17TH
MARINA DEL REY TO PUERTO VALLARTA INTERNATIONAL
YACHT RACE
Del Rey Yacht Club / Starts Feb. 7-14, 2003
Feb. 12, 2003 For Immediate Release
WINDY,
WET AND COLD AND LOVING IT
 |
| Black Knight reaches past
the committee boat to lead the start of the
PHRF-B fleet. Photo by Rich Roberts |
MARINA
DEL REY, Calif.---The PHRB-B fleet found a fair
breeze at Wednesday's start that they hoped would
carry them out from under the rainclouds in Del
Rey Yacht Club's 17th biennial race to Puerto
Vallarta. Meanwhile, they planned to make the
most of it.
Amid
moderate to heavy showers, an uncommon offshore
northeasterly wind of 13-16 knots reversed the
traffic pattern at nearby LAX so that planes were
landing from seaward directly over the course.
The six racers didn't mind. With the line set
south, square to the tip of the Palos Verdes peninsula,
they enjoyed a smooth beam reach start and an
easy fetch of the turning point.
Phillip
Friedman's Farr 39ML Black Knight, sailing for
the host club, was first across with the committee
boat to port, followed by Richard Parlette's Santa
Cruz 50 Bay Wolf, under charter from Kirk Wilson
of Cabrillo Beach YC. Then came Jack Taylor's
Horizon, another S/C 50 from Dana Point YC; Charles
Weghorn's Farr 52 Zamazaan, St. Francis YC, and
Al Berg's Farr 395 Ghost II, Santa Monica Windjammers.
 |
| Black
Knight and Bay Wolf power bow to bow in winds
of 13-16 knots. Photo by Rich Roberts |
With
1,125 nautical miles to go, Richard Hedreen played
it cautiously and brought up the rear with the
largest boat in the class, his Tripp 74 ketch
Atalanta from Seattle.
Zamazaan
started with a reefed main sail and some boats
considered hoisting spinnakers until they determined
the reach was a bit too tight.
Two
PHRF-A boats will start Thursday at 1 p.m.---Keith
Kilpatrick's chartered Andrews 45 Locomotion,
South Shore YC, and Jake Wood's Mull 82 Sorcery,
California YC. The last starter on Friday will
be Roy Disney's Reichel/Pugh 75 Pyewacket, which
hoped to ride the storm conditions for all they're
worth in pursuit of Joss's 18-year-old record
for the race.
Taylor
expected to take Horizon well offshore to pick
up the best winds. "We'll probably split
the [Santa Catalina and San Clemente] islands
and go way, way out," he said, "at least
60 miles offshore."
Harry
Pattison, a watch captain on Black Knight, said,
"The first half of the race should be pretty
fast. After that we don't really know [because]
the forecasts for 6 or 7 days out aren't too reliable."
 |
| The 74-foot ketch Atalanta
starts last but in style. Photo by Rich Roberts |
But
Friedman was encouraged by the weather. "This---wet
and cold---is the way it was in '85 when I sailed
the race and Joss set the record," he said.
Partway
down the Baja California peninsula, the Salsa
Division fleet of 14 boats was scheduled to depart
Turtle Bay Wednesday after the first of three
layovers in its more relaxed competition.
Immediately
after the completion of the race, North Sails
and the Mexican Sailing Association are sponsoring
a new five-day regatta in Banderas Bay called
Vallarta Race Week. All Marina del Rey-Puerto
Vallarta participants were invited to take part.
More
information and photos: www.dryc.org.
 |
| Leaders
sail into a brighter horizon in the San Pedro
Channel. Photo by Rich Roberts |
RACING
DIVISION
(Boat/Type,
Sail Number, Skipper, Yacht Club, Rating/Time
Allowance)
PHRF
AA (starts Feb. 14)
Pyewacket
(R/P 75), USA-4, Roy E. Disney, Los Angeles, -153/-47:48:45
PHRF
A (starts Feb. 13)
Locomotion
(Andrews 45), US-46860, Keith Kilpatrick, South
Shore, -45/-14:03:45
Sorcery
(Mull 82), US-1777, Jacob Wood, California, -48/-15:00:00
PHRF
B (started Feb. 12)
Atalanta
(Tripp 74 ketch), US-69581, Richard Hedreen, Corinthian,
0/0:00:00
Black
Knight (Farr 39ML ), US-83400, Phillip Friedman,
Del Rey, 15/4:41:15
Bay
Wolf (S/C 50), US-77157,Richard Parlette, Cabrillo
Beach, -3/0:56:15
Ghost
II (Farr 395), US-7077, Al Berg, Santa Monica
Windjammers, 30/9:22:30
Horizon
(S/CD 50M), US-18926, Jack Taylor, Dana Point,
-3/0:56:15
Zamazaan
(Farr 52C), US-3883, Charles Weghorn, St. Francis,
6/1:52:30
SALSA
DIVISION (started Feb. 7)
Order
of finish on corrected time, Leg 1 (includes handicaps
and engine time penalties)
SPINNAKER
Between
the Sheets (Jeanneau 52.2), Ross Pearlman, Santa
Monica Windjammers YC.
Gold Digger (N/M 50), David Fell, Seal Beach YC.
Misty (Cal 39-2), Harold Alexander, Seal Beach
YC.
Broadway Babe (C&C 110), Jim Maslon, Del Rey
YC.
Amazing Grace (Farr 55), Allen Puckett, California
YC.
Cheyenne (Whiting 49), Alan Blunt/David Fox, California/Santa
Cruz YCs.
NON-SPINNAKER A
1.
Quamichan (Davidson 44), Sandy Clark, South Coast
Corinthian YC.
2.
Quest (Davidson 53), Scott/Jean Adam, Del Rey/California
YCs.
3.
Sunseeker (Tayana 55), Alfred Benaroya, Seattle
YC.
NON-SPINNAKER
B
Principessa
(Newport 41S), Gregory Daley, Del Rey YC.
Fly'n Bry'n (Catalina 42), Jerry Bryan, American
Legion YC.
Firelight (Catalina 470T), Patrick Mickle, Dana
Point YC.
Seaker II (Farr 33), Wes Stone, Cabrillo Beach
YC.
Valerie K (Columbia 43), Ron Hoskin, Hawaii YC.
NOTE: In Salsa Division, time allowance is computed
at end of each leg for distance sailed. Engine
use permitted with penalty applied. In Spinnaker
class, all boats race with PHRF off-wind course
(OWC) rating on all legs. In Non-Spinnaker class,
initial "cruising" ratings are adjusted
after each leg.
RACE
CHAIRMAN
Ron
Jacobs
(310)
274-7200
rj2sail@pacbell.net
ENTRY
CHAIRMAN
Mike
Guccione
(818)
731-1030
innov8@pacbell.net
PRESS
OFFICER
Rich
Roberts
(310)
835-2526
cell:
(310) 766-6547
richsail@earthlink.net
