Dana Point Series #5 Re-loaded

Windy and wavy day in DP!

By Bruce Cooper / Ullman Sails

The Dana Point Series has had 2 of the 5 races so far re-scheduled due to lack of wind and too much wind. Race #5 was rescheduled from March 17^th to April 14^th and was facing some top wind and wave conditions as another storm blew through SoCal at the end of the week.

Graham Forsyth, David Bolton and Cindy Wynne monitored the forecast and actual conditions carefully to determine the fate of the rescheduled race #5. Racers arrived to the Dana Point Yacht Club watching the wind driven waves pound the outer breakwater and the 25 plus knots of wind rip white caps across the water to the horizon. The breeze was on! Was the race on? Bahia Corinthian YC in Newport had cancelled their Angelman Series race earlier in the morning. In year’s past, mast have broken, sails have blown apart, what would the race committee decide to do?

With confidence after hearing the wind and wave report from the J105 Legacy, who had just came down from Newport that morning and placed an inflatable buoy at the location of the missing “L” mark, the DPYC race committee decided the 20-22 knots of wind with higher puffs and 5-7 foot waves did not scare them and the race was on!

The 17 racers were all out before the 11:55 warning deciding whether a reef in the main was the best trim while checking various sail combinations to give the best performance and balance in the big wind and waves. Every one looked a little scattered and wild as all the boats figured out their best trim in the high winds.

Viggo Torbenson’s J125 Timeshaver loaded the boat with thirteen crew members to counter balance the healing of the wind and led the Class “A” boats from the start and stretched an incredible lead on the slightly slower boats in her class. The bigger Sydney 41 Twister stayed in front of the J105 Legacy and IMX 38 Showdown to cross the line ahead, but could not save the handicap time owed to the smaller boats.

In Class “B” the Olson 30 Grey Goose and the Santana 3030 Schockwave battled tight upwind to the new “L” mark, but the speedy downwind flyer Grey Goose opened up with the spinnaker pulling and led the rest of the race to take the bullet in first place.

The class “C” boats were a little off the pace of the bigger boats when sailing upwind against the big waves and wind, but had a great race with their class. Doug Hosford sailed his J24 Super Strings to a first place ahead of Mark Downey’s Capo 26 Orski and Carol Maxwell and Glen Everroad’s orange Lindberg 26 Beaver.

The non spinnaker boats and the Catalina 30’s kept their racing closer to the harbor and did not go up to “L” mark and stayed in the consistent strong Westerly wind under the Dana Point all day. Leading the way in the Catalina 30 class was Rick Caselli on Bon Vivant. He and his family have been racing this same boat for almost two decades, way to go!

The non spinnaker fleet (who needed spinnakers on a day when it was blowing 20+!?!) was led by the Catalina 320 Trofina 2 owned by Anna & Ueli Scharer. In second place was the biggest boat of the fleet. Dave Stege and crew sailed the mighty Tarten 3700 Vinciamo with the rail down and spray flying to stay ahead of the third place finisher Dave Griffin sailing his Newport 28 Fair Havens. Dave wisely switched to his smaller Dacron Roller Furling genoa before leaving the dock, he said this definitely was a game changer for Fair Havens. Way to go Dave!

Thanks to the Dana Point Yacht Club for holding the race and letting the sailors relish in the big winds and seas. The competitors all sailed their boats to the speed and comfort level they felt best for the conditions and safety of their crew. No blown sails, no broken mast, lots of seasick chowder over the side with the only true causality being one sunk / lost inflatable buoy with anchor, rode and one extra cast iron Christmas tree stand for extra ballast. It was a great day with stories for years to come of the Dana Point Series Race #5 re-loaded.
-J105 w/ spinnaker Video
-RESULTS-

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Ullman's Bruce Cooper Talks J-105 Sails with Fleet 6

