Port of LA Harbor Cup Cal Maritime leads USC, Maine into last day

by Rich Roberts on 14 Mar 2010 Three teams: Cal Maritime Academy, USC and Maine Maritime Academy, in that close order, are within three points at the top entering the last day of another dogfight of a Port of Los Angeles 2010 Harbor Cup/Cal Maritime Invitational Intercollegiate Regatta Sunday.

The U.S. Naval Academy, which won both of Friday's races, also was in the mix until the sailors forfeited their fifth place in Race 6 Saturday after being protested by Chapman University. The RAF (retired after finishing) dropped them from two to eight points off the lead.

It might be appropriate for Cal Maritime to win the event. The Keelhaulers from Vallejo, Calif. organized the 10-boat fleet by invitation, but they earned their due by winning the first and last of Saturday's five races to stand two points up on USC and three on Maine Maritime, which won the first two Harbor Cups.

Cal Maritime Coach Jesse Cartee said, 'Well have a nice quiet night tonight and see about tomorrow.' But not too quiet.

Saturday's racing was moved from outside off Point Fermin to inside the breakwater that protects the Port of Los Angeles from nature's meaner whims, but not because of too much wind. Although it blew a brisk 13 to 18 knots through the afternoon, it was the seas that were rated too rough for the Catalina 37s chartered from the Long Beach Sailing Foundation.

It was smooth inside, but Keelhauler skipper John Gray and his crew wouldn't mind the rough stuff.

'It was more of our conditions today,' he said, 'more breeze than Friday. We do a lot of [San Francisco] Bay area races. We like it.'

The big surprise was Cal State Channel Islands. The crew from Camarillo pulled the biggest surprise with its close win in Race 4 following no finishes better than sixth, then---to show it wasn't a fluke---placed second to Cal Maritime to end the day.

The bad news is that Sunday's weather forecast called for light wind, if any, and probably won't be the lively southwest sea breeze that earned this inshore sailing venue its name: Hurricane Gulch.

The outlook is so uncertain that principal race officer Al Garnier of the organizing Los Angeles Yacht Club wasn't sure Saturday night how many races he'll run---two or three for a total of 9 or 10, if any.

'All I know is that we'll be out there ready to race at 11:30 [a.m.], but we may not be able to start until one, if at all,' he said.

To further complicate matters was an overnight switch to daylight saving time. Just don't be late to the starting line.

And you thought America's Cup PRO Harold Bennett had a problem with Alinghi's on-board mutineers at Valencia.

USC and Maine Maritime each scored their first wins Saturday. The Trojans have finished close seconds to the Mariners in both previous years, but skipper Chris Vetter, his cheeks painted in cardinal and gold, said at the dock, 'We'll see.'

They won Race 5 by the longest margin seen so far---about the length of two football fields.

'That was great,' Vetter said. 'We got a good start, tacked right and were just cruising. The rest of the fleet went left.'

Cartee noted, 'Early, right was best, then the middle of the day it was go left to the breakwater.'

Then the middle was good, and so it went.

Who will figure it out Sunday, assuming they race at all?

Results (7 of 9 or 10 races; skippers noted)
1. California Maritime Academy, John Gray, 4-8-1-2-6-2-1, 24 points.
2. USC, Chris Vetter, 5-3-2-6-1-6-3, 26.
3. Maine Maritime Academy, Matt Bourque, 3-4-5-7-3-1-4, 27.
4. U.S. Naval Academy, James Prieto, 1-1-6-3-4-11-6, 32.
5. Chapman Univ., Max Moosman, 2-2-4-5-8-4-8, 33.
6. Univ. of Hawaii, William Petersen, 7-5-7-4-5-3-5, 36.
7. Cal State U. Channel Islands, Nick deRoulhac, 8-6-8-1-7-8-2, 40.
8. U.S. Coast Guard Academy, Eric Johnson, 6-7-3-8-2-7-7, 40.
9. U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, Gary Taylor, 9-10-9-9-9-9-7, 62.
10. Univ. of California at Davis, Chris Hagerman, 10-9-10-10-10-10-10, 69.

The Port of Los Angeles is the sponsor, California Maritime Academy of Vallejo, Calif. the inviting school and Los Angeles Yacht Club is the host and organizing authority.

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www.portoflosangeles.org