Whiskey Chaser Finishes First!

[Rick on AA2]

I am still in Mexico, but I hope this posts OK. Rick on Whiskey Chaser (Hunter 33.6) finished first in his class on the 62nd Newport Beach to Ensenada, Mexico race. Congrads to Rick!

Myself and crew of Attitude Adjustment 2 (Hunter Legend 40.5) finished somewhere middling of the pack. We went offshore too far and could not make up the miles. None the less, we beat everyone with or less than our rating and sailed better than our rating. In fact, we AVERAGED 7.18 knots for 165 miles. It was a real great ride!

Rick: sorry I couldn't catch up to you to give you our regards. We were not at the awards.

Rick D.

PS: with what I heard about the flu, I hope we get back in the US!

 

[Scott B]

Congrats to both Ricks, sounds like a good sail across the Gulf..... nice


and just don't kiss any swines and you should be ok .....

 

[Steve Dion]

Rick D: Did all you ol'timer stop by San Clemente Island and have a beer with the Navy guys out there? It looks like you put in about an extra 40 miles. <g>

 

[Rick]

Ahhhh, the podium!

Best wind for the race to Mexico in about 7 years. We were happy, our strategy was good, and the Whiskey Chaser really caught her stride. We decided to go inside the islands based on the forecast. We averaged 5.61 VMG for 125.5 miles overall. No kite, just a whisker pole and a good crew. I included some pics, notably of Rick D and his crew on AAII, using a nice pinch with rights to blow by us in the first hour of race! And it was a nice complement to get a congrats text from him. He has been to the podium twice in the last two years! Just a bit of gloating, but our uncorrected time was enough to edge all the bigger boats in no spin cruz but one. AND corrected, all but a few boats in the cruz kite class. K nough said.

Here are the pics.

Cheers

 

[Steve Dion]

It sounds like y'all had a great time as usual. It makes the trip a lot more exciting when you have some good wind.

 

[Rick D]

Photos of Whiskey Chaser On Way to Podium

Here are a couple of photos of the winning class boat, and yes to Steve Dion: I sure could have gone to San Clemente Island with the extra miles we sailed!

 

[Rick D]

More Newport Beach to Ensenada Mexico Photos and Discussion

It was nice seeing a lot of Hunters in the race. There are always a few more each year. There is a party at the Bahia Corinthian Yacht Club in Newport Beach the night before that's a tradition. They sometimes have several thousand people stroll through. We call it silicon on parade in honor of the very lovely local women of indeterminant age who strut their stuff through the club. There were a hundred boats less this year at the start, about a third less than last year. We think the publicity about the border city violence contributed to it and the economy didn't help. This is the 62nd running of the race and it has had upwards of five hundred boats; this year there were about 270. My cruising class grew by several though, marking a trend. The wind held at about 12-18 knots all the way down which favored the people who were smart enough to follow the rumb line. Many of us are very gun shy of the soft air off Point Loma in San Diego and head offshore for air. Most of us finished a day earlier than usual owing to the steady breeze and enjoyed an extra day of shoving food in our mouths. The awards ceremony is always fun and there are the usual colorful presentations. Ensenada, while not a border town, put out a show of police and armed forces to calm nerves. The local economy was in shambles, but the locals put on their best mask for the racers. Ensenada has for decades been a place for Californians to berth their boats while sitting out the sales tax period. The slowdown in new boat sales has created a lot of empty slips; I'd bet the marina is at 40% capacity. The hotel appeared to have only a few rooms rented. On top of all that, due to the press (hysteria?) about the swine flu, the cruise lines stopped visiting the Mexican ports, yet another body blow. We were concerned about getting back. The rumors were that HS was going to quarantine returning boats but we had no such issue. If you are a SoCal sailor, I'd urge you to round up a crew and do this race. It is a lot of fun and it's a great way to kick off the season.