The annual Seal Beach to Dana Point Race is always a highly anticipated and well attended event. Part of what makes it so is the warmth of the two hosting yacht clubs.
This year saw around 50 boats and they were treated to a beautiful day. From Ericsson 38's to a J-125 this race had a plethora of boats, each with a good shot at the overall.
I (Keith Magnussen) was on the J-125 "Timeshaver: and were hoping to use our new Code 0 (see picture below). Viggo Torbensen (who owns the J-125) is keen to optimize his boat for Transpac 2015 and has chosen Ullman Sails to power his awesome boat. Viggo had this to say about the Code 0 and working with Ullman Sails, "It starts with a desire to win then comes the boat keeping it dialed in and in top top shape, next would be align yourself with a sailmaker that understands the goal and is willing to go the extra mile to make the boat go fast, Ullman has become an easy choice for me because of Keith, yourself (Erik Shampain) and the team behind you. The code zero proved to be an amazing sail yesterday, but again, I recognize it came out right because someone sat down and put thoughts into and designed the sail for the boat. All of the sails I have purchased from you guys have come with the same impressive attention to detail."
We started the race in a southerly and were the first boat to put up any sort of spinnaker when we raised our Code 0 about 30 seconds after the start. Immediately we powered through the slower boats that started in front us. We also put a substantial gap between us and the Farr 40. The Melges 32 "Pendragon" had the ability to keep us in the light stuff and stayed close on our heels. As the race progessed we eaily sailed at 70 TWA at wind speed or more. Fantastic conditions for us and we excelled when the wind went to 110+ TWA and we changed to the 3A. This was short lived and we went back to the Code 0 and put more distance on the fleet.
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| Photo By JoySailing.com |
We were thinking about the overall as we rounded the iconic Dana Point and switched to the 1A. The only thing we did not account for was Alex Cross and his team on "Swoosh." They must have sailed a perfect race (and had a full inventory of Ullman Sails) because they managed to nip us for the overall trophy! The Congratulations to Alex and his team on a great race.
The Code 0 is a great weapon (see video below) and when used correctly can be the difference between winning and losing. If you want more info then please contact us at (714) 432-1869 or KMagnussen@ullmansails.com
