Boxing Day Race at Alamitos Bay Yacht Club

The Gibbs brothers passed everyone to win ABYC's Boxing Day Race going away Rich Roberts

Chris Raab (l) in his Lido 14 fights off the Gibbs before they invevitably passed in their 49er © Rich Roberts

There were 59 boats and many different classes, six of which finished in the top 10 and nine of which didn't bother to finish at all. The Gibbs's only error was starting a minute early ahead of their assigned time.

'We did?' Riley said when informed of the mistake afterward. 'I didn't know we were early.'

The Gibbs' 49er breezes through a pair of rivals © Rich Roberts

No matter. Event chairperson and principal race officer Mark Townsend said, 'Nobody said anything and I didn't blow a horn.'

And it hardly affected the outcome. The Gibbs obviously had the fastest boat, even in the wispy southwesterly that built from five to eight knots as the chase proceeded. Their boat handling through many spinnaker sets and gibes was flawless.

The last boat the Gibbs passed was the race committee barge © Rich Roberts

Their last challenger was ABYC veteran Chris Raab, a two-time winner of this event and several national and international competitions in various classes. This time he sailed a Lido 14 and started 25 minutes ahead of the Gibbs and had passed everyone else on the second lap when they closed in at the windward mark in the channel off the bay.

'I'm winning!' Raab shouted hilariously as he approached the buoy, 'I'm winning!'---knowing it was only seconds before the Gibbs followed him around and breezed by, 20 minutes from their finish five minutes ahead.

Sabots started first and led for a little while © Rich Roberts

Riley Gibbs had sailed other boats in several Boxing Day races but said, 'I've never been first. It seems we had the right boat this time.'

Lido 14s jammed at the start © Rich Roberts

Sawyer said it was his first race on a 49er, although he had won events in Lido 14 and Cal 20 junior classes this year.

Riley has higher ambitions: an Olympic campaign as crew for Zack Downing that will carry them through a series of qualifying events leading to 2016 at Rio de Janeiro.

One thing he knows: it won't be as easy as Sunday.

Top finishers

1. Riley Gibbs/Sawyer Gibbs, ABYC (49er),
2. Chris Raab, ABYC (Lido 14).
3. David Klatt, Ventura YC (Wiley Wabbit).
4. Stu Robertson/Spanky McGee, Mission Bay YC (Lido 14).
5. Eric Conn/Stacy Conn, ABYC (Mercury).
6. Brad Bergeron, Seal Beach YC (Mercury 18).
7. Thomas Priest/David West, HLBC/TPYC (Mercury).
8. Keith Ives/Chuck Stevens, ABYC/LBYC (Cal 20).
9. Jennifer Kuritz/Steve Kuritz/John Ellis, ABYC (Cal 20)/
10. Axel Stordahl, ABYC (Naples Sabot).

 Overall Results: