17TH
MARINA DEL REY TO PUERTO VALLARTA INTERNATIONAL
YACHT RACE
Del Rey Yacht Club
Feb. 17, 2003 For Immediate Release
WIND
TAKES A SIESTA IN THE GULF OF CALIFORNIA
MARINA
DEL REY, Calif.---Is Pyewacket headed for a parking
lot? It's fast becoming apparent that the slowest
part of Del Rey Yacht Club's 17th biennial race
to Puerto Vallarta is going to be the last, from
Baja California across the Gulf of California
to the Mexican mainland.
Since
leaving Cabo San Lucas Sunday, the forerunners
who started first have sailed into winds of only
6 knots and their speeds have dropped accordingly.
Worse, with a southeast heading to Puerto Vallarta
and the wind direction now slightly forward from
west of southwest at 210 degrees, it's unlikely
that the boats are flying spinnakers.
Pyewacket,
Roy Disney's Reichel/Pugh 75 that started last,
was just past Magdalena Bay three-fourths of the
way down Baja at Monday's 9 a.m. roll call and
still averaging 10 knots for the race, a half-knot
faster than Joss's record pace in 1985. But the
overall leaders of the fleet---the Santa Cruz
50s Bay Wolf and Horizon---logged only 154 and
163 miles, respectively, in the previous 24 hours.
Behind
them, the two PHFR A class competitors that started
a day later---Locomotion, an Andrews 45, and Sorcery,
a Mull 82---were closing to within view, but their
average speeds were down to 8.2.
"It's
rare not to have less wind after Cabo," said
Alan Andrews, who designed Winslow Lincoln's three-year-old
Locomotion. "There's an old saying that races
to Mexico start over at the cape."
What
often happens is that the fleet crosses from one
weather system into another and picks up speed
again. The latest projections offered Pyewacket
an ETA of Wednesday at 5:41 a.m., while the other
four were due Tuesday afternoon and evening, but
stronger winds in the first part of the race were
factored into those times.
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.
RACING
DIVISION
Positions
at 9 a.m. Feb. 17
PHRF
AA (started Feb. 14)
1.
Pyewacket (R/P 75), Roy E. Disney, Los Angeles
YC, 246 miles last 24 hours/451 to go.
PHRF
A (started Feb. 13)
1.
Locomotion (Andrews 45), Keith Kilpatrick, South
Shore YC, 197/282.
2.
Sorcery (Mull 82), Jacob Wood, California YC,
198/300.
PHRF
B (started Feb. 12)
1.
Bay Wolf (S/C 50), Richard Parlette, Cabrillo
Beach YC, 154/268.
2.
Horizon (S/CD 50M), Jack Taylor, Dana Point YC,
163/272.
3.
Atalanta (Tripp 74 ketch), Richard Hedreen, Corinthian
YC, Seattle, 173/293.
4.
Ghost II (Farr 395), Al Berg, Santa Monica Windjammers,
172/352.
5.
Zamazaan (Farr 52C), Charles Weghorn, St. Francis
YC, 158/458.
6.
Black Knight (Farr 39ML), Phillip Friedman, Del
Rey YC, retired.
SALSA
DIVISION
Started
race Feb. 7; started Leg 2 Feb. 13
Leg
1 order of finish on corrected time (includes
handicaps and engine time penalties)
SPINNAKER
1.
Between the Sheets (Jeanneau 52.2), Ross Pearlman,
Santa Monica Windjammers YC.
2.
Gold Digger (N/M 50), David Fell, Seal Beach YC.
3.
Misty (Cal 39-2), Harold Alexander, Seal Beach
YC.
4.
Broadway Babe (C&C 110), Jim Maslon, Del Rey
YC.
5.
Amazing Grace (Farr 55), Allen Puckett, California
YC.
6.
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
1.
Principessa (Newport 41S), Gregory Daley, Del
Rey YC (retired).
2.
Fly'n Bry'n (Catalina 42), Jerry Bryan, American
Legion YC.
3.
Firelight (Catalina 470T), Patrick Mickle, Dana
Point YC.
4.
Seaker II (Farr 33), Wes Stone, Cabrillo Beach
YC.
5.
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
