Deception named Ventura County's top sailboat

by Stan Whisenhunt on 17 Dec 2006 Deception, a Santa Cruz 50, has claimed honors as the county's top racing sailboat of 2006.

Deception, owned by Alex Blankfield, won the county High Point championship by a 17-point margin over previous three-time winner, XS, a Mull 30 owned by John Thawley.

Blankfield, commodore of Ventura Yacht Club, is relatively new to sailboat racing, having spent most of his boating years as a cruiser. His cruising experience includes sailing from Florida to Ventura and a number of cruises deep into Mexico.

Blankfield took an interest in sailboat racing about four years ago when he sold his cruising boat, Restless, and purchased Pegasus, a Beneteau 45. That boat failed to produce the results Blankfield wanted so he changed boats again in late 2005, purchasing Deception.

After conferring with some experienced local sailboat racers, Blankfield adopted a winning formula — he had a good, well-equipped boat and good sails, recruited a talented helmsman and crew and then stayed out of the way.

Blankfield rarely drives and leaves tactics, sail trim and other key roles to his more experienced crew. The results speak for themselves.

With Garrett Baum as the primary helmsman for most of the season, Deception placed second in class in the Ensenada race and fourth overall in a fleet of 470 boats. Later, Deception set a course record in the Channel Islands to Marina Del Rey race, beating another Santa Cruz 50 to the finish line. Deception took firsts in Anacapa Yacht Club's Anacapa Island Series, Pierpont Bay Yacht Club's Land Rover Series, the Ventura Harbor spring series and placed fourth in the Ventura Cup.

'Being commodore of VYC in 2006 and racing Deception has been one of the most stimulating years of my life,' Blankfield said. 'Racing is much more rewarding than cruising.'

Blankfield's crew list reads like a who's who in local sailing. Helping make Deception go fast have been Andy Clark, Brian McKenna, Kevin Miller, Deke Klatt, John Spille, Denny Dwire, Joel Graves, Christina Baum, Fred Vance, Mike Register, Meghan Clark, Chuck Stanton, Nick Spille, Matt Spille, Avery Stewart, Jordan Eller, Ben Hopps, Michael Raider, Pete McCutcheon, Nat Hilpert, Bob Shirley, Ben Goleman, Mark Coleman, Don Edwards, Andy Killion, Karl Trieber 'and too many one- timers to mention.'

For a typical race, a crew of 13-16 sailors is aboard.

Blankfield prepared for the 2006 campaign by having an expensive bottom job, having professionals tune the rig and purchasing new sails.

'Kevin Miller (of North Sails) has the best reputation and is the most experienced in mounting a big-boat campaign in this area,' Blankfield said. Miller was often on board as tactician.

'Of the crew, the most important team member is the helmsman and team captain,' Blankfield said. 'I was fortunate to have Garrett Baum. When Kevin and Garrett were on the boat together, Deception was at her best.'

Deception came out of the starting blocks quickly, winning the spring series and scoring 25 points in those four races. Only 19 county boats scored 25 or more points in the whole year. Deception competed in 20 events while racking up the High Point championship.

The skippers of the top five boats will be presented trophies at the skippers' meeting of the opening race of 2007 spring series 1 on Jan. 27, hosted by Ventura Yacht Club.


Full story at www.venturacountystar.com