots of breeze until the westerly fills. Always know what your heading is to your navigator's next waypoint and keep looking up at the wind. THAT IS ALL!

My ETA for the 50 is 15:00 and the J 109 20:00 Saturday.

I will keep updating this post everyday. The key thing to remember is that the real way to win this race is to have the most fun with the people you are sailing with and enjoy.

Len Bose interview: Orange County Business Journal

Look what we did, we won the race overall in 2015!

For Sale: 2003 Harbor 20 for $ 15,850.

THIS IS A STEAL OWNER WANTS OUT!

New Bottom Paint

New Mast

New Standing Rigging

New Sunbrella Jib Sock

New Sunbrella Cuddy Cover

Replaced jib boom

Ensign & Staff

Main & Jib Good shape

Freash Running Rigging

Fenders

Clean motor

C-Foam Cockpit Cushions

Tiller extension

3rd Owner

Newport Harbor Yacht Clubs Baldwin Cup 2015

Day 1:

I don’t think I will ever understand Team Racing, but I know an event that is good for sailing when I see one. This week marks the eighth annual Baldwin Cup Team Race put on by the Newport Harbor Yacht club and sponsored by JP Morgan Chase.

This event attracts most all of the top sailors from the United States to compete in this 4 V 4 team race format. As a Harbor 20 owner and fleet one member it feels good to watch this level of competition experiencing our boats. I had to smile when Harrison Turner of the St. Francis Yacht Club said “ I do love the Harbor 20’s, its such civilized racing. You hardly get wet and are able to sail in T shirt and shorts. I love Newport and I love the harbor 20.”

Another thing that grabs your attention is how hard fleet 1 members work at this event. Twenty six boat owners have allowed NHYC to us their boats along with twenty one members volunteer as pit crew. The pit crew has been at the club to close to a week now commissioning the boats, making repairs during the race and will still be around after the event is completed to de-commission the boats. I am noticing Peter Haynes, Mark Conzelman, Gregg Kelly, Jim Kerrigan, John Whitney, Terry Gloege, Rolly Pulaski and the rest of the crew busting their buts and taking pride in their work.

I am headed back down to NHYC now and see if I can’t pick up a few more tips on how to make my boat go faster.

Sea ya there!

Day 2

Standing room only on the dock and in the Pirates Den at the Newport Harbor Yacht Club yesterday for the eighth annual Baldwin Cup. The race was run in a light southerly breeze that lasted most of the day and kept the race course close to the main dock.

One of my favorite features, this event brings to the docks, is a type of class reunion feeling that allows one to sit at the yacht club and watch some close course sailing. Referred to as stadium sailing this is about as close as you can get to the action. While watching and learning you, as a spectator, one also gets the chance to listen to the competitors while they come off the boats after each race.

Yesterday I witnessed the different sailors talking to the umpires, after the race, about the foul that had been called on them. I find it interesting to listen in and learn which arguments and presentations have the most positive effects. I overheard how the wind was shifting off of Lido Isle and Bay Island and because this event is team racing I noticed some boat handling manurers that I did not know was possible in a Harbor 20.

I was also able to pick up on what was some of the favorite bars that our out of town guests went to and why they enjoyed them. But the thing that brings the biggest smile to my face is how so many people can come to one place and enjoy our harbor and our sport of sailing together. I really enjoyed how the different generations would commingle to discuss the days events after a couple of twenty-five cent beverages.

I am on my way down to the docks for day three and the finals.

DAY 3

NHYC Thunder 2015 Baldwin Cup Champions

"You're never as good a sailor as the day you graduate from college." Gary Jobson. The 2015 Newport Harbor Yacht Clubs Baldwin Cup, our what I like to call it the battle of the past Inter-Collegiate All-Americans sailors is completed. 

Twelve teams where invited from across the United States, for more information on the teams and the events history go to baldwincup.com/wp/. There was know surprises in the weather this year with sunny sky’s and the typical Newport Beach breeze of 6-9 knots. On the race course there was really no surprises either with NHYC team Thunder made up of Justin Law & Jeff Gordon, Michael Menninger& Bill Menninger, Jon Pinckney & Gale Pinckney, Brian Bissell & Perry Emsiek. If I am not mistaken all of Thunders skippers where two-time or more All-Americans. 

