As the winter turns to spring the sailing season across the country starts to get into gear. In southern California we have been in full swing since January 1st as the temperate climate really makes sailing here a year round thing. Our Ullman Sails West Coast Team already have thousands of sailing miles and driving miles under their belts and it is only April!
2012 started off with a lot of momentum as the West Coast Viper 640 Championship Series began in early January with a trip to Arizona for their Leukemia Cup Regatta. We have been working hard with the research and development in Viper 640 class and have been really excited with the recent run of results. The Viper 640 is such a fun boat and there is a great group of people (not to mention good sailors) helping drive the class on and when the 2014 North Americans come to Long Beach we are hoping to get close to 100 boats signed up. It there is a chance for a big one-design class to gain momentum in So Cal then this is it.
The Ullman Sails Offshore Series kicked off with the annual Islands Race (Newport-San Diego around Catalina & San Clemente Island) and was used as a shakedown for the San Diego-Puerto Vallarta Race. The wind did not cooperate but the boats that did finish were tightly matched all the way to the finish. The J-120 ‘Pole Dancer’ came out on top as corrected overall winner! Congratulations to them as they went on to compete in this years Cabo Race.
The San Diego to Puerto Vallarta Race was up next and if you were on one of the smaller boats then you were lucky enough to get some of the best sailing offshore racing has to offer. I went down on the J-125 ‘TimeShaver’ and had a great time with good people (2nd class 2nd overall). The bigger boats did not get the same weather window and had a more benign trip in what ended up being one of the slowest races on record.
Most boats and crews stayed in Puerto Vallarta for the hugely popular MEXORC series. Loft owner Bruce Cooper makes monthly trips to Acapulco where most of the big boat racing goes on and had been busy since January getting sails ready for the Mexican Navy who competitively race a 1D48 (1st in Class) and a Nelson Merek 46 (3rd in Class). The big winner was the Andrews 70 ‘Alchemy’ who comfortably won their class and overall as this boat gets better and better all the time!
A quick trip back for the big boys and they were off to Cabo in BYC’s Corona Del Mar to Cabo Race. The stories are still coming out of this one as boats are reporting they saw winds in the 40’s. Check out the videos all over YouTube for some entertaining sailing… and crashing!
In between all the sailing we actually work and have been lucky enough to be part of the Congressional Cup in Long Beach for the past few years. This is one of the most prestigious match racing events in the world and only grade 1 match racing event in the USA, and it is all right here in the ever fun Catalina 37. Ullman Sails Newport Beach teamed up with Dimension Polyant to outfit the boats with new Carbon GPL sails and new spinnakers. The event is fantastic and can be easily viewed from Belmont Pier with the racing taking place just in front. Grab a beer, hot dog and a seat and listen to the live commentating as some of the best sailors around compete. This years winner, Ian Williams, showed his dominance and secured his second title in a row. Congratulations to all the skippers and sailors involved.
Thanks to JoySailing for the great Con-Cup Pictures!
Team Ullman Sails
