Cal 25 Fleet V Championship - Melendres duo emerge victorious

by Rick Roberts on 12 Nov 2012 Long Beach Yacht Club’s Art and Scott Melendres took the lead from the start and never looked back as they went on to capture the 2012 Cal 25 Fleet V Championship on Sunday off the Long Beach Harbor.

Art and Scott Melendres of Long Beach Yacht Club won the 2012 Cal 25 Fleet V Championship Sunday in dominating fashion. The regatta is a long-standing tradition at LBYC and a favorite of the local Cal 25 fleet.

It was a beautifully clear and cool day in Long Beach harbor with a light breeze of 4-6 knots and a clear view of the San Gabriel Mountains to the north and Santa Catalina Island to the south.

The boat, One Time, is mostly crewed by family with father Art Melendres, skipper; son Scott Melendres, tactician; James Yano, foredeck; daughter Monica Oviedo, pit; son-in-law Chris Lopez, main trimmer and Pat Graham, trimmer.

'Scott was in a definite zone today,' Art said. 'He called everything perfectly. Chris was sick with the flu today, but stuck it out and did a super job.'

Taking second-place was Dennis Diem’s The Iguana, LBYC/Alamitos Bay YC, with one of the best regatta finishes for this team in a while.

'We’re continuing to improve,' said Diem. 'Our crew work is solidifying and we’re more comfortable about how well we’re doing out there. We have a good time and that’s important. We make sure everybody enjoys themselves because we want to continue to gel as a crew.'

Third place on the day went to Bob Daniel’s Nemesis, ABYC, who finished just one point behind Diem.

Final Results

1. Art and Scott Melendres, LBYC, One Time, 1-1-1, 3 points
2. Dennis Diem, LBYC/ABYC, The Iguana, 3-2-3, 8
3. Bob Daniel, ABYC, Nemesis, 4-3-2, 9
4. Donald Reiman, Alamitos Bay YC, Rhyme-N-Reason, 2-5-4, 11
5. Rick Sottile and Felix Basadre, Seal Beach YC, Tiburon, 5-4-5, 14
6. William Wheeler, Huntington Harbor YC, Santa Maria, 6-6-6, 18