Team Thunder breezed through the first two rounds of qualifications with only two losses out of sixteen races. The quarter finales came down to NHYC Lighting, Yale Corinthian Yacht Club, Southern Yacht Club and Seattle Yacht Club. The semifinals teams consisted of Yale, Thunder, Parchment and Southern. All the races where extremely close throughout the quarter finales and semifinals.

During this time, as an observer, you are always wondering who is moving on and which team has come to their end. Because there is a rule that keeps the participants from drinking any alcoholic beverages, .25 cent beers, while competing I quickly noticed that teams with large trays of .25 cent beers had been eliminated from racing. At first you could read the agony of defeat on their faces but by the time the third tray had arrived life was good again.

The finals came down to NHYC Thunder and Larchmont. Thunder are the defending champions and Larchmont had won the event on 2013, they did not attend in 2014. The final rounds where the best of three and Thunder lost the first race. The dock got quite while the teams exchanged boats on the main dock. The words “The Curse” was whispered across the dock because NHYC had lost in the finals at least three of the eight years of the race. 

Thunders skippers and crews had blank stares on their faces and made no eye contact with their supporters on the dock or on the main deck. Just then Thunders team captain Justin Law lights up a huge smile and gives a fan two thumbs up from the helm of his boat. Chris Raab from NHYC team Lighting comes down to the main dock and calls out Gale Pinckney’s name and proceeds to do a type of Haka-war dance to lift the curse.--------->

Race two starts and Thunder appears to be struggling as they round the leeward mark and heading for the finish. This is when the team race dance, which can resemble a country western    dance, starts and you never who is on top until its over. Even then the spectators on the main dock did not know who had won race two until we noticed the competitors heading back out to the starting line for race three and finally the race committee signals Thunders win. By the look of the Larchmont sailors faces the mojo had shifted and the outcome looked bleak. Raab’s Haka dance was working and by ten boat lengths off the starting line, of race three, this race was over. With Thunder rounding each mark of the course with a 1,2,3 game set match.

As a Harbor 20 owner or as a prospective owner you might ask yourself why does this matter to us? This event brings youth to our boats, it brings world wide awareness to the H20’s and it brings All- Americans out to our race course during our summer night series. If this all reads good to you and would like to start a similar event in your area, make sure you mark your calendars for next year, our contact any of the H20 class officers for information

                                                               

Cabo Sun and whats to come.

I hope you are all starting to smile a little more knowing that our summer weekday sailing nights will be starting the first of May. Let’s not forget about April which is always the most active month of the year for sailboat racing. Before I jump into this months main event I thought I would review NHYC Cabo San Lucas race.

Team Linstar offshore team sailed its Santa Cruz 50 Horizon to a third in class, forty-seven seconds out of second, and 8th overall. We sailed very well off the starting line and lead the fleet to San Diego. At this point we sailed into very light wind while most of our fleet sailed further out to sea and put eight miles on us the first night of the race. Rather than give you all the race details we had to play catch up for most of the race and hit the last three major wind shifts to place as well as we did. For my readers that have sailed this race before the outside finish strategy paid off big dividends.

One of the most exciting moments of the race for us was when we had about thirty-two knots of breeze as we approached Cedros Isla on a very dark and chilly night. I was off watch and was awakened by the water rushing past the hull, almost as if you could hear the rumble of an approaching thunder storm, as we surfed down the big waves. With only forty-five minutes left before I had to be on watch I got out of my bunk and put on my business suit, some people call it foul weather gear and life harness. Just as I came on deck the crew on watch came down below and asked for everyone on deck to go through a gybe maneuver and spinnaker change to reduce sail area.

When you first come on deck, after awaking from a deep sleep, it takes a little while to adjust to the pitch darkness and regain the feel of the boats movements in the confused sea state. As I walked into the cockpit and then turned around to the sea condition I thought “Oh shoot this is going to be Mr. Toads wild ride again.” and clipped myself onto the boats safety lines and sank deeper into the cockpit. As we went into the boats gybing maneuver, moving the boats main  and spinnaker sails from one side of the boat to the other, the waves seemed to become larger, while the night seemed to get even darker. Just then a large guest of wind hit us and we rounded the boat up into the wind. It gets rather load at this point with the helmsmen giving orders to regain control of the boat and the sails a gear are snapping above your head while the wind is howling past your ears. Lets not forget about the fear factor of keeping yourself on the boat along with the rest of the crew. I have gone through this fire drill many times and this time the Horizon crew took it all in stride and regained the control of the boat and our composure to complete the maneuver in record time. Now while under control again and surfing down the huge waves with the spray hitting my face I smiled because I knew we were doing very well and would be passing our competition in these dark and stormy conditions.

