ABYC Halloween Regatta Report | A Legend Returns

Lido 14 Report By Keith Magnussen

The ABYC Halloween Regatta is a day of fun, fair, and positive sailing.  The emphasis is on competitive racing with the lighter side of Halloween taking a role in leveling out the day.

Jeff Lenhart and crew waiting for some wind

Inside the bay the Lido 14 class was treated to the return of a true Southern California legend, Jeff Lenhart.  Jeff has been cutting and hand making Lido 14 (and almost every other small boat) sails for around 35 years at Ullman Sails Newport Beach.  Jeff has returned to the water after taking a few years off from the sailing circuit to do whatever it is Jeff does when he is not sailing!

Lenhart has been working on his boat and this was his debut back in the class.  His crew, Jeff Petersen, got out early and had some light air practice before race one.  It took about 2 minutes to realize that it was going to be hard to beat Jeff.  Consistently being in the right place and going fast saw him break out to an early lead and take race 1 with a convincing finish.

October and November are known for light air in Southern California  and October 31st was not an exception.  The next two races were some what tedious but the team of Jeff's performed well and took the day!  Congratulations to Jeff and Jeff.  Truly a proud day for Jeff and Ullman Sails as the entire fleet were using sails made by Jeff Lenhart!  100% Ullman Day.

Ocean Course Report By Mike Price

While there were many sailors wearing their creative costumes as they launched their boats to sail in the annual Halloween Regatta hosted Alamitos Bay Yacht Club, one aspect of the regatta seemed to be in short supply- the wind!!

Cal 20's Downwind

While On the “ocean course,” set up in Long Beach Bay, inside the break-wall, the racers had their hands full in the challenging conditions of light air. At only three to five knots of breeze at any given time, the fleet of Cal 20’s, Viper 640’s, and 29ers did their best to make their boats move around the short, grand prix course. After an hour-and-a-half of postponement, the breeze stabilized at three to four knots and it was enough to begin racing.

The five-boat Viper 640 fleet enjoyed brisk sailing. Although a quick glance at the results shows that the regatta was dominated by Kevin Taugher, who posted three bullets for the day, each win was hard-earned with skippers Craig Walker and Tim Carter always close behind.

Craig Walker and his Viper 640 team

Stu Robertson and crew, Scott Atwood captured the top podium spot for the ten Cal 20’s who came to play. The fleet of twenty-foot keelboats that has been an active one-design since the early 1960’s worked very hard and many leeward roundings were three-boats-deep, complete with plenty of yelling at low speeds. Local diver, Keith Ives took the second place spot and the father-and-son team of Dave and Matt Rustigan claimed third to round out the podium. 

Peter and Jack Joslin, from San Diego, won the dozen-boat fleet of 29ers in conditions that were so challenging that it was not an uncommon sight to see a skiff outrun his own gennaker on the downwind legs. The fleet enjoyed very tight racing and even opted to race a fourth race after other fleets concluded at three. Kyle Collins and Luke Pond from King Harbor sailed hard to a second place position, one point behind the leaders, and the team of David Eastwood and Wells Drayton, from Santa Barbara, took third to complete the leader-board.

Win or lose, a common scene on the water that day was smiles.  Not many places in the country could be enjoyed in shorts and a t-shirt, let alone with such a beautiful day on the water.

FULL RESULTS

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Dana Point Harbor Championships

2015 Dana Point Harbor Champion "Timeshaver"

Dana Point Harbor California is one of those beautiful places that has been hidden away from the spotlight for many years.  The rich history of the city dates back to the 1800's when Richard Henry Dana first laid his eyes on what he thought was the most beautiful area on California.  Dana Point Yacht club dates back to 1952 and has been a thriving force in racing for many of the years it has been in existence.

The Howard Trueba memorial trophy is presented each year to the skipper who wins the Dana Point Harbor Championships that consists of inward leeward and random leg style racing.  2015 saw thirteen boats enter (each skipper is invited based on winning at least one race in Dana Point Harbor) from all of the various classes that race week in week out.  Handicaps ranged from -6 to 120 and all boats start on the same line.  This can be challenging for the race committee as they must take into consideration the amount of speed a boat that rates -6 can build up in a short time.

