Ullman Sails Long Beach Race Week - The wrap

by Rich Roberts on 28 Jun 2010 Ullman Sails Long Beach Race Week: The Dark Star skipper from California Yacht Club in Marina del Rey wasn't exactly a longshot coming into the tough Farr 40 competition in Ullman Sails Long Beach Race, hosted by the Long Beach and Alamitos Bay Yacht Clubs over the weekend.

But for Janov the victory over defending champion David Voss's Piranha and the rest of the grand prix gang ranks right up there with, oh, winning the Naples Sabot Junior Nationals as a 16-year-old in 1979.

'That was pretty huge, too,' he said.

There were 147 boats in 20 classes, and all except J/120s, which didn't race Friday, sailed seven races over three days, and no winner was more carried away than Janov, who was quick to concede that he had more help than in his singlehanded Sabot days.

He said, 'I can't say enough about my crew,' which included the event's title sponsor, Dave Ullman, as tactician, Randy Smith as main sail trimmer and strategist and team sailing director Doug McLean on bow, along with Yumil Dornberg, jib; Kelly Buchan (Ullman's niece) and Brooke Phillips, pit; Michael Blunt, floater; Travis Wilson, mast, and a new spinnaker trimmer he knows only as Andy so far.

'To do what we did in that fleet.' Yes, we know: amazing.

In continuing moderate breeze flirting with 11 knots, Tracey Kenney was equally ecstatic in winning the Open 5.70s, although she couldn't say she was surprised. She is usually a contender, and a few days earlier she had said, 'This year my goal is a first. No more second place for this chick. Game's on this year.'

Sailing Hat Trick, she trailed a dominant Peter Drasnin of California YC in the 15-boat fleet---the largest one-design class in the event---until the last day when she was six points behind going into the last two. She was leading Drasnin's D.I.S.C. at the windward mark in the next-to-last race when there was contact. Drasnin protested, so the outcome was in doubt even after Kenney won the last race, with Drasnin third.

Later, Kenney clinched the title when Drasnin lost the protest in a jury hearing.

'We just had a ball,' she said. 'Each day we got a little more dialed in. With 15 boats all it takes is one bad race.'

Aside from a sixth, she and her crew of Freddie Stevens and Barrett Sprout had no finish worse than second.

Unlike Kenney, Janov wrapped up his victory with the pressure off in the final race, and after a no-risk, third-row start Dark Star still finished second behind Piranha to prevail by 10 points.

Actually, Dark Star appeared to have it wrapped up after Saturday, 'but I really didn't want to think that,' Janov said.

Among special awards, Bob Miller's far-flung team won the eight-boat Viper class and One-Design Boat of the Week honors. The award is for winning the most competitive class. Miller overcame a broken main halyard and a battle with kelp Saturday to stay in contention, then in the last race broke a tie with Alamitos Bay YC's Tim Carter with a first to his rival's fourth.

Miller, representing the Rio Grande YC, is from El Paso, Texas, and his crew members traveled even farther to compete: Brad Boston from Canada and Chris Fortin from Newport, R.I.

But the award for the longest trip to get here went to Australia's Alan Brierty, the husky retiree from Perth under the big black hat whose Reichel/Pugh 63, Limit, won the IRC class.

PHRF Boat of the Week was Ed Feo's locally based Andrews 45, Locomotion, which won the Fast 50 fleet with a good view from behind the bigger and faster rivals. Locomotion shared the slowest rating of minus-21 with Dale Williams' third-place Kernan 44, Wasabi.

The Kent Golison Family prize went to Team Newport Harbor YC in the Catalina 37s. Bruce Ayers raced to second place with three of his kinfolk on board.

Long Beach YC's Dave Hood won the C/37s and was joined by two other class winners---Bob Lane's Andrews 63 Medicine Man in Random Leg and Gary Mozer's Current Obsession in J/105s---to capture the Yacht Club Challenge.

John Snook of LBYC won three of the five J/120 races that also stood as the North American championship for the class.

The regatta was the third and last stop on the Southern California Ullman Sails Inshore Championship Series, following the Ahmanson Cup at Newport Beach and Cal Race Week at Marina del Rey. Scoring for that was to be posted at

Ullman Sails is the title sponsor. Other sponsors and supporters are DISC Sports and Spine Center, Ayres Hotel Seal Beach, Gladstone's Restaurant, the Long Beach Parks, Recreation and Marine Bureau, Long Beach the Aquatic Capital of America, Macson Printing and Lithography, Mount Gay Rum and West Marine.

Class winners (after 7 races)

Fast 50 (11 boats)---Locomotion (Andrews 45), Ed Feo, Long Beach/Alamitos Bay YCs, 6-6 (scoring penalty)-2-2-2-9-5, 32 points.

Fast 40 (11)---Derivative, Mark Surber, Coronado YC, 2-1-2-1-1-2-1, 10.

Farr 40 (11)---Dark Star, Jeff Janov, California YC, 1-2-2-1-2-1-2, 11.

TP52 (3)---Rebel Yell, David O. Team, Newport Harbor YC, 2-1-1-3-1-2-1, 11.

IRC (5)---Limit, Alan Brierty, Cruising YC of Australia, 2.-5-1-2-1-1-1, 13.

PHRF 3 (5)-Rival, Dick Velthoen, Ventura YC, 1-1-1-1-1-1-1, 7.

Farr 30 (5)---Huckleberry, Jim Murrell, King Harbor YC, 1-5-1-1-2-2-2, 14.

Flying Tiger 10 (7)---Ruckus, Eric Schlagater, Anacapa YC, 2-1-1-3-1-2-1, 11.

J/120 (10)---Jim, John Snook, Long Beach YC, 11/DNS-11/DNS-2-1-1-1-3, 30.

Catalina 37 (7)---Team LBYC, Dave Hood, Long Beach YC, 1-4-1-1-3-3-5, 18.

Open 5.70 (15)---Tracey Kenney, South Coast Corinthian YC, 2-2-6-1-2-2-1, 16.

Viper 640 (7)---Giggity, Robert Miller, Rio Grande YC, 2-2-1-7-5-1-1, 19.

Random Leg PHRF (9)---Medicine Man (Andrews 63), Bob Lane, Long Beach YC, 1-1-1, 3.

Beneteau 36.7 (7)---Kraken, Greg Lynn, South Bay Yacht Racing Club, 1-1-3-1-3-1-2, 12.

J/105 (9)---Current Obsession, Gary Mozer, Long Beach YC, 1-1-1-4-3-1-1, 12.

J/109 (5)---Electra, Thomas Brott, Seal Beach YC, 1-2-2-1-3-1-1, 11.

J/24 (4)---USA 2233, Susan Taylor, California YC, 2-3-3-1-2-2-1, 14.

J/29 (5)---Sedona, Bruce Lotz, Dana Point YC, 1-2-2-2-2-1-1, 10.

J/80 (8)---Avet, Curt Johnson, California YC, 2-1-1-3-1-4-4/SCP, 16.

Schock 35 (6)---Code Blue, Robert Marcus, Alamitos Bay YC, 3-2-2-1-1-1-1, 11.

Complete results at www.lbrw.org and www.abyc.org