This year down the Baja coast I noticed the normal amount of dolphin lighting up the nights water photophores as they approached the boat like shooting stars along with a few sea turtles during the day. In fact we had a rather load bump one night and assumed we left a turtle with a rather gnarly headache. One afternoon, just past Cedros Isla, we noticed a large whale completely breach the water while the spay went high into the sky. We were over a mile away and three of us said at the same time “Did you see that, I’ve never seen that before.”

***

As we enter the month of April in Newport Harbor one event jumps right at us and that is NHYC Baldwin Cup.

The Baldwin Cup will start April 10th-12th and is sailed in Harbor 20’s with a ton of support from NHYC members and Harbor 20 fleet one. If you are on the bay this weekend you will start to notice all the moored boats disappear from the NHYC mooring field. All the racing takes place directly in front NHYC main dock along with being streamed live from the clubs web cam. This event promotes our harbor and sailing better than anything I have even witnessed. You can bet I will be on the main dock all three days.

sea ya

The Harbor Report: More about the moorings (and money)

Logo of the Newport Mooring Association 

By Len Bose

March 20, 2015 | 2:17 p.m.

The talk around the harbor over the last month has been all about the moorings. I can picture city staff members saying to themselves, "Just when I thought we were out, they pulled us back in," which is a little different from the "Godfather" movie quote.

At the end of January, the newly elected City Council requested that the Harbor Commission review the current fees for offshore and onshore moorings. By Feb. 11, the commission had formed an ad hoc committee to do just that.

The first of the committee's meetings took place Feb. 23 at the OASIS Senior Center and focused on the transferability of mooring permits. About 50 people attended, and they expressed concerns not just about transferability but also annual fees, transfer fees and mooring accessibility.

In November 2010, the City Council decided to triple mooring fees and stop the practice of private mooring transfers. Under this ordinance, the permit holder was given the ability to transfer the permit twice over the next 10 years. When 2020 arrived, the transfer of permits for a price would be a thing of the past. Should a permit holder want to give up a mooring permit, he or she would have to surrender it to the city.

Before November 2010, people obtained a permit for as much as $1,000 per foot or more. (Now the cost is down to about $250 a foot.) So if you received a 50-foot mooring permit, you had spent $50,000. That is a lot of money to lose.

This is the simple version; this topic is unbelievably complex when you dive into the details.

The second meeting about the moorings took place March 9, with 93 people attending. The focus was on fees and the dramatic rise in the rates over the last five years. The goal is to come up with a consensus on what will be fair for the permit holders and the city.

Again, this is a very complex issue when you start establishing fair-use fees for Newport Harbor moorings. There are a number of ways of making this argument, including using comparable mooring fees in California and establishing a ratio of mooring to slip fees. What makes sense to me is using the consumer price index (CPI) by looking at the payments from 1977 and adjusting to 2015.

Since the devil is in the details, other topics are bound to surface over the next couple of months. For example, how should the city define a vacant mooring and rental mooring, what type of entity may hold a mooring permit, how many moorings can one person have, how often can a permit holder transfer his or her permits within a year? Also, what will be a fair cost to transfer mooring permits, and has the mooring waiting list ever worked properly?

A lot of time can be saved by using a proposed amendment — drafted by the Mooring Master Plan Subcommittee of the Harbor Commission in 2009 — to the Newport Beach municipal code pertaining to mooring permits. My sources tell me this document is ready to go with the addition of a fair fee schedule.

From my armchair, the work has been completed and should not be slowed down by committee. The third meeting will be held at 6 p.m. March 23 at City Hall to revisit mooring fees and transfers. Remember, this is your harbor; attend and express your concerns.

