E.E. Manning Regatta to take place in Long Beach

by Rich Roberts on 21 Feb 2014 Keelboats? It has been a little while since any have sailed out of Alamitos Bay Yacht Club - while the City of Long Beach rebuilds the docks and ramps in Basin 5, but racing goes on through the weekend of March 1-2 with more than 100 dinghies launching off the beach next door in SCYA's E.E. Manning Regatta.

The event, first contested in 1935, is raced annually at ABYC. E.E. Manning was devoted to dinghies, and that's what the event is all about, featuring more than a hundred Lasers, Laser Radials, Lido 14s and Naples Sabots, plus CFJs winding up their Shadden Series.

Racing will be in the Long Beach outer harbor inside the breakwater, except for the Lido 14s competing inside on the bay.

Manning was a member of the Los Angeles YC who during his lifetime was an active sponsor and promoter of dinghy racing. The namesake Manning Trophy is awarded to the winner of the class with the most competitors.

The driving purpose is to promote youth sailing as part of the Southern California Youth Yacht Racing Association (SCYYRA) program---although the term 'yacht' may be a stretch. None of the boats have keels or more than two crew, but the competition is lively. Last year there were 112 boats in six classes, including 50 boats contesting the fourth and final round of the Shadden Series.

The latter draws the best young sailors in Southern California, all under 19 and not yet in college. The championship has come down to a battle between Riley Gibbs, 17, of ABYC, who won the first two rounds at Newport Harbor and California YC, and Sean Segerblom, 15, of NHYC, who won at San Diego last month.

The competition is named for John Shadden, one of Long Beach's premier youth sailors whose career peaked with an Olympic bronze medal performance at South Korea in 1988, with Charlie McKee as crew.

Online entry, current entries, Notice of Race and more information.