PV racers cooking with weather made to order

by Rich Roberts on 25 Feb 2007 Los Angeles needed rain like Magnitude 80 and Scout Spirit need big wind to meet their hopes of breaking the 22-year-old record in Del Rey Yacht Club's 19th International Yacht Race to Puerto Vallarta, presented by Corum.

The weather gods came through on both counts Friday when 20 knots of brisk southwesterly breeze chasing an overnight storm out of town swept the two fastest boats south on their 1,125-nautical mile quest to beat the mark of 4 days 23 hours 4 seconds set by Dick and Camille Daniels' MacGregor 65, Joss, in 1985.

Joss's average speed for the record was 9.5 knots, and Doug Baker's Magnitude 80 from Long Beach and David Janes's Scout Spirit from Newport Beach were doing all of that as they slashed through 10-foot seas in picture post card conditions: blue sky, fluffy white clouds and an L.A. basin sparkling in rare clarity against a backdrop of newly snow-covered mountains.

It was so clear one could even read the landmark 'Hollywood' sign on the hills above downtown.

That view won't last, but prospects for continued breeze in the race were high based on reports from preceding classes now off Mexico. Lorenzo Berho's Raincloud that started Wednesday averaged 8 knots over 24 hours and reported following winds as strong as 29 knots. Farther ahead near the tip of Baja California the Salsa fleet had 12-14 knots on their tails as they reached their second layover destination at Cabo San Lazaro.

Baker said, 'We go at least wind speed, depending on where the wind's coming from. We'd go a knot to two knots faster than the true wind.'

And where the wind is coming from is their fastest point of sail.

Scout Spirit, a Reichel/Pugh 77, won the start by 1 1/2 boat lengths, but Magnitude 80, an Andrews 80, ducked to leeward, stretched its longer legs and slid past into the lead in the first couple minutes of the race.

Meanwhile, the 10 Salsa boats were finishing their second of three legs---218 nautical miles from Turtle Bay to Cabo San Lazaro on the Baja California peninsula---with David Kory's Barking Spider 3, the faster-rated boat, crossing about 72 minutes ahead of Jim Puckett's Amazing Grace, probably not enough to claim overall honors on corrected handicap time.

Neither boat used its engine on the leg, so penalty time will not be a factor.

Kory reported, 'We made it across first again, and as no one motored this leg, it was an honest victory. Alas, Amazing Grace will correct out ahead of us. We haven't seen [Gil Maguire's] Tenacity, though, and hold out hope we may stay ahead of them on corrected time.

Tenacity finished 12 minutes after Amazing Grace.

'As soon as we crossed the finish line, Zirao [Zheng] threw out his fishing line, as the fishing tournament part of the race has begun,' Kory wrote. 'A few minutes later, we were taking down the mainsail and motoring towards Magdalena Bay when 'ding-a-ling-a-ling,' the little bell on his fishing line started to jingle. He ran back to the line and quickly pulled in a 28-inch blue fin tuna! So we are going to have a feast tonight---sashimi appetizers and tuna steaks on the grill. This is a fine ending to a great downwind sail, over 200 miles of spinnaker runs, and we hit speeds in the teens on a few occasions, too.'

Awards will be presented at separate banquets in Puerto Vallarta March 2 and 3. Corum, the lead sponsor, will present the Admiral's Cup Trophy 41 watch to the winner of each class within each division. The timepiece with a 41mm stainless steel case and nautical pennants instead of numerals to indicate the hours was introduced by Corum before the 2005 race.

Corum is an independent, family owned company producing high-quality and prestigious Swiss watches since 1955. The Admiral watch, along with the complete Corum line, may be seen at www.corum.ch

Position reports, boat tracking and more race information at www.pv07.com



Racing Division

(Handicap ratings in seconds per mile in parentheses)

PHRF A (started Feb. 23)

Magnitude 80 (Andrews 80), Doug Baker, Long Beach (-165).
Scout Spirit (Reichel/Pugh 77), David Janes, Newport Beach (-123).

PHRF B (started Feb. 21)

1. Raincloud (J/145), Lorenzo Berho, Puerto Vallarta (-25), 812 miles to go.


Salsa Division / Started Feb. 16

Leg 2
(Standings boat for boat; handicap ratings to be computed at finish)

Spinnaker A

1. Barking Spider 3 (MacGregor 65), David Kory, Concord, Calif. (-24), finished Thursday at 15:49:24.
2. Amazing Grace (Farr 55), Jim Puckett, Pacific Palisades, Calif. (12), finished Thursday at 17:01:10.
3. Tenacity (J/133), Gil Maguire, Marina del Rey (9), finished Thursday at 17:13:20.

Spinnaker B

1. Voice of Reason (Ericson 32), Jim McCone/Mike Verla, Lomita, Calif . (180), 34 miles to go.
2. Classic Impulse (Catalina 40), Sean Roll, Riverside, Calif. (102), 34 miles to go (1 hour engine use).

RETIRED: Jungle Jim (Jeanneau 49), Jim Maslon, Marina del Rey (69).

Non-spinnaker

1. Polaire (Tayana 52), Hideshige Seki, Tokyo, Japan (87), finished Friday at 02:15:58.
2. Far Niente (Catalina 42), Pat Hearne, Monarch Beach, Calif. (102), 28 miles to go.
3. Aquarius (Jeanneau 43), Hiro Funaoku, Marina del Rey (117), 48 miles to go.
4. Vision (Tayana 48), Jean Rooryck, Woodland Hills, Calif. (78), 50 miles to go (8 hours engine use).
5. Segue (Island Packet 485), Peter Hirsch, Santa Monica, Calif. (114), 54 miles to go.