Attention mooring permit holders, especially in the D field: On April 2, the Harbor Resource Department will hold a drawing for 12 dingy racks in the parking lot of the Basin Marina. Complete your entry form before April 1 to get your name placed in the drawing.

For more details, contact Shannon Levin with the Harbor Resources Department at shannon@newportbeachca.gov.

Sea ya.

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

The Harbor Report: Stretching those sea legs again

The Santa Cruz 50 Horizon finishing the 2011Trans Pac race to Hawaii.

By Len Bose

March 13, 2015 | 7:50 p.m.

It's time for me to go to sea again.

Over the last eight months, I have been managing a three-boat racing program that includes the Santa Cruz 50 Horizon, J 109 Linstar and my Harbor 20 Only Child. Most of our team's focus this year has been on Horizon with the recent Newport Harbor Yacht Club's Islands Race, which took us around Catalina and San Clemente islands and finished in San Diego.

On March 21, we will start the NHYC Cabo race, which starts in Newport Beach and finishes in Cabo San Lucas. These two races are in preparation for the Trans Pac Race to Hawaii starting July 16.

The logistics of preparing for these events, let alone getting the boat ready, is overwhelming. Fortunately, our skipper, Jon Shampain on Horizon, takes the load of getting the boat ready. Boat preparation and provisioning is a crucial part of the overall success of a sailing program.

Shampain has kept on top of Horizon's maintenance schedule over the last eight years. This year, we updated our electronics, plumbing and safety equipment and continued on our sails rotation plan. While I worked on the transfer of all of our FCC communication licensing, I am not going to lie — Sue West from the Gordon West Radio School helped me with all of these licenses.

Other tasks included race registration, hotel and flight reservation, customs, permits, safety gear updates and crew apparel. Why these few tasks took me so much time, I have no idea, and don't get me started on what I had to do to obtain a Mexican Temporary Import Permit (TIP). If you find yourself needing a TIP before this year's Ensenada race and are down to the wire, you can contact me, and I will tell you how I accomplished this task. All this said, we are ready for Cabo, and I am already working on Trans Pac.

Back to the fun part of all this: racing downwind on arguably the best boat for the job. Horizon sailed well in the Islands Race, winning a second-place finish in class and 11th overall. At the start of the race, the weather forecast indicated that we would be able to finish, although we would have to work hard to make it to the finish line before the wind shut off.

Our approach to Catalina was picturesque. The island was covered in dark green foliage, and the crisp winter air allowed us to see Santa Barbara Island and San Clemente Island as we rounded the west end of Catalina and headed toward San Clemente Island.

Under a very bright full moon, the wind had picked up to 24 knots while we ran down swell as we rounded San Clemente. The moon would hide behind the spinnaker as we maneuvered Horizon through the waves.

As we approached San Diego, the winter breeze began to dissipate while the larger boats were finishing. Unfortunately for us, the breeze filled in from the north, and we had a long beat upwind to the finish. This allowed the bigger boats to correct out over us on our handicapped times, but hey, that's yacht racing.

With the thought that it is bad luck to win the race before the big races, we are very happy with our results, and our mojo bag is full.

*

Rio100 "Thats a lot of sandwiches"

My picks for this year's Cabo San Lucas race are as follows: In the big boat class — and I mean big boat — we will see the 100-foot Rio100 being sailed by Newport Beach resident Manoush Moshayedi for the first time on this coast, racing against the 74-foot Wizard, owned by David Askew, Tom Holthus's 65' Bad Pak and Frank Slootman's 63-foot Invisible Hand. These four boats will be battling it out for the first monohull to finish, with the advantage going to the largest of the four, Rio100. Because the forecast appears to be light I will have to go with Rio100 to correct out for class and overall win.

Three large multihull boats will be on this year's race course, with the fastest of the fleet being the Mighty Meloe. Next, we will see the 70-foot class, which is always too close to call, with boats like Brack Duker's Holua, Roy Disney's Pyewacket and James McDowell's Grand Illusion being the favorites.

BOLT

If I had to pick one of these, I would go with Grand Illusion, whose seasoned crew makes very few mistakes on the racing course.

The class breaks have not been posted yet. Two very strong contenders are Craig Reynolds' TP 52 Bolt and Bob Pethick Rogers' 46 Bretwalda 3. In the Santa Cruz 50 and 52 class, the favorite is Team Linstar aboard Horizon, which will be challenged by three other Santa Cruz 50s and two Santa Cruz 52s.

