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First of three racing divisions gets under way in the Corum Puerto Vallarta race reports Rich Roberts

The first of three Racing Divisions in Del Rey Yacht Club's 18th biennial Corum International Yacht Race to Puerto Vallarta got under way Wednesday with no clear early leader among three Santa Cruz 50s.

Chicken Little, chartered by Don Adams and Rick Palmer of Marina del Rey, started at the committee boat in an 8 knot southwesterly breeze, two boat lengths in front of Kirk Wilson's Bay Wolf from San Pedro and even bow to bow with Jack Taylor's Horizon at the pin end 150ft away.

The sea was flat and the course off the line was a close reach, so Horizon set a jib top headsail distinctive for its high clew. The others had standard overlapping jibs, but there appeared to be no advantage either way as they sailed into the afternoon light, lifting well above the Palos Verdes peninsula they would pass before bearing away into the San Pedro Channel between Santa Catalina Island and the mainland.

Their 1,125-nautical mile course - the longest continuous race to mainland Mexico - would be expected to take seven days in normal conditions, with faster boats charging from behind.

Two Transpac 52s Beau Geste entered by Karl Kwok of Hong Kong and Flash for the Mark Jones/Dick Watts team from San Francisco and David Kory's MacGregor 65, Barking Spider 3 will constitute the PHRF-A start Thursday at 1pm.

The fastest boats led by Roy Disney's maxZ86 Pyewacket and Randall Pittman's Dubois 90 Genuine Risk joined by Doug Baker's Andrews 80 Magnitude 80 and Scout Spirit (ex- Zephyrus IV and Bright Star), a 78-foot maxi turbosled representing the Newport Sea Base, will go Friday.

The remaining 11 of 12 Salsa Division boats restarted Wednesday from their first planned layover at Turtle Bay on the Baja California peninsula. They started from Marina del Rey last Friday only to get smacked in the face by big winds and seas once they turned the corner at Palos Verdes, causing one to drop out and six to seek cover along the coast for respite or repairs.

Tactics among the racers starting Wednesday were closely guarded secrets. Wilson, a veteran offshore racer who has sailed more of this series than he claims he can count, said, "I just love this race. The club puts on the best race of anybody. I love [sailing to] mainland Mexico."

But he wouldn't reveal any secrets learned over the years, especially how he has dealt with the tricky winds in the Gulf of California beyond Cabo San Lucas. "You have that added piece of strategy in the gulf," he said. "What do I plan to do? I know what I've done before, but I'm not going to tell you."

Palmer, on rival Chicken Little, said, "There are three ways to go. We've got our course set. I'm not going to say what it is, but it doesn't vary more than 10 miles off the rhumb line [and has] lots of tacks and jibes."

Chicken Little is the race's scratch boat with a 0 rating, while Bay Wolf and Horizon will owe their rival three seconds per mile, or about an hour for the race, making it virtually a tossup and encouraging the boats to keep watch on one another. "It may be a match race from Cabo to P.V.," Palmer said, "but if they do something stupid we won't follow them."

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, which has a retail value of $2,195.

Racing Division
(with seconds-per-mile handicap ratings)

PHRF-AA (starts Feb. 18)
Genuine Risk (Dubois 90), --274, Randall Pittman, San Diego
Magnitude 80 (Andrews 80), --180, Doug Baker, Long Beach, Calif.
Pyewacket (Reichel/Pugh maxZ86), --265, Roy E. Disney, Los Angeles
Scout Spirit (R/P 77), --120, David Janes/Jay Steinbeck, Newport Sea Base Syndicate, Newport Beach

PHRF-A (starts Feb. 17)
Barking Spider (MacGregor 65), --24, David Kory, Point Richmond, Calif.
Beau Geste (Transpac 52), --78, Karl Kwok, Hong Kong
Flash (Transpac 52), --78, Mark Jones/Dick Watts, San Francisco

PHRF-B (started Feb. 16)
Bay Wolf (Santa Cruz 50), --3, Kirk Wilson, San Pedro, Calif.
Chicken Little (S/C 50T), 0, Don Adams/Rick Palmer, Los Angeles
Horizon (S/C 50), --3, Jack Taylor, Dana Point, Calif.
Salsa Division Standings
(after Leg 1 of 3)

SPINNAKER-A
1. Lark (J/46), 45, Bob and Kathy Patterson, Los Angeles.
2. Cheyenne (Whiting 49), 75, Alan Blunt, Venice, Calif./David Fox, Santa Cruz, Calif.
3. Broadway Babe (C&C 110), 72, Jim Maslon, Marina del Rey, Calif., DNF.
Masquerade (Choate 40), 72, Tim Coker, San Diego, withdrew.

SPINNAKER-B
1. Green Dragon (Catalina 380), 120, Gary Green, Culver City, Calif.
2. Enchanted Lady (Roberts 55 ketch), 96, Andy Sibert, Seal Beach, Calif., DNF.

NON-SPINNAKER-A
1. Lazy Bones (Irwin 54), 99, Jeff Allen, Marina del Rey, Calif.
2. Quest (Davidson 53), 72, Scott Adam, Marina del Rey, Calif.
T3. Ginny B (Beneteau 46), 78, Mark Biddison, Boulder, Colo., DNF.
T3. Far Niente (Catalina 42), 102, Patrick Hearne, Newport Beach, Calif., DNF.

NON-SPINNAKER-B
1. Camelot (Catalina 36), 144, Hiro Funaoku, Marina del Rey, Calif.
2. Wind Dancer (Tartan 38), 120, William Solberg, Los Angeles, Calif., DNF.