Light Air Day In Dana Point California

Weather conditions are always a factor for sailing and Southern California has been blessed(?) with warm beautiful weather for what seems like forever now.  Saturday the wind got the message and showed up  The one random leg race took place in this breeze and the race committee threw out a fun and interesting course.  Two starboard mark rounding, lengthy upwind, VMG running and a bit of reaching were all included in the 12.1 mile (or close to that) course.  We had a nice tour of the Dana Point area and even ventured as far south as San Clemente.

The start was civilized and the leader who popped out at the first mark was James Wert and his team on "Twister."  They had a good start and kept Viggo Torbensen's "Timeshaver" pinned out below them.  In hot pursuit were the FT-10's, Henderson 30's, Olson 30's and a variety of other cool boats.

Twister and Timeshaver has a few moments of action until Timeshaver decided to gybe away and sail their own race.  The FT-10's are super tough in the 10-12kts of VMG running and were rapidly gaining ground.  The early gybe seemed to pay off as Timeshaver looked to be in more pressure closer to the beach.  San Clemente was the destination and D mark is a few miles off the pier.   The wind built as the race progressed and the long upwind leg to Whistle buoy saw Timeshaver extend the lead while Twister did their best to pull time on Ruckus.

Twister was doing their best to hold off the FT-10's but in the end Ruckus corrected out to place second behind Timeshaver.  Twister was third and the Olson 30 Grey Goose corrected into fourth. 

Sunday saw a light breeze from the south that never really developed into anything substantial.  Race one was somewhat of a parade and the RC eventually canceled it and reset the course.  The next start was somewhat dramatic as 40 foot boats try to jockey with 24 foot boats on a short line.  Most boats were happy to get away unscathed with Chuck Bayless' Henderson 30 "Espirit" getting around the top mark first.  They had a great set and held off the larger Timeshaver for 3/4 of the final leg home.  As the boats gybed Timeshaver managed to overtake Espirit but was beaten on corrected time.  Great result for Espirit and proved their hard work and preparation is turning them into a real contender in Dana Point. 

J-125 Timeshaver with 100% Ullman Sails Inventory

Coming into the final two races it was a two horse race for the gold.  Timeshaver and Ruckus were sitting atop the leader-board and the next race proved pivotal.  Timeshaver won by a mere 5 seconds and essentially sealed the 2015 Harbor Championships with this race.

2015 was a fantastic year for sailing in Southern California and ending it with a series like this is the only way to go.  Thank you to the Race Committee, sailors and all the Ullman Sails supporters that fly the Ullman flag on the race course.

Full Results

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Key West Race Week | Ullman Sails USA 32 Regatta Wrap Up

Team USA 32 from California Yacht Club (left to right): Greg Koski, Doug Mclean, Erik Shampain, Keith Magnussen

Key West Race Week (KWRW) 2015 version is in the books.  Potentially the last KWRW turned out to be a somewhat light air event until the final day when the classic conditions came through with much appreciation from the sailors. 

USA 32 leading the pack

USA 32 skippered by Doug Mclean from California Yacht Club was in the ultra competitive J-70 class.  Not only was the J-70 class the largest but it was also the closest with the regatta really coming down to the final few races.  Tea, Helly Hansen rallied back only to be OCS in the final race to ultimately end their chances.  Team Calvi Network remained consistent and took the top honors with some really cool sailing.  Flojito Y Cooperando pushed into second with their new Ullman Main.  They were extremely fast and made the most of their speed by keeping good clean lanes around the racecourse. 

Flojito Cruising Upwind

USA 32 rounded out the regatta in 11th place to secure a great finish for Doug Mclean as his first regatta as skipper.  The boys had a solid regatta and after three days were still in touching distance of the podium.  A tough fourth day with two over early starts were hard to overcome but the team bounced back with solid finishing.

Doug Mclean: "One of the best sailing experiences ever, great boat, great sailing venue, and really great team.  We came a long way from where we started, and having never sailed together until Key West, I am very proud of this team. I am also very proud of our results.  I want to thank our sponsors, Latis Racing, Ullman Sails, and most of all California Yacht Club for there great support.