In the PHRF class, if nothing changes before the start, the easy winner will be the J 125 Timeshaver sailed by Viggo Torbensen. This boat is always difficult to beat, no matter what class it ends up in. Without it in PHRF, the next favorite would be Ross Pearlman's Jeanneau 52 Between the Sheets.

To follow the race, go to nhyccaborace.com and look under "Tracking," or follow Santa Cruz 50 + Horizon on our Facebook page.

Wish us a strong downwind breeze and following swell.

Sea ya.

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

The Harbor Report: Not a stellar time for harbor's sea stars

Hill's Boat Service has just launched its new fuel tanker. The vessel's name at this time is Tanker II. (February 27, 2015

By Len Bose

February 27, 2015 | 4:58 p.m.

Not sure how many of you were on the harbor last weekend and noticed all the Pleuroncodes planipes, or red crabs, doing their thing. By Monday afternoon, it appeared that they had little to no life left in them.

I contacted Michelle Clemente, Newport Beach's marine protection and education supervisor, to get the scoop (no pun intended) on all the red crabs.

"They are typically associated with warm water," Clemente explained. "It's a type of mating ritual, and they got cooked when they landed on the sand. It's a little bit warm for them to be out of the water."

Clemente informed me that this was not unusual and happens during the El Niño years.

While I had Clemente on the phone, I asked about sea stars and baby sea lions.

"Well, I am not bringing you very good news, Len," she said. "All of our area's sea stars have disintegrated from a mysterious wasting syndrome, and we are not quite sure how this all came about."

You might recall my interview with Clemente last July, when she informed me about this wasting syndrome and explained that it had just made its way from the East Coast to our local waters. She sadly informed me that there are no longer any sea stars in our area.

We then switched over to why all the baby sea lions have been dying.

"The nursing mothers have to head farther out to sea for colder water and food," she said. "By the time the mothers have returned, the pups have gone off looking for food on their own, but many pups have not developed their fishing skills yet.

"Last week, I called Animal Control to pick up a baby sea lion, and they had picked up seven that day already. It's been a tough winter for the sea lions."

On a happier note, Clemente informed me that the city's Traveling Tide Pool van is working. The van features two touch tanks and a display tank and is available for field trips and school outings. Our local yacht clubs should keep this in mind for their junior sailing classes or opening days.

Speaking of opening day, Hill's Boat Service has just launched its new fuel tanker. The vessel's name at this time is Tanker II, and it has been on the drawing board for more than seven years. The owner of the fuel dock is Gary Hill, who started building the boat July 1 in Santa Ana.

The boat is 34 feet long with a 10-foot beam and 4.4-foot draft. The vessel is built from steel and is double-walled to meet U.S. Coast Guard regulations.

"There has never been anything built like this over the last 40 years," Hill said. "Our old tanker was built along Pacific Coast Highway in the 1940s and did not meet Coast Guard regulations as of Jan. 1."

Matt Cox will continue to be one of the vessel's skippers. You have to give it up for the Hill's service team completing this project through all the government red tape. Make sure you give a wave to Matt next time you see him in the tanker. This tanker will probably be around for as long as we continue to use diesel and gasoline fuel to propel our boats' engines.

Richley Family Amante

Last weekend was the start of the Newport Beach High Point Series for our local P.H.R.F. boats. The American Legion hosted the Midwinter Regatta with 18 boats showing up at the starting line. Five long races were completed on wet, blustery days with most of the teams shaking the cobwebs out of their boat-handling skills.

The Richley family, aboard their Choate 48 Amante, has taken the lead in the series with Team Linstar and Milton Santos behind the wheel in second. In third place is Suzanne Schuler aboard her boat Violetta.

The next race in the Newport Beach High Point Series is the Balboa Yacht Club's 66 Regatta on April 18 and 19. For complete standings, go to lenboseyachts.blogspot.com.

Sea ya.

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

The Harbor Report: The man who monitors the moorings

Deputy Sean Scoles of the Newport Beach Harbor Patrol

By Len Bose

February 13, 2015 | 4:17 p.m.

