photo by Rich Roberts
Three day weekends are a big deal to us working stiffs. One can really relax on Sunday, knowing you’ve got an extra day to enjoy on Monday. Two-day regattas are a lot of fun, but they burn every minute (much to the chagrin of the spouse and kids) and every ounce of energy, too.
So, when I started talking with some other So-Cal Wetas about getting together for the Memorial Day Regatta hosted by Alamitos Bay Yacht Club (ABYC) in Long Beach Harbor, I discovered the perfect fit. A two day regatta on a three day weekend! Two full days of sailing on Saturday and Sunday, followed by an extra day to unload and clean up the boat, do some laundry, mow the lawn, toss back a cold one, and take a nap before going back to work. Plus, an extra bonus: the following work week is a short one!
Long Beach, California, is definitely a long beach, adjacent to the gigantic, busiest, commercial shipping port in the U.S.A.. The beach area enjoys the protection of a miles-long break wall installed a couple miles off shore to provide a safe deep anchorage for container ships and tankers. The area between the break wall and the beach is perfect clear water for sailing. The winds in the area blow consistently better than where I live in San Diego, but less than the blustery and cold San Francisco Bay Area, so this weekend’s event attracted some sailors from both northern and southern California.
We had seven Wetas arrive and sail this weekend. Ivan Skobtsov from Corona del Mar, who dusted off his boat after not sailing it for more than 2 years. It took him a couple races to warm up but he seemed happy to be back on it. Tim Corcoran drove from his home in Claremont, an hour’s drive east of Los Angeles (when there’s no LA traffic) and showed further improvement in his sailing and especially his starts.
John Rizzi and Jonathan Weston drove 400+ miles from San Jose to join us. Both big guys, the lighter than expected conditions this weekend proved tough for them. Maybe it was a nice break from the intensity of San Fran. Reports and pictures of the recent Elvstrom/Zellerbach regatta indicate it was literally a blow out. Jonathan might need some new sails.
Dean Daniels from South San Francisco and Daniel Wilson from Lake Forest (in the OC) chartered “Ginger” and “Marianne” from Paul Martson at Pierpont Performance Sailing. Paul, who brought the girls down from Ventura, provided first class rigging and launching service to his clients. Dean had some prior multihull experience and had a grin from ear to ear after Saturday’s racing. Daniel claimed he hadn't raced in almost 30 years, but his presence in the front half of the results indicated he still knew what to do. Both guys had never sailed a Weta before, and I think they had a great time. We missed Bob Shirley, who grew up sailing at ABYC, now lives in Ventura, and was purportedly one of the very first Weta owners on the West Coast. Bob came down with Bronchitis last week so he couldn’t join us. We hope you’re on the mend now, Bob!
I’ll spare you the mundane race-by-race details, but highlight a few things:
Starts were great! I would’ve loved to see the view from the RC boat as we consistently had all seven boats at the line, on the gun, for each races. This means our skippers have developed advanced boat handling skills and the confidence to get their boat into the thick of it when the time demands it.
The winds on the course started around 7 kts and shifted right on both days, first dropping in speed for the middle races, and then increasing to nearly 15 kts for the last race on Saturday. Everybody was happy about that. These boats really start to move when the breeze climbs into the teens, and with power to burn you can really feel the boat go. On Sunday, we didn’t get that same building breeze, so the last race was almost a drifter.
The regatta was also a qualifying event for the US Sailing junior single-handed championship, so there were at least 40 lasers sharing our course. Add a dozen A cats and Nacra F-18s, eight Vipers, and Portsmouth class including a couple Hobie 16s, a few Mercurys, and a couple 505s, and we had quite a tangle at times. The Race Committee also left the start and finish lines unrestricted, so there were many situations where one class was in their start sequence and a fleet already racing would come sailing through the area on their way to the leeward gate.
In the lighter winds, I found that it took the better part of an upwind leg to pass the lasers, but when the wind hit the teens it was no trouble at all. Call me a punk, but I get a big kick out of sailing by a Laser who’s hiking on the hard edge and going 4 or 5 knots, while I comfortably hike from the smooth curve of the ama at 6 knots or more. In this age of “sausage” windward/leeward courses, those poor guys don’t even get to enjoy some planing, screaming reaches. Let’s face it, sailing dead down wind is slow and kinda boring. It’s a rush to come charging in to the windward buoy and feel the boat accelerate as I roll out the screecher, and then heading off on a broad reach while leaving the old dinghies behind.
After the racing on Saturday, we all arrived at the beach tucked on the inside of Alamitos bay (really, a lagoon) and hauled our boats out in short order. I pulled out Full Sail IPA and Pale Ale, popping the bottles open with the bottle opener installed under the aft rail of my boat. I must admit, it is not a class-legal modification. If you anyone would like to discuss it with me, let me show you how it works with a couple of cold ones and maybe you’ll agree it’s a violation that can be overlooked.
The yacht club hosted a BBQ with grill-your-own steak and chicken, as well as a finely grilled salmon, plus baked potato, salad, and good ol’ American apple pie. After a long day of racing, we all slept well.
After racing on Sunday, we got our boats off the beach as fast as possible since the beach access alley between the water-front houses can be a bottle neck with so many multihulls getting back on trailers. A couple guys were on the road before the awards presentation and I missed it while I was busy hauling my boat down the street from the alley to the trailer parking. Trophies were folding camping chairs; much more useful than a gilded dust collector. A few of us stragglers hung out for another hour enjoying the cool afternoon breeze in the warm Southern California Sun, savoring fine micro-brew on tap and agreeing that this was a good weekend and a great place to sail a Weta.
Check out the event website here http://www.abyc.org/event.cfm?id=1282
For more photos check out http://www.wetamarine.com/abyc-memorial-day-regatta-2013.html
