Cal Race Week 2002 in Marina Del Rey

by Roberto Cordero

Chris Winnard called this race a "washing machine"! Most sailors haven't seen these much waves in a long time. Cal Race Week was a good preview of Marina Del Rey conditions for Nationals 2002 and was a lot of fun. 13 boats turned out with representation from Marina Del Rey, Newport Beach, Long Beach and San Diego fleets. Thanks to all the out-of-towners that showed up! Day one started out with 15 knots of steady wind from about 245 degrees. At last year's race, the right side was so favored that everyone just banged the right corner and it was a slow go on the layline all the way to the windward mark. If you weren't the first boat, you had the live with the bad (light) air for a long stretch. This year was way different. There was no fixed favored side and decisions had to be made from race to race. 

But what made this year's race different was the huge rollers, typical of Marina Del Rey, but a new experience for those from the other fleets. Those with particular skill in handling the big waves had an advantage. Agressive steering was the norm. A few roundups and roundowns occurred and not all boats flew spinnakers later in the day but the wind was not strong enough to switch to a jib. Day 2 had a little less wind and waves and the Newport Beach teams reveled in conditions more similar to their home turf.

The race was ran well by the California Yacht Club race committee. Starting lines were close to square and minimal problems were encountered among the 6 classes sharing the same race course. The S20's got shorter courses. Racing was close for most of the boats with the exception of the Golison/Washburn team, which dominated the regatta with clearly superior boat speed. I think Bruce Golison wanted to get back to the docks early to watch the Lakers game so he wanted to make sure he was far ahead!

There were a couple of disasters (not involving Disaster Area), including Scott McKenney's boat losing a forestay and Puffin having a crew member get smashed on the deck. I hope Puffin's crew was fine. Scott's boat was back in action the next day after replacement of a clevis pin.

Overall, this was a great race and a good time. This is a race that shouldn't be missed next year. 

Note: I don't have all the crew names for the boats below so please email me your crew names (if not listed) and I will update the list.