19TH
NORTH SAILS RACE WEEK
Long Beach, CA/June 27-29, 2003
Presented by Golison & Golison
and Premiere Racing
www.Premiere-Racing.com
June 9, 2003 For Immediate Release
PHRF WINNERS FLOCK BACK TO NORTH
SAILS RACE WEEK
LONG
BEACH, Calif.---One-design racing has flourished
in 18 years of North Sails Race Week, but PHRF
also continues to draw a collage of top competitors
to the West Coast's largest inshore keelboat event.
All
five of the 2002 PHRF winners have signed up to
defend their 2002 titles in racing scheduled the
weekend of June 27-29: Jim Demetriades' Transpac
52, Yassou; Cita Litt's Schock 40, Cita; Dave
Gray's Davidson 44, Pendragon II; Scott Taylor's
B32, Defiance, and Allan Rosenberg's Olson 30,
Intense.
Taylor,
who lives in Long Beach, represents the Cabrillo
Beach Yacht Club in San Pedro, where PHRF was
founded at a meeting in 1959. At first the name
meant Pacific Handicap Racing Fleet, but as the
concept caught on nationally "Pacific"
became "Performance" in 1973. Several
other alternative systems have been proposed over
the years, but PHRF remains the standard across
the U.S.
Taylor,
40, said, "It's the one rating rule that
has endured. It's certainly not perfect, but it
allows boats of all types and people of all levels
to race together."
North
Sails Race Week is co-managed by Golison and Golison
and Premiere Racing. A mix of PHRF and one-design
classes will compete on three race courses. Invited
one-design classes include the Farr 40s, J/105s
and Schock 35s, all contesting their Pacific Coast
championships, plus 1D35, Beneteau 40.7, Beneteau
36.7, J/120, J/80, Melges 24, Santa Cruz 52 and
Transpac 52.
Of
last year's one-design winners, Brack Duker's
Farr 40, Revolution; Ray Godwin's Schock 35, Whiplash,
and Argyle Campbell's Melges 24, Rock n' Roll,
are also entered as the list grows daily. Campbell
faces another battle with Dave Ullman, who returns
to the class where he won Boat of the Week honors
in 2001 and 1999---the last time in a four-deep
tiebreaker countback against Campbell.
Meanwhile,
Golison & Golison is pleased to announce the
addition of the Sailing Pro Shop to the list of
official supporters of North Sails Race Week.
The Sailing Pro Shop specializes in providing
some of the best big boat gear available in the
marketplace, including products from Camet Gear,
Clew Gear, Dubarry Footwear, Equipe Lite, Gill,
Ronstan clothing and hardware, Dirty Dog Sunglasses,
Reyn Spooner aloha shirts, Steiner, Yale and Samson
Cordage.
The
Sailing Pro Shop will have a display tent at the
headquarters SeaPort Marina hotel for competitors
to visit after each day's racing. More information
is available by calling toll free to (800) 354-7245
or by going on online at www.sailingproshop.com
The
store is located on the water above "sled
row" in Long Beach, next door to North Sails.
To visit by boat, the new facility also has its
own 300-foot dock in front of the new McKennas
on the Bay Restaurant. The address is 194 Marina
Drive, Suite 201, Long Beach, CA 90803.
In
PHRF competition at North Sails Race Week, the
results often have been settled by seconds when
each boat's performance is computed by its rating
against its time and the distance of each race.
Defiance, the only B32 racing in the Los Angeles-Orange
County area, rated 66 seconds per mile last year,
a fairly low number for a boat its size. Taylor
said that's because it's really just a small ultralight.
"PHRF
allows me to have a boat that is faster than any
of the one-designs available in that size range,"
Taylor said, "and my B32 is more fun to race.
I like having an ultralight boat on the West Coast,
where you don't tend to find many small ultralight
classes."
This
year Taylor had Defiance towed East for Key West
2003, where he won PHRF 6 class, overcoming an
OCS with three first places and a second. That
gave Defiance a grand slam of Premiere Racing
events, along with other victories at San Diego
YC's Yachting Cup and California YC's recent Cal
Race Week.
Taylor
attributes those successes to solid crew work
by a group of eight friends---Tim Dohmen, Chris
Iwai, Brad Bougsman, Jerry Healy, Marty Diandriole,
Will Vrooman, Vanessa Lewis and Laura Horvath.
All but Healy and Horvath have been sailing with
him for 12 years, starting on a Schock 41GP also
named Defiance.
Taylor
needs a lot of friends on board. "You have
a 4,000-pound boat with only 1,500 pounds of ballast,"
he said. "You need to keep it upright somehow.
It's a tender boat."
Entry
information is available on the web site: www.Premiere-Racing.com,
at
(714) 379-4884 or via e-mail at bruce@golison.com.
Premiere Racing is the event organizer for Key
West 2004---the annual January sailing pilgrimage
for boats from across the U.S. and around the
world.
Long-time
sponsors North Sails and Team McLube are joined
by official timekeeper and new Day Sponsor Nautica
Watches. J/Boats, Raider RIBS inflatable tenders,
Albertson's and Sailing Pro Shop are official
supporters of North Sails Race Week.
Event
headquarters remains at the SeaPort Marina Hotel,
also the site of related social activities. The
hotel is offering a special race week room rate.
Reservations may be made by calling 1-562-434-8451
or on the Internet at www.seaportmarinahotel.com.
In
addition, NSRW has added Ayres Hotels, known for
their European boutique ambience, as the official
luxury hotel for the event. The hotels are owned
by Melges 24 competitor Bruce Ayres and his family.
The nearest Ayres Hotel is in Seal Beach, about
a seven-minute drive from event headquarters (www.ayreshotels.com
or 1-800-653-3230). Early reservations are suggested.
Complete
current entry list: www.premiere-racing.com
CONTACTS
Golison
& Golison: (714) 379-4884 / fax (714) 379-3865
bruce@golison.com
Premiere
Racing: (781) 639-9545
NSRW@Premiere-Racing.com
PRESS
OFFICER
Rich Roberts
(310) 835-2526
richsail@earthlink.net
web site: www.Premiere-Racing.com
