Flying Tiger matures

New 10m sportsboat to be largest one design class at Acura Ullman Long Beach Race Week

Just one year after introducing the Flying Tiger 10 Meter sport boat to the world of high performance sailing, the class may very well be the largest one-design fleet attending this week’s prestigious Acura Ullman Long Beach Race Week.

FT-10 racers will be vying for their coveted Pacific Coast Championship title during this three day regatta beginning Friday, June 27, 2008 in the scenic waters off of Southern California. Racers from all over the West coast have towed and sailed their Tigers to Long Beach so they can try to unseat John Paquin and the crew of Elusive, 2007’s Pacific Coast Champion from Coronado, CA.

The father and son team of Philip and Payson Infelise race together aboard their tricked-out FT-10 Mile High Klub. Philip and his son may have the advantage over Paquin’s team with more than two decades of local knowledge and sailing out of Alamitos Bay Yacht Club, this year’s co-host of Ullman Sails Race Week along with Long Beach Yacht Club. Last year, Payson and his Dad finished up a full 10 points behind Paquin - but with a year of experience under their belt you can bet they’ll apply the pressure at every corner of the course.

This highly competitive fleet will also see a new, high-profile sailor join their class starting with the Long Beach event. From Santa Barbara Yacht Club, radio celebrity talk show host Dr Laura Schlessinger has purchased hull number 80, and is scheduled to compete for her first time on the new boat. Dr Laura is no stranger to mixing it up in a tough fleet - for the past several seasons she has successfully racing against tough competition in handicap classes, but for 2008, Dr. Laura has decided to move up to the
challenge of high-performance one-design racing with the FT-10 class. Her Santa Barbara-based team is extremely experienced and should bring yet another talented boat to the fleet with the capability of going home as Champions.

The forecast looks spectacular with cooler temperatures at the beach and very warm air inland, creating the solid sea breeze that Long Beach is so well known for. These winds will combine with a 3-5ft swell from the west and a good southerly swell to make for what should be some epic wave surfing conditions in these speedy boats.