2015 Ullman Sails Long Beach Race Week concludes with a splash

by Betsy Crowfoot on 30 Jun 2015 2015 Ullman Sails Long Beach Race Week (LBRW) concluded with a ‘splash’ – as classic Long Beach conditions gelled, and a solid breeze filled in from the west. Ivory cirrus swirled in the blue skies; steady waves and swell barrelled through the courses.

After three days of exciting, and sometimes challenging, racing – Bruce Golison aboard Midlife Crisis was awarded One Design Boat of the Week; while PHRF Boat of the Week honors went to David Team’s Rebel Yell.

LBRW had its origins in 1980 and is hosted by neighboring Long Beach Yacht Club (LBYC) and Alamitos Bay Yacht Club (ABYC).

Over the years the co-hosts and friendly rivals have traded trophies in the coveted Yacht Club Challenge, which this year went to ABYC – competitors Chuck Clay in the Catalina 37 fleet, Pete Melvin in the multihull division, and Viper racer Kevin Taugher. The Challenge winner is based on the cumulative score of teams of three yachts, in separate classes. One of the three boats must be a Catalina 37, and to accommodate out-of-towners, organizers will let a club ‘adopt’ a Catalina 37 to fill their quota. To make the field extra level, the prizewinning formula factors in the number of competitors in each of the team-member fleets.

Clay, commodore of ABYC, stood proud at his club’s victory – bittersweet as Clay himself was defeated in the Catalina 37 class, and passed the national Championship Title to Dave Hood, of LBYC.

“Dave has been pretty consistent, over the course of the weekend,” Clay conceded. “Our challenge was to be to protect our second place.”

That’s because Clay had a second contest, nearly as critical – between he and LBYC commodore John Fleishman: who was nipping at his heels in third place. “We started out the regatta behind Fleishman’s team, and finished two points ahead. The racing has been tight and we really needed some help from Lady Luck!”

Receiving the Catalina 37 National Championship title “feels excellent” said Hood. It has been a big year for the future commodore of LBYC, who also sailed his way into the Ficker Cup match race regatta earlier this year. “We got a chance to sail in a World Match Racing Tour event this year and made the semi-finals. The team’s clicking nicely, and it’s really the teamwork that makes the difference.”

“This whole fleet has been very challenging,” Hood added. “With the one design class, the boats are kept very even and you can really see the difference in the teamwork. These boats amplify all that. If you’re doing really well, you can see it, and if you make a mistake you can see that too.”

In the J/70 fleet – the largest of the regatta – Bruce Golison looked like he’d had his own start, at the mark roundings. With an indomitable lead over the 19-boat fleet Golison won his division, and Ullman Sails Long Beach Race Week Boat of the Week in the One Design category. Golison only began sailing J/70s in September, winning that first regatta (J Fest San Diego) and maintaining a triumphant track record ever since. He was followed by Minor Threat, 2; and Catapult, 3.

As is often the case, today’s weather forecast was wrong – and participants applauded. But as the breeze rocketed up into the high teens, so too did the mishaps. Victoire launched a crew member into the drink during an accidental jibe. He was shortly retrieved. A committee boat had to tow a Viper into the dock, after their rig started to fail during the final race. Victor Wild’s TP52 Bud took a bite out of Margaritaville’s stern pulpit during a pre-start. The protest was in arbitration at press time; but appears not to affect Rebel Yell’s win in the Fast 50 Class.

Elsewhere, Medicine Man edged out Velos in a tie-breaker, in PHRF-RL-1. In PHRF-RL-2 Gator, with six points, held off an attack by Green Dragon 2 and Tigris, tied at eight points.

The multihull division had their challenges; at any given time only half the fleet was racing. By the final day, only three boats were standing: John Sangmeiser’s Pieology won that race, but Pete Melvin triumphed overall with Mama Tried.

Aven logged a tidy record of 7-0 to clinch J/80 fleet. Other winners were: J/120, Caper; PHRF 1, Tau Kuai, PHRF 2, Mexican Divorce; Farr 40, Blade 2. In PHRF 3 Lugano edged out Rival by one point while Off the Porch shut the door on Ceann Saile in PHRF 4.

Code Blue was declared the Schock 35 Pacific Coast Champion, and Electra the J/109 West Coast Champion.

Hot Mess cleaned up in the Viper 640 fleet – with an impressive 1-1-1-2-1-1-2 record – and were awarded Boat of the Day Friday.

Next year’s Long Beach Race Week will be held June 24-26, 2016. Visit the website for more information.

Final results