This week, I had a chance to catch up with Deputy Sean Scoles of the Newport Beach Harbor Patrol. Scoles' duties included monitoring the mooring fields, keeping the moorings' maintenance schedule, contacting derelict boat owners, maintaining a mooring waiting list and anything mooring-related.

This has been the third year that Scoles has given me time to interview him, and we started again with the definition of a derelict boat. He reminded me that boats that are not operational, take on water and are in disrepair all fit into the Harbor Patrol's definition of a derelict boat.

"Just because a boat is ugly does not mean it is derelict," Scoles said. He indicated that there are about five to 10 derelict boats, on offshore moorings, in the harbor at this time. "We are doing our best to contact these owners and working with them to solve the problem," Scoles explained.

Please take note that mooring permit holders no longer have to keep a boat on their moorings. This can be part of the reason we see so many open moorings in the harbor at this time. If you do happen to own a boat that is in danger of becoming a derelict, your best option is to bite the bullet and pay a salvage company to dispose of your vessel.

You should also note that the city of Newport Beach has been awarded a grant from the state referred to as the Vessel Turn In Program (VTIP). This could be one of your best options to solve your problem. Stay tuned for more details on this very important topic.

We then reviewed our mooring waiting list policy. The last time I checked, there were 250 people on the list. Every two years, the people on the list have to respond to a letter that they still have interest in obtaining a mooring. If they do not respond, they are off the list. It is the responsibility of everyone on the waiting list to update his or her phone number or home address.

Next, we talked about guest slips and guest moorings. "Just come to the dock with your boat and bring a photo ID, CF registration and/or Coast Guard documentation with you up to the office, and we will collect the fees and you are on your way," Scoles said.

If you would like to anchor in the designated anchorage area, you just need to drop anchor and can stay for five days in a 30-day period. If you would like to raft up with two or more vessels, you can obtain a marine event application online on the harbor department's website.

Scoles went on to tell me that the best way for the public to help the Harbor Patrol is to contact it at (949) 723-1002 should you see anything out of the ordinary or have a noise complaint. "It's a big harbor, and the more eyes we have, the better," he said.

*

I was pleasantly surprised to see that 50 people attended this month's Harbor Commission meeting. On the agenda was the Mooring Review/Ad Hoc Committee Formation to examine the current administration of the moorings and to make recommendations to the Harbor Commission, which would then forward those recommendations to the City Council for consideration.

The good news is that Councilman Duffy Duffield was in attendance and spoke to the audience. "We can make this thing work." he explained. He reminded the crowd that now is the time to take part in the system, attend the public meeting over the next couple of months and bring forward a recommendation that the council can pass.

That's the good news; the bad news is that most of the Harbor Commission had to recuse themselves because they are mooring permit holders, belong to a yacht club with moorings or have a possible conflict of interest.

This left Commissioners David Girling, Duncan McIntosh and Joe Stapleton with the whole kit and caboodle. Who really knows what caboodle means, but there was a whole bunch of it dropped on their laps. To make a quorum, the subcommittee needed another commissioner, and by a draw of cards, Brad Avery was selected to vote on the subcommittee recommendation only and not to take part in the subcommittee meetings.

Most everyone attending the meeting who replied to public comments requested the ability to transfer their permits again rather than surrender them back to the city, which is due to take effect in the near future. This will be a huge topic of interest that I will report on over the next couple of months.

Sea ya.

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

Invictus due into Newport Beach Friday the 13th

The 216-foot mega-yacht Invictus

Invictus is due into town on Friday the 13th between 2 & 3 PM.

MOORING? Tonights Harbor Commission Agenda Meeting starts at 6:30.

Cheyenne

(6)

