70s rule! And Hoag Hospital is a big winner, too

by Rich Roberts on 11 Jun 2007 Sailboat racing is not always as it appears to be, like when hundreds of spectators on Newport Pier and a flock of private boats see high-tech racing machines such as Magnitude 80 and Stark Raving Mad III running away with races and 15 young adults trouncing their elders, all without their success showing up on the scoreboard.

So it's been for the first two days of the First Team Real Estate Invitational Regatta for the Hoag Cup where the trophies will be awarded Sunday night not necessarily to those who finished first but to those who correct out best on handicap time.

One exception through the first four of five races has been Roger Sturgeon's new STP 65, Rosebud, which has been pushing Doug Baker's Mag 80 and Jim Madden's Stark Raving Mad III hard enough to lead Class A by two points over Mike Campbell and Dale Williams' Kernan 68, Peligroso.

But Roy E. Disney, the event's honorary chairman, doubts that any boats have been sailed better than his Transpac 52, Morning Light, with a crew ranging from 18 to 23 in age that has beaten all but the four Class A boats in three of the last four races, yet stands only fifth in Class B.

Disney, getting his first look at his team under fire this weekend, said, 'I'm amazed, but it's frustrating. They're beating all of the Santa Cruz 70s boat for boat and losing to them on [handicap] time---a little 52-footer! I'm so proud of these kids, they're handling the boat so well and thinking their way around the course. You can't fault their sailing or boat handling.'

The team has been selected and trained to sail the Transpacific Yacht Race next month, a process that is being recorded for a documentary feature film to be released next year. So far it looks more than promising.

Disney's son Roy Pat, also a Transpac veteran, said, 'What took us 35 years they've done in four months.'

And yet they lost ground Saturday when race officials discovered an error in their handicap rating, meaning they'll now be giving even more time to their rivals.

No matter, says Jeremy Wilmot, the 21-year-old skipper from Australia.

'I'm just thrilled with the performance of the crew,' Wilmot said. 'The guys behind me [tactician Charlie Enright and navigator Piet van Os] are putting me in the right places around the course, and I could go on through the whole crew. There hasn't been one slip-up. Everybody on the team is having a lot of fun. It's great to be sailing against such good sailors . . . some real pros. I don't know what they expected---maybe, oh-oh, here come the kids, put the fenders out.'

Mag 80 continued to finish first in every race, although it had to come from behind both Stark Raving Mad III and Rosebud to win Saturday's second race. Nevertheless, Rosebud, with Jack Halterman on the helm, officially swept the day on handicap time to extend its string to 2-1-1-1, despite losing the hydraulic power so important for trimming the sails under the boat's heavy loads, even when the breeze is only 6 to 10 knots as it was Saturday.

Rosebud, launched only this past week, had limited hydraulics for the first three races but then it all blew out, spewing fluid around the boat and leaving the crew to perform strictly on manpower.

Tactician Kevin Miller said, 'It's a good boat. We're going well and we don't even have our hydraulics going. When they went completely out we thought about dropping out, but Roger said, 'No, let's finish it,' and then we got this huge wind shift and won our class in the race.'

Various reports measured the shift from 30 to 40 degrees, shuffling the results dramatically.

Madden said, 'It was unbelievable---all over the place.'

As for the ratings, Madden said, 'That doesn't matter. We're having fun out there, anyway.'

The final race will start at 1 p.m. Sunday, 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 (by corrected time, after 4 of 5 races)

Class A
1. Rosebud (STP 65), Roger Sturgeon, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., 2-1-1-1, 5 points.
2. Peligroso (Kernan 68), Mike Campbell/Dale Williams, Long Beach, 1-2-2-2, 7.
3. Stark Raving Mad III (Reichel/Pugh 66), Newport Beach, 3-4-3-3, 13.
4. Magnitude 80 (Andrews 80), Doug Baker, Long Beach, 4-3-4-4, 15.

Class B
1 Grand Illusion (SC 70), Patrick O'Brien/Ed McDowell, Redondo Beach, Calif., 1-1-2-2, 6.
2. Holua (SC 70), Brack Duker, Marina del Rey, Calif., 2-4, 6.
3. Westerly (SC 70), Tim and Tom Hogan, Newport Beach, 4-5-3-1, 13.
4. Skylark (SC 70), Doug Ayres, Newport Beach, 3-4-5-3, 15.
5. Morning Light (Transpac 52), Jeremy Wilmot, Waikiki, H.I., 5-2-6-4, 17.
6. Pendragon IV (Davidson 52), John MacLaurin, Encino, Calif., 6-6-4-6, 22.
7. Trader (Transpac 52), Fred Detwiler, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., 8-7-7-7, 29.
8. It's OK (Andrews 50), Tres Gordos Sailing LLC, Balboa, Calif., 7-8-8-8, 31.

Class C
1. Valkyrie (DK 46), Andy and Camille Rasdal, San Diego, 1-2-2-1, 6.
2. Chayah (1D48), Oscar Krinsky/Chris Redman, Long Beach, 3-1-1-2, 7.
3. Ragtime (Spencer 65), Chris Welsh, Newport Beach, 2-3-3-3, 11.

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