Harbor Cup - USC back in Hurricane Gulch on a mission

by Rich Roberts on 12 Mar 2009
An elite eight of the few college teams racing big boats in the U.S. will meet Saturday and Sunday in the second Port of Los Angeles Harbor Cup organized by California Maritime Academy and hosted by the Los Angeles Yacht Club in San Pedro.

Maine Maritime Academy will be defending its inaugural championship in the West Coast's only intercollegiate big boat regatta and the only one of four in the nation run on the open ocean---in this instance the stretch of windy seas known as Hurricane Gulch from Point Fermin past the entrance to the Port of Los Angeles, which is the regatta's title sponsor.

The entries, in order of finish in 2008:

1. Maine Maritime Academy, Castine, Me.
2. Univ. of Southern California, Los Angeles, Calif.
3. U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, Md.
4. California Maritime Academy, Vallejo, Calif.
5. U.S. Coast Guard Academy, New London, Conn.
6. Chapman University, Orange, Calif.
7. Cal State U. Channel Islands, Camarillo, Calif.
Northwestern Univ., Evanston, Ill. (did not compete)

Yes, USC, better known for the football it plays in the L.A. Memorial Coliseum some 20 miles up the Harbor Freeway, showed up last year with a big boat résumé totaling two days of practice on one of the Catalina 37s chartered for the event from the Long Beach Yacht Club Sailing Foundation. Skipper Chris Vetter, a pre-med sophomore from St. Petersburg, Fla., had never driven a boat with a steering wheel.

But they blew out of the chute with three wins in the first four races and were on the verge of cruising to victory when it all fell apart with sixth- and seventh-place finishes in the last two races, leaving them one point behind Maine.

'We practiced twice in the Catalinas,' says Vetter, now a junior. 'Some of the team members hadn't done any big boat sailing. I'd sailed only a couple of smaller keelboats, and they had tillers.'

It didn't seem to matter until the end, when Maine came on like Lord Nelson's fleet at Trafalgar with two wins and a second in the last three races.

'I just didn't work very well under pressure,' Vetter says now. 'I kind of got nervous before the last few races. We had one bad one and got frustrated and that affected my performance.'

Two new additions to the crew---main sail trimmer Andrew Cowley, a freshman, and pitman Jeff Mulvihill, a senior---have raced big boats. Returning crew members are senior Phil de Gannes, primary trimmer; senior Charlie Ill, trimmer; sophomore Brock Kraebel, bow; and senior Shelby Rhodes, midboat and the only female on the team.

Vetter said, 'We were really disappointed that we were so close to winning and took second, but the way we see it now we did great for us not having much big boat experience before the regatta.

'Now I think I've matured a lot to handle stress and pressure. If we're in the same situation we'll be better prepared to handle it. I'm confident in the crew. We have more big boat experience with the new people and five of the seven from last year. Hopefully, we'll be solid on our boat handling.'

The teams will check in at LAYC Friday for a day of practice, Eight races are scheduled overall, with racing due to start at 11 a.m. Saturday and Sunday, conditions permitting.

The race course will be about a half-mile offshore between the Angels Gate lighthouse entrance to Los Angeles Harbor and Point Fermin. The races may be viewed from the outer Cabrillo Beach or from Point Fermin Park atop the bluff.

The three-foot tall Port of Los Angeles Harbor Cup Perpetual Trophy will be awarded to the winning team.