Keith Magnussen:  "The fourth day was disappointing but we had to keep things in perspective.  This was our first regatta together as a team and when you are still developing it is important to bounce back and we did.  The atmosphere of the event and team was amazing and it was a pleasure to sail for Doug Mclean and California Yacht Club.  The J-70 is a great boat and I can only hope that it starts flourishing on the West Coast."

Erik Shampain: "Overall we had a great regatta and learned more about sailing and tuning the J-70.  The two highlights for me were blasting downwind on the final day and the collaboration between all of the Ullman customers as we are always trying to go faster as a group." 

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Key West Race Week | Ullman Sails USA 32 Day 4 Report

Team USA 32 Representing California Yacht Club

Day 4 from Key West Race Week came with good breeze and an early seat to make up for the lack of sailing on Wednesday.  The drama from the big boats (Bella Mente hitting something) was the talk of the town and the climax of the J-70 fleet was imminent as they were three races scheduled for the day.  USA 32 was keen on getting out early to see what the racecourse was looking like.

When the breeze came in it was refreshing as it quickly built to a steady 10kts.  Racing was tight and the leader board started to get organized with a few different groups forming.

USA 32 has a mediocre day with two over early races really making things tough.  Flojito Y Cooperando won two of three races using their new Ullman Main and propelled themselves into third place.  The Italian contingent "Cali Network" have sailed very consistently and with the throughout they are sitting top of the leaderboard.

Keith Magnussen: "In the first race we were looking ok but did not stick to the game plan as we had in previous races.  As the clouds and systems came through before the start we tried to tune the rig accordingly.  We might have been a little behind but felt good when we found a lane."  I think that a little more time in the boat as a team will be really beneficial in the future as this is our first regatta in the boat.  I am super positive about tomorrow and know that this will be a success as I have learned a lot about the J-70 and more about big boat management."

Grek Koski:  "Over early can be very costly and it took us out of our game plan.  We were more prepared for the light air because that is what we practiced in and were a bit un prepared as the breeze came on."

Erik Shampain: "Today was hard. Again I learned the lesson "Stick to the game plan." On the first beat of race 1 we went against our pre race game plan and it hurt as we rounded the first mark very deep. Luckily with a little speed and clean crew work, we were able to climb into the 20's. The next two races were harder as we pulled the trigger early and were called OCS. With shorted legs and few passing lanes, we were only ably to climb to around mid fleet. But we're staying positive and looking forward to getting three races back in on tomorrows final day.

Doug Mclean: "Tough day on the water and I am still learning the boat.  Time and distance was critical and we obviously missed that on two starts.  Team was a little disappointed but we are upbeat and looking forward to tomorrow.  It is great to be out here representing California Yacht Club and the West Coast."

Results

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Key West Race Week Sunday Report | Ullman Sails

Key West Race Week

USA 32 Team "Latis Racing" has been in Key West since Thursday and are excited about day one of racing which starts tomorrow.  Doug Mclean, Erik Shampain, Greg Koski and Keith Magnussen have been spending a few days on the boat practicing and have taken the time to share some observations.

Erik Shampain at the Southern Most Point

Erik Shampain:  Today was a great day to warm up.  A large fleet was on the water and had a good chance to test their speed against rivals.  We are very happy with our boat speed and optimistic about chances to compete.

Greg Koski: It was a really good practice to work on the little things. We worked on down modes and up modes.  It was about the fine tune.  Downwind we managed our crew position in order to switch gears.

Doug Mclean: Time on the boat and sailing with a relatively new team is always crucial even when you race with experienced sailors.  I had the chance to experience a wide range of conditions which helped us pack a lot of transitioning into two days.  I am looking forward to the regatta and representing California Yacht Club.

Keith Magnussen:  We had a great practice today and had a chance to fine tune our crew work.  Key West is a unique venue with many challenges and I am looking forward to a competitive week of saddling.

Follow USA 32 on Ullman Sails Newport Beach Facebook Page

Key West Race Week Sunset Over The J-70 Course

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