Maxis to Vallarta

Rich Roberts previews the impending Genuine Risk v Pyewacket show down in this month's Corum backed race

Somewhere along the way in Del Rey Yacht Club's 18th biennial Corum USA International Yacht Race, while half the fleet is trolling for tuna or sipping margaritas at anchor, the other half will sweep past with a more serious purpose: to break the 20-year-old record from Marina del Rey to Puerto Vallarta.

It will be more than just one race going on. The dozen Salsa boats that start Friday, 11 February, will sail four legs with stops at Bahia Tortugas (Turtle Bay), Bahia Santa Maria and Cabo San Lucas before crossing the Gulf of California to the finish.

The third leg will be a fishing contest when, for scoring purposes, time stands still. Competitors will photograph their catches alongside rulers, then have them for dinner. Final awards will be determined at Puerto Vallarta.

Five days after the Salsa fleet gets under way, the first of 10 Racing Division entries will start: PHRF-B, with three Santa Cruz 50s, on Wednesday, Feb. 16, followed by PHRF-A, with two Transpac 52s and a MacGregor 65, on Thursday, and the record seekers on Friday led by Roy Disney's Reichel/Pugh maxZ86, Pyewacket, and Randall Pittman's Dubois 90, Genuine Risk - the two fastest boats ever to compete in the race.
The longest and most enduring of all races to mainland Mexico also has the oldest record: 4 days 23 hours 0 minutes 4 seconds, set by Richard and Camille Daniels' MacGregor 65, Joss, in 1985 at an average speed of 9.5 knots for the 1,125 nautical miles. A plaque with a half-model of Joss is displayed over the bar at Del Rey YC commemorating the feat.

Daniels, 79, died January 23 with Parkinson's disease, still owning the record. He and Camille sold Joss several years ago, but there is another MacGregor 65 entered this time: David Kory's Barking Spider 3 from the Tradewinds Sailing Club in Point Richmond, California.

Although he will race in PHRF-A, Kory doesn't expect to threaten the record. "This is a cruising Mac 65," he said, "with generator, air conditioning, refrigeration and granite countertops. But I'll still do my best." Instead, the record is lined up in the sights of Pyewacket and Genuine Risk. Kory added, "But if the wind doesn't cooperate, they're not going to get it - [or] if the wind is right, we also could break it easily. The record is only 9.5 knots over the course, and our hull speed is 10.5. We've had this boat at 23, 25 knots through the Channel Islands. We didn't intend to go that fast but the genoa furler sheared a nut and we couldn't roll it up. You're scared half to death but you're grinning ear to ear."

Barking Spider 3 also will start a day earlier than the biggest boats and could catch a wind advantage. "Maybe I'll get lucky and they won't," Kory said.

This is Kory's third Barking Spider. He won Transpac's Aloha B class with a Catalina 38 in 2003. The name evolved from an inside, slightly off-color joke, but "people who don't know what it means still smile," he said.

Pyewacket and Genuine Risk will share the PHRF-AA start with Doug Baker's Andrews 80, Magnitude 80, and Scout Spirit, a Reichel/Pugh 77 (formerly Zephyrus IV) entered by the Newport Sea Base, Orange County Council, Boy Scouts of America. No Sea Scouts will be aboard, but the co-skippers are veteran West Coast ocean racers David Janes and Jay Steinbeck. Pete Heck is project manager.

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 $2,195.

Corum is an independent, family owned company producing high-quality and prestigious Swiss watches since 1955. The Admiral's Cup Trophy 41, with a 41mm stainless steel case and nautical pennants instead of numerals to indicate the hours, was just introduced by Corum in March.

Entries:

Racing Division (with 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 (starts 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

SPINNAKER-A (starts Feb. 11)
Broadway Babe (C&C 110), 72, Jim Maslon, Marina del Rey, Calif.
Cheyenne (Whiting 49), 75, Alan Blunt, Venice, Calif./David Fox, Santa Cruz, Calif.
Lark (J/46), 45, Bob and Kathy Patterson, Los Angeles
Masquerade (Choate 40), 72, Tim Coker, San Diego

SPINNAKER-B (starts Feb. 11)
Enchanted Lady (Roberts 55 ketch), 96), Andy Sibert, Seal Beach, Calif.
Green Dragon (Catalina 380), 120, Gary Green, Culver City, Calif.

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

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

GENERAL INFORMATION
Del Rey Yacht Club
(310) 823-4664
dryc.org

RACE CHAIRMAN
Ron Jacobs
(310) 274-7200
rj2sail@pacbell.net

RACING DIVISION ENTRIES
Mike Guccione
(818) 731-1030
innov8@pacbell.net

SALSA DIVISION ENTRIES
Marty & Phyllis Fliegel
(310) 577-6474