Mexico bound

Rich Roberts previews next year's Marina del Rey to Puerto Vallarta race

One of the oldest records in ocean sailing will come under assault by a new level of challengers in Del Rey Yacht Club's 18th biennial Corum USA International Yacht Race from Marina del Rey to Puerto Vallarta - the longest and oldest endurance race to Mexico's mainland.

Roy Disney's maxZ86, Pyewacket. Randall Pittman's Dubois 90, Genuine Risk, and Doug Baker's Andrews 80, Magnitude 80, will be on the start line for the last of four starts on 11-18 February. All are part of the new generation of canting keel boats, and all will be seeking the record that has eluded some of the world's fastest ocean racers for 20 years.

In 1985 Richard and Camille Daniels' MacGregor 65, Joss, boosted by following breezes of 15 to 25 knots most of the way, raced the 1,125 nautical miles in 4 days 23 hours 0 minutes 4 seconds. Average speed: 9 1/2 knots.

That would seem easy pickings for the lead trio, but the record - shielded in part by variable conditions - has withstood challenges from the West Coast's fastest ocean racers for nearly two decades. Disney's previous Pyewacket, a R/P 74, missed by less than six hours in 2003.

Randall Pittman, 50, lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where he is chairman and CEO of Forest Health Services Corp. He keeps the boat in San Diego.

The only meeting between Genuine Risk and the new Pyewacket was earlier this year in the Maxi Yacht Rolex Worlds in Sardinia when Pittman's boat, rated faster but relatively untested at the time, beat Pyewacket boat for boat in four of five races but corrected out on handicap time only once - the latter hardly a priority for these boats.

"That's true," said Keith Lorence, Genuine Risk's co-helmsman from San Diego. "That's what you build these boats for: to go as fast as possible and get there first."

Duthie Lidgard, Genuine Risk's boat captain, said, "The biggest thing will be trying to keep up with Pyewacket. With the changes we have made, instead of being even with her downwind we should be slightly quicker."

The conditions across the Gulf of California are often daunting. "Upwind in light air, we're very fast," Lidgard said. "But I've heard it can be anything."

Joss is long gone from the racing scene, but there will be another MacGregor 65 with more than a nostalgic purpose in mind: David Kory's Barking Spider 3 from the South Bay Yacht Racing Club. Kory raced last year's Transpacific Yacht Race on a Catalina 38 and logged the second fastest corrected time among 11 Aloha division entries.

The early lineup of 19 Racing Division boats and 21 Salsa Division competitors also includes Kirk Wilson's Santa Cruz 50, Bay Wolf which finished second in PHRF-B in 2003.

Broadway Babe is a headliner in the Salsa Division, which will feature two or three layovers and fishing competition along the way. Jim Maslon's C&C 110 from Del Rey YC was distinctive in 2003 for its blue and white spinnaker depicting an exotic dancer - Maslon's wife Laura's mother, a former vaudeville performer.

Corum, the title sponsor for this race, will present the owner or skipper of the overall winner in each class with a Corum Admiral's Cup Trophy 41 watch with a retail value of US$2,195.

The Salsa Division will start Feb. 11, a week ahead of the Racing Division classes, and enjoy layovers at Turtle Bay and Cabo San Lucas, with Bahia Santa Maria as an option in between. The Salsa Division will have classes for both spinnaker and non-spinnaker boats.

Entry list

Apollo V	Peterson 42.5	Ned Knight	Point Loma YC	Racing	PHRF	69
Barking Spider	Macgregor 65	David Kory	South Bay Yacht Racing Club	Racing	PHRF
Beau Geste	Farr 52	Peter Thomas	RHKYC (New Zealand)	Racing	PHRF
Bull Racing	Sydney 41	Seth Radow	CYC	Racing	PHRF	9
California Girl	Cal 40	Don & Betty Lessley	Richmond YC	Racing	PHRF	114
Chicken Little	SCZ 50T	Don Adams	SMWYC	Racing	PHRF	0
Colt 45	Tripp 40	Dan Chepley Jr.	Ventura YC	Racing	PHRF
Flash	Andrews 52	Mark Jones	TBD	Racing	PHRF	-78
Future Primitive	37	Ron McKenzie	Royal Vancouver YC	Racing	PHRF	73
Genuine Risk	Dubois 90	Duthie Lidgard	San Diego YC	Racing	PHRF
Gypsy	Columbia 52	Steve Washburn	DPYC	Racing	PHRF	90
Hooligan	Catalina 38	Clark Baxter	Dana West YC	Racing	PHRF	114
Horizon	Santa Cruz 50	Jack Taylor	Dana Point YC	Racing	PHRF	-3
Magnitude 80	Andrews 80	Doug Baker	Long Beach YC	Racing	PHRF	-180
Morpheus	Schumacher 50	Jim Gregory	Richmond YC	Racing	PHRF	0
ORCA	J-44	Donna Wardlow	Dana Point YC	Racing	PHRF	39
Pyewacket	Reichel-Pugh 87	Roy Disney	LAYC	Racing	PHRF
Sorcery	Mull 83	Jacob Wood	California Beach YC	Racing	PHRF	51
Who's Yo Daddy	Nelson/Merek 45	Dave Fell	Seal Beach YC	Racing	PHRF	-6
Beyond The Sea	Cat 38	Chris Orazio	WORSA	Salsa	Non-Spinnaker	108
Callisto	Amel 52	Michael Last	Coronado Cays YC	Salsa	Non-Spinnaker	138
Caris	Peterson 48	Joseph Venema	Shoreline YC	Salsa	Non-Spinnaker	105
Far Niente	Catalina 42	Patrick Hearne	American Legion	Salsa	Non-Spinnaker	102
Ginny B	Beneteau 46	Mark Biddison	Cortez Racing Assn	Salsa	Non-Spinnaker	78
Lazy Bones	Irwin 54	Jeff Allen	Del Rey YC	Salsa	Non-Spinnaker
Milagros	Morgan 38	Paul Wernquist	American Legion	Salsa	Non-Spinnaker	126
Quest	Davidson 53	Scott Adam	Del Rey YC	Salsa	Non-Spinnaker	60
Southern Comfort	Yorktown 41	Renee Larabee	Shoreline YC	Salsa	Non-Spinnaker
Wind Dancer	Tartan 3800	William Solberg	CYC, CIYC	Salsa	Non-Spinnaker
Beowolf	Swan 51	Hakan Bille	Corinthian YC	Salsa	Spinnaker	36
Broadway Babe	C&C 110	Jim Maslon	Del Rey YC	Salsa	Spinnaker	72
Cheyenne	Whiting 49	Alan Blunt	CYC	Salsa	Spinnaker	66
Enchanted Lady	Roberts 55	Andy Sibert	Seal Beach YC	Salsa	Spinnaker	96
Green Dragon	Catalina 38	Gary Green	South Bay YRC	Salsa	Spinnaker	108
Lark	J-46	Bob & Kathy Patterson	California YC	Salsa	Spinnaker	39
Misty	Cal 39	Harold Alexander	Seal Beach YC	Salsa	Spinnaker	114
Main Squeeze	Santa Cruz 50	Rick Dorfman	Del Rey YC	Salsa	Spinnaker	-6
Moon Dancer	Cal 39	Joseph Ebin	Del Rey YC	Salsa	Spinnaker	108
Ruffian	Wilson 36	Jonathan Bamer	Encinal YC	Salsa	Spinnaker	36
Stargazer	Schmitt 44	Don Stoughton	Balboa YC	Salsa	Spinnaker	135