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Feb. 25,
2007
Get out the broom for Magnitude
80
PUERTO
VALLARTA,
Mexico---Considering
the destination is a balmy seaside resort town with a leisurely
lifestyle, things are happening fast on board Doug Baker's Magnitude 80
right now in Del Rey Yacht Club's 19th International Yacht Race to
Puerto
Vallarta, presented by Corum.
Navigator Ernie Richau
reported Sunday: "Another fantastic 24 hours of running with the code 2A
[spinnaker sail] in 16-22 knots from the northwest. Our first 24-hour 1
p.m. to 1 p.m. run was 393 miles down the course. Any chance you know
the record in a Mexican race for 24-hour mileage?"
Officially, the Andrews 80
with the canting keel sailed 364 nautical miles between morning roll
calls Saturday and Sunday and was averaging 14.5 knots for the
1,125-mile course, compared to the 9.5 knots Joss averaged when it set
the record of 4 days 23 hours 14 seconds in
1985 that has frustrated some supposedly faster boats ever since.
Peggy Redler,
the race administrator, said, "We've had big boats in our race but we've
never had weather like this. It's been good wind all the way, and even
here in the [Banderas] bay it's unusually cool with a good breeze."
Magnitude 80
would need to finish only by 1 p.m. Wednesday PST (3 p.m. Puerto Vallarta
time) to beat the record, and they had about three days to sail the last
495 miles. Considering even the 292.64 uncertain miles across the
Gulf of California, including the last
20 from Punta Mita, it seemed Magnitude 80 would not be denied.
The other
issue is whether Magnitude 80 can win the race's overall honors on
corrected handicap time. Since David Janes's Scout Spirit was dismasted
on the first day, their only rival for that award is Lorenzo Berho's
Raincloud.
Mag owes the
J/145 45 hours, but the Puerto
Vallarta boat started 48 hours earlier, and at
mid-day Sunday Mag had closed steadily to within 46 miles. All Mag
needed to do was finish within three hours of Raincloud---slam dunk,
right?
Not quite. A
lot can happen between Cabo San Lucas and Puerto Vallarta. Ask Roy Disney, whose
Pyewacket broke its topmast while leading Magnitude 80 two years ago.
With all of
that, like the
Salsa Division boats, the race's hardcore competitors also have time to
enjoy the sights along the way.
Richau noted: "The sea life
is starting to show up. Doug was driving as we passed about 100 feet
past a BIG whale. We are setting up for the Cabo rounding now and
looking into the gulf for weather. All else is well."
The Salsa
fleet starts its third and last leg around mid-day Monday with three
boats---Jim Puckett's Amazing Grace (3-1), David Kory's Barking Spider 3
(1-3)and Gil Maguire's Tenacity (2-2)---sharing the lead with four
points each in the spinnaker class on overall handicap time. They'll
re-start the race well rested after a three-day layover in Cabo San
Lucas.
"Although we are all
relaxed, it is hard not to think about Monday, and the last leg of this
race," Kory said by e-mail. "With the three top boats all tied in
points, it all boils down to Leg 3, and we are starting to get
butterflies."
Yes, the Salsas also take
their racing seriously, despite sounding awe-struck by the adventure.
Meredith
Ritner, wife of a crew member, Bob Ritner, on Pat Hearne's Far Niente,
related a report from the Dana Point, Calif. boat: "Thursday night the seas were
pretty rough and a wave nailed them on the starboard quarter causing two
crew members to lurch across the cabin. They ended up taking out
the salon table and spent the better part of today repairing
it.
"They have been awed by the animal life. In addition to
seeing lots of whales, they were visited by a pod of dolphins that left
bio-luminescent trails through the night seas. [Friday] night they
thought they may have seen the Black Pearl, as they saw what appeared to
be boat lights approaching them but had no [radar]
sighting. Later, they saw a planet setting over the horizon. .
. . One member swears and be damned if it wasnt a UFO. Of course,
the UFO phenomenon could be explained by the limited amount of sleep
everyone has hador the bibulous habits of sailors."
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
Standings:
Racing Division
(Official
positions at 8 a.m. PST Monday; handicap ratings in seconds per mile in
parentheses)
PHRF A (started
Feb. 23)
Magnitude 80
(Andrews 80), Doug Baker, Long
Beach (-165), 495 miles to go (avg. speed 14.4
knots).
RETIRED---Scout
Spirit (Reichel/Pugh 77), David
Janes, Newport
Beach (-123).
PHRF B (started
Feb. 21)
1. Raincloud
(J/145), Lorenzo Berho, Puerto
Vallarta (-25), 435 miles to go (avg. speed 7.8
knots).
Salsa Division
/ Started Feb. 16
(Positions
available through Friday; will be updated Sunday)
Leg 2
(Leg 2 finishes
boat for boat; handicap ratings
to be computed
at finish)
Spinnaker A
1. Barking
Spider 3 (MacGregor 65), David Kory, Concord, Calif. (-24), finished Thursday at
15:49:24.
2. Amazing
Grace (Farr 55), Jim Puckett, Pacific Palisades, Calif. (12), Thursday
17:01:10.
3. Tenacity
(J/133), Gil Maguire, Marina del Rey (9), Thursday 17:13:20.
Spinnaker
B
1. Classic
Impulse (Catalina 40), Sean Roll, Riverside, Calif. (102), 34 Friday
00:58:23.
2. Voice of
Reason (Ericson 32), Jim McCone/Mike Verla, Lomita, Calif. (180), Friday 03:28:15.
RETIRED---Jungle
Jim (Jeanneau 49), Jim Maslon, Marina del Rey (69).
Non-spinnaker
1. Far Niente
(Catalina 42), Pat Hearne, Monarch Beach, Calif. (102), Friday 00:31:50.
2. Polaire
(Tayana 52), Hideshige Seki, Tokyo, Japan (87), Friday
02:15:58.
3. Vision
(Tayana 48), Jean Rooryck, Woodland Hills, Calif. (78), Friday 03:28:15.
4. Aquarius
(Jeanneau 43), Hiro Funaoku, Marina del Rey (117), Friday 03:42:13.
5. Segue (Island Packet 485), Peter
Hirsch, Santa
Monica, Calif.
(114), Friday 04:37:41.
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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