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Feb. 19,
2007
Salsa boats
enjoy whale of a time in Turtle Bay
MARINA DEL REY, Calif.---All but one of the Salsa
Division boats in Del Rey Yacht Club's 19th biennial race to Puerto
Vallarta were tucked safely into Bahia de Tortugas (Turtle Bay) on the
west coast of Baja California Monday morning after completing the first
leg of their competition.
Now they're
waiting to learn how they did.
David Kory,
owner-skipper of the division's fastest-rated entry, Barking Spider 3
from Concord, Calif., reported, "I just got reports from the
other boats, and Amazing Grace stalled just outside the finish line, and
we snuck past them, finishing 2 minutes and 9 seconds in front. That
makes us first to finish for leg 1!"
Amazing Grace, Jim Puckett's
Far 55, from Pacific Palisades, had led most of the way since last
Friday's start. But the first boat to finish isn't necessarily the
winner.
"We finished the first leg
of this crazy race less than an hour ago, crossing the line at 6:58 p.m.
[PST]," Kory said. "The only problem is, we don't know how we did yet.
We will have to wait until . . . all the motoring penalties and handicap
allowances are applied."
In the Salsa Division the
boats are allowed to use their engines but must deduct the distance they
motored from the total distance traveled when figuring their corrected
handicap times. Barking Spider 3, rated minus-24 seconds per mile, owes
Amazing Grace (+12) 36 seconds per mile but has used its engine only 7
hours, compared to 9 by Amazing Grace in the most recent report.
Meantime, Barking Spider 3's
crew kicked back and enjoyed the experience.
"This morning we enjoyed one
of those amazing sunrises that only the ocean can provide, gazing over
the barren panorama of the Baja mountains," Kory wrote one day.
Later, from the leg finish
at Cedros
Island: "As a bonus
and a welcome, we were greeted at the finish line by a pod of whales
spouting and waving their tails hello to us, which was entirely
hospitable, I thought. Perhaps we'll stay a while!"
Then, 40 miles later: "We
entered [Turtle Bay] at 1:30 am., and while drifting slowly and
carefully through the entrance pass, listening acutely for rocks or
other troubles, a whale spouted about 5 feet from us, making all of us
jump right out of our shoes. Boy, those things are loud! After that we
noticed several turtles in the water alongside, guiding us in. More
Mexican hospitality, I guess.
"So we are now
going to enjoy two full days and three nights here in Turtle Bay, the benefit of being a fast
boat. The awards party is Wednesday night. Our next racing leg starts
Thursday morning."
The 11th Salsa
boat, Jim Maslon's Jungle Jim, was expected to leave Marina del Rey
Tuesday with its leaky propeller shaft repaired and sail/motor directly
to Cabo San Lucas at the tip of the Baja peninsula to rejoin the class
at its last layover.
The Racing
Division boats---their total number now reduced to three---will start
Wednesday and Friday at 1 p.m. The Todd Hedin/Liz Baylis Antrim 27,
E.T., from San
Rafael, Calif.
dropped out over the weekend because of a serious illness in Hedin's
family. That left David Rasmussen's similarly sized Sapphire, a Synergy
1000, from Novato,
Calif., with no comparable
competition, so Sapphire followed E.T.'s exit from the race.
Awards will be presented at
separate banquets in Puerto
Vallarta March 2 and 3. Corum, the lead sponsor,
will present the Admiral's Cup Trophy 41 watch to the winner of each
class within each division. The timepiece with a 41mm stainless steel
case and nautical pennants instead of numerals to indicate the hours was
introduced by Corum before the 2005 race.
Corum is an independent,
family owned company producing high-quality and prestigious Swiss
watches since 1955. The Admiral watch, along with the complete Corum
line, may be seen at www.corum.ch
Position
reports, boat tracking and more race information at www.pv07.com
Racing Division
/ Starts Feb. 21 and 23
(Handicap
ratings in seconds per mile in parentheses)
Magnitude 80
(Andrews 80), Doug Baker, Long
Beach (-165)
Scout Spirit
(Reichel/Pugh 77), David
Janes, Newport
Beach (-123)
Raincloud
(J/145), Lorenzo Berho, San
Diego (-25)
Salsa Division
/ Started Feb. 16
Spinnaker
class
(All boats finished first
leg; finish times unofficial)
1. Amazing
Grace (Farr 55), Jim Puckett, Pacific Palisades, Calif. (12), 18:52:55 Sunday.
2. Barking Spider 3 (MacGregor
65), David Kory, Concord, Calif. (-24), 18:56:02 Sunday.
3. Tenacity
(J/133), Gil Maguire, Marina del Rey (9), 20:27:12 Sunday.
4. Voice of
Reason (Ericson 32), Jim McCone/Mike Verla, Lomita, Calif . (180), 07:52:59 Monday.
5. Classic
Impulse (Catalina 40), Sean Roll, Riverside, Calif. (102), 0:17:06 Monday.
RETIRED:
Jungle Jim (Jeanneau 49), Jim Maslon, Marina del Rey (69).
Non-spinnaker class
1. Segue
(Island Packet 51.6), Peter Hirsch, Santa Monica, Calif. (114), 20:30:19 Sunday.
2. Polaire
(Tayana 52), Hideshige Seki, Tokyo, Japan (87), 04:40:25 Monday.
3. Vision
(Tayana 48), Jean Rooryck, Woodland Hills, Calif. (78), 03:27:50 Monday.
4. Far Niente
(Catalina 42), Pat Hearne, Monarch Beach, Calif. (102), 06:28:12 Monday.
5. Aquarius
(Jeanneau 43), Hiro Funaoku, Marina del Rey (117), 07:00:42 Monday.
GENERAL INFORMATION
Del
Rey Yacht Club
(310) 823-4664
www.pv07.com
RACE CHAIRMAN
David Ross
(310) 980-7829
pv07@dryc.org
PRESS OFFICER
Rich Roberts
(310)
835-2526
richsail@earthlink.net
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