Bruce Cooper, the J-105 specialist at Ullman Sails, is a long-time innovator in the class. He's worked for Ullman for more than 25 years and in 2006 purchased the Newport Beach & Long Beach Ullman Sails franchises. During his sailmaking career, he's developed skills that range from handwork to running the plotter to designing. Although Bruce has raced in virtually every type of sailboat, he has a soft spot for the J-105. The home page of his Newport Beach loft's web site (http://ullmansailsnewportbeach.blogspot.com) features a 105 blasting through the Southern California surf. This dedication to the class has paid off: Ullman Sails rule 105 racing in Southern California. An interview with Bruce (conducted via email) follows:

Question: Is there really that much room for improvement left in the design of J105 sails? The class has been around for 20 years now. Surely everything has been tried before. No?
Answer: There is always room for improvement. I have been sailing J-105s for over 14 years and have seen much of the refinement with the sails, rig tuning and how we sail the boats change in that time. I explain to customers that the sail making world makes about 95% the same sail compared to each other. Virtually all racing sails are limited to size, weight and rigging considerations. So, in essence we all have the same canvas to create our master piece on. It's what the sail maker does in the last 5% that separates good designs and top quality sails with a back of the pack sails..... Read on at the J-105 Fleet 6 Website!!

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Farr 40 Audi Cup

Dana Point Yacht Club played host to the Audi Cup for the second year running. Audi, in conjunction with the Richard Henry Dana Charity Regatta and the Tall Ship Festival, sponsored the regatta in order to bring a world class sailing event to Southern California. This year the Farr 40 class and the J-24 class were invited to participate and compete for not only bragging rights but also a new F40/J24 Spinnaker made by Ullman Sails Newport Beach and donated by Audi Mission Viejo.

Twelve J-24’s and six Farr 40’s arrived in Dana Point Harbor and were treated to some of the best sailing of the summer. The normal conditions for Dana Point (light and choppy) never arrived and we were instead greeted with a nice 15kt breeze. The Farr 40 fleet was out early and practicing long before the other fleets started to materialize. I was fortunate enough to race on Ray Godwin’s “Temptress” and we took the practice time to get familiar with each other as most of us had never sailed together before.

Race one started in near perfect conditions and after a good start we played the right side of the course, got the right shift and were first around the weather mark. The racing was extremely close and Oscar Krinski’s “Chayah” was within 2 boat-length’s of us. We had a good downwind leg, error free crew-work and from there out covered well and won race 1. Chayah was a close second and David Voss on “Piranha” was third.

The wind was shifting further right as the day went on and we were seeing puffs in the upper teens. Race two was a little more eventful for us and we were quickly reminded of how tough the fleet is and that one or two mistakes is all that is needed to send you to the back of the fleet. After a mediocre start we came to a crossing situation with Piranha. It was close but we fouled Piranha (port/starboard) and were forced to take our penalty turn. This put us in the back of the fleet and unfortunately never really recovered. Chayah won the race and it was apparent that they were finding their groove and were going to be hard to beat. Piranha was second and displaying their consistency that would be a deciding factor for the weekend.

We managed two more races for Saturday and the consensus was that this was one of the best regattas of the season and that Dana Point might just be the new Hurricane Gulch. Chayah raced well grabbing another first but Piranha’s bullet on the fourth race was a sign of what was to come.

Sunday started out as the typical 5-8kt day in Dana Point but was quickly transformed into another windy affair. With three races scheduled for the day it was still anyone’s regatta. Piranha and Chayah were tied on points and Temptress was 4 points back. Race five saw Piranha and Chayah jump out to early leads and then turned the race into two-boat affair. Piranha edged out Chayah to take a slim one point lead into the sixth race. Race six was eventful and Chayah had to settle for a sixth after some problems on the boat. Unfortunately Oscar Krinski had some health issues and Chayah had to withdraw from the final race.

Piranha won the sixth and seventh race and with four bullets they took top honors at the 2010 Audi Cup. Ray Godwin’s Temptress was second and Oscar Krinski’s Chayah still got third after withdrawing on Sunday.

The atmosphere surrounding the event was spectacular and the racing venue was near perfect. Dana Point Yacht Club hosted a fantastic event and with a corporate giant like Audi’s backing this should be a must on everyone’s regatta schedule next year. Be sure you are ready for your next regatta and all major events by purchasing Ullman Sails. We are currently in the middle of our fall discount program.

Keith Magnussen

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