A good day for old boats and a young crew

by Rich Roberts on 9 Jun 2007 Don't count out anybody in the second biennial First Team Real Estate Invitational Regatta for the Hoag Cup. Based on handicap time, the top performers on opening day Friday were two of the oldest boats, the newest boat and the boat with the youngest crew.

Ed McDowell's Grand Illusion, a Santa Cruz 70 built in 1986, scored first place in both races to lead Brack Duker's Holua (2-4) from the same era, Roy E. Disney's youthful Morning Light team (6-2) and Roger Sturgeon's newest Rosebud (5-3), an STP 65 in its maiden debut. Doug Ayres' SC 70 Skylark (4-5) was another point back.

McDowell is vacationing in Europe, but Patrick O'Brian, who drove Grand Illusion, said, 'He was adamant that the boat sail here and support the cause,' which will benefit the Hoag Heart and Vascular Institute. 'He let us come and play with his boat.'

O'Brian also said McDowell saw to it that G.I. had 'a really good crew, and the boat always has new sails.'

The 15-boat fleet hosted by the Balboa and Newport Harbor Yacht Clubs was able to stretch its long legs in ample breeze up to 12 knots. The biggest and fastest are Doug Baker's Magnitude 80, an Andrews 80, and Jim Madden's new Stark Raving Mad III, a Reichel/Pugh 66. Boat for boat, they ran 1-2 in both races around a windward-leeward course set at 1.7 nautical miles but paid a steep price because of the ORR offshore rating system in place for this inshore buoy event.

'We would normally race IRC,' said Madden, the event chairman, 'but with most of the boats here going on to [the Transpacific Yacht Race in July] we went with ORR, which is particularly hard on canting keel boats [like Mag 80 and Stark Raving Mad III].'

That's ironic because Stark Raving Mad wasn't able to cant its keel after the batteries died in the second race---the first of two mishaps suffered by the crew. The second was when they led Mag 80 around the windward mark only to have their spinnaker tangle in a lifeline and shred. As Mag 80 swept past and SRM set a new spinnaker, crew member Matt McKinlay jumped down the forward hatch and injured an ankle. He was taken to Hoag Hospital.

For Morning Light, the day was a major boost to their Transpac campaign. The 13 men and two women ages 18 to 23 have trained in Hawaii for four months on their Transpac 52 but this was their first serious competition.

Robbie Haines, the sailing manager, shadowed them from a chase boat, watching every move. 'I'm very proud of them,' he said. 'They hadn't sailed in light air---and this is light air after 20 knots in Hawaii---but they sailed well and had good crew work.'

With skipper Jeremy Wilmot of Australia driving, they were only five seconds behind Grand Illusion's corrected handicap time in the second race.

Steve Manson of Baltimore said, 'I was telling all the guys this was my first big race for putting the [sponsors'] decals on the bow and everything, and we did real well. In the second race we were awesome.'

Navigator Piet van Os of La Jolla, Calif. said, 'I was anxious to see how we lined up with the other boats. It's only two races out of five but it was a good confidence builder.'

The schedule calls for two races Saturday and one Sunday starting at 1 p.m., conditions permitting.

First Team Real Estate is the title sponsor. Other sponsors include Accretive, Bank of America, Countrywide, Warmington Homes, Wells Fargo Bank, Mellon Bank and MKA Capital. West Marine is also a supporter.

Standings (After 2 of 5 races)

Class A
1. Rosebud (STP 65), Roger Sturgeon, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., 5-3, 8 points.
2. Peligroso (Kernan 68), Mike Campbell/Dale Williams, Long Beach, 3-8, 11.
3. Magnitude 80 (Andrews 80), Doug Baker, Long Beach, 15-11, 26.
4. Stark Raving Mad III (Reichel/Pugh 66), Newport Beach, 13-14, 27.

Class B
1. Grand Illusion (SC 70), Patrick O'Brien/Ed McDowell, Redondo Beach, Calif., 1-1, 2.
2. Holua (SC 70), Brack Duker, Marina del Rey, Calif., 2-4, 6.
3. Morning Light (Transpac 52), Jeremy Wilmot, Waikiki, H.I., 6-2, 8.
4. Skylark (SC 70), Doug Ayres, Newport Beach, 4-5, 9.
5. Westerly (SC 70), Tim and Tom Hogan, Newport Beach, 7-6, 13.
6. Pendragon IV (Davidson 52), John MacLaurin, Encino, Calif., 8-7, 15.
7. It's OK (Andrews 50), Tres Gordos Sailing LLC, Balboa, Calif., 10-15, 25.
8. Trader (Transpac 52), Fred Detwiler, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., 14-12, 26.

Class C
1. Valkyrie (DK 46), Andy and Camille Rasdal, San Diego, 9-10, 19.
2. Chayah (1D48), Oscar Krinsky/Chris Redman, Long Beach, 12-9, 21.
3. Ragtime (Spencer 65), Chris Welsh, Newport Beach, 11-13, 24.