CURRENT BUSINESS

		1.	Mooring Review – Ad Hoc Committee Formation
			At the January 27, 2015 City Council Study Session, staff presented a recap of the recent changes to the City’s administration of the moorings, as well as the residential and commercial piers in the harbor. As a result, the City Council directed the Harbor Commission to study the moorings, and to return to the City Council with a recommended path forward. Recommendation: 1) Establish a Mooring Ad Hoc Committee to evaluate the City’s current administration of the moorings, and to make recommendations to the Harbor Commission who would then forward those recommendations to the Council for consideration.
		2.	Harbor Commission Pairings with the City Council and Other Commissions, Boards and Committees
			Each year, the Harbor Commission typically assigns individual Commissioners to pair with individual Council Members in an effort to promote awareness of the various issues that might affect both bodies, particularly harbor related items. In addition, the Harbor Commission may also consider assigning individual Commissioners as liaisons to other Commissions, Boards and Committees within the City. Recommendation: 1) Approve the Harbor Commission’s pairing assignments with the City Council; and 2) Approve the Harbor Commission’s pairing assignments with other City Commissions, Boards and Committees, if desired.
		3.	Cheyenne 30-Day Update (February)
			Per the Harbor Commission’s direction at the November 2014 meeting, the Commission will review the 30-day update for the vessel Cheyenne as submitted by Mr. Chris Welsh. Recommendation: 1) Receive and file

The Harbor Report: A solid score for this harbor supporter

                                              NHYC  Racing Director Jenn Lancaster

By Len Bose

February 6, 2015 | 2:39 p.m.

Twelve years ago, Jenn Lancaster left her teaching job, packed up her car and moved to California from Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Fortunately for every sailor in Newport Beach, Lancaster became the Newport Harbor Yacht Club's racing director.

Lancaster was born in San Diego into a military family and moved around the country before settling in New Hampshire. One spring, her father allowed a team from the US Naval Academy to stay at their home during a sailing regatta. Lancaster noticed their sailing team's jackets and decided she wanted one.

She then followed the team members down to the dock, where she first noticed the University of New Hampshire sailing team.

"From that moment, I was hooked and never missed a practice," she said with great fondness. She started racing competitively at age 18, which led her to this job.

Today, Lancaster spends her days writing all the notices of races, sailing instructions and race results and doing all the logistics involved in running the different sailing events for the NHYC. When I asked her what her favorite part of her job is, she said scoring.

"People are always so eager to see how their hard work has translated to the results on a piece of paper, particularly the kids," Lancaster said.

That's when I reminded her that, most of the time, I am not that happy with my results. She quickly reminded me that not everyone has to win a trophy to be happy. Some people are happy to beat their rival or friends or just not come in last.

"I really do love the kids events," Lancaster went on to say. "I love their faces and to listen to them singing to themselves when sailing their sabots. That's when I really enjoy my job the most."

Then there are the days when she has talked on the phone with America's Cup winner Dennis Conner and other famous sailing personalities like Paul Cayard regarding the event NHYC is hosting that weekend. Or she has spoken with the sabot parent who wants to know when his or her kid will be off the water that day.

"Knowing every little aspect of the sport is pretty fun and pretty cool," she said with great pride in her work.

I asked about some of the recent changes over her tenure that have affected race management.

"The sport has become more complex, and people are spending a lot more money," she said. "Because they are spending more money, the participants are expecting better race management. We are stewards to people's recreation time, and we need to put in just as much effort as the participants. We are all out there to have a great day on the water."

She went on to explain how much time is saved with online race registration and entry fees.

The sailing season has already started for Lancaster. NHYC is hosting the Islands Race, which goes around Catalina and San Clemente islands and finishes in San Diego, and this year's Cabo race, both in March.

I had to ask what she does on her day off. "I like walking, reading, and I really enjoy cooking," she said. "In fact, I have been spending a lot of time learning vegetarian recipes recently."

We then discussed the communication line in our harbor among the different stakeholders — for example, the charter boat captains, Orange Coast College crew and Newport Aquatic Center.

"Chris Miller and, this last year, Chandler Bell with the Chamber of Commerce have done an outstanding job putting on the Sailing/Charter Coordination meeting each year, where all the harbor stakeholders have a chance to meet each other in person and make arrangements to talk on the VHF radio together the day of large events," she said.

I asked her how the race participants can help her with her job.

"Everyone has always been very kind to me," she said. "I have to dig deep for this. One way that participants can help would be not to press it too hard with the charter boats or the Duffy rentals." I laughed and told her that I needed that extra two feet when maneuvering around these boats to win the race. At the same time, I realized how wrong I have been for so many reasons over the years.

Lancaster is a good-hearted person who has become an integral part of this harbor's history. It's too bad that the Daily Pilot has not continued its Hall of Fame for our harbor, because Lancaster has earned a spot on the wall.

Sea ya.

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