TERRANCE PHILLIPS -- The Harbor Column

It was a warm Friday afternoon on May 5, 1947 -- a day that has since

been labeled the “largest international yacht race in the world.”

This was the day of the inaugural “Newport to Ensenada” race, an event

now in its 53rd year. In those days, some of the decks were covered with

scampering crewmen wearing white slacks, sweaters and canvas shoes as the

owners sipped French champagne. Other boats required shorts, T-shirts and

bare feet -- the crew members opening their bottles of Pabst Blue Ribbon

with church keys.

The decks featured crew members from movie moguls to mechanics and the

event has since grown into one of yachting’s most recognized spectacles.

Depending on who you ask, the original race was either organized as a

serious competitive event or a reason for everybody to pack up their

boats for a fun weekend in Mexico. It has become a combination of both.

Serious racing sailors wanted to establish a recognized event hosted out

of Newport Harbor and, if noncompetitive boats wanted to tag along, that

was OK, too.

The race has consistently attracted more than 500 entries and has hosted

as many as 675 boats racing in 20 classes. There are about 13,000

participants from the United States with an estimated 11,000 from Mexico

involved in the race.

For several years, the 125-mile race ended at the Pacific Riviera Hotel

in Ensenada, with its terraced seating booths facing a large stage and

dance floor.

The floor was once covered with blackjack, craps and roulette tables and

was famous for gambling before the Mexican government changed the law.

Jack Dempsey was reportedly one of the original owners of the Pacific

Riviera. During World War II, the hotel was transformed into barracks for

the Mexican navy and is now open for banquets and special events.

In that first race, the committee was just about to commence with the

awards presentation ceremony on Sunday afternoon when Humphrey Bogart and

Lauren Bacall walked in. They were promptly seated in the front row.

Bogey sailed in several of the races aboard his famed sloop, Santana.

The host hotel was moved to its present location, the Bahia Hotel, in the

early 1950s.

On the Saturday night after the race, the Pacific Riviera hosted a very

dressy affair for boat owners, skippers and crews with everyone wearing

jackets and ties. Most of the spouses drove down for the formal dinner,

and spent the night dancing to Big Band music.

“It went on until midnight and was quite the social affair in those

days,” said John Blaich, a crewman in the inaugural race aboard a 66-foot

ketch named Dragoon, which was owned by Newport Harbor Yacht Club’s 1947

Commodore, Henry Grandon.

An 80-foot sloop named Pursuit, owned by movie producer Milton Bren, won

the inaugural race. Bren was married to famed actress Claire Trevor and

was the father of Irvine Co. chairman Donald Bren.

As a young boy, Donald was allowed to crew on dad’s boat on that infamous

day of racing and holds the distinction of setting the first Newport to

Ensenada race record.

During the 1960s and ‘70s, the race coincided with Cinco de Mayo

festivities, for which thousands of Americans would travel down to

Ensenada and cause quite a stir. Drunkenness, fist fights and numerous

incidents of property damage to the Ensenada community influenced race

committee officials to change the race date from May 5 to its present

date of the last Friday in April.

The organization responsible for hosting the event is the Newport Ocean

Sailing Assn., which dispatches more than 250 volunteers to ensure the

race’s success.

The fact that the event crosses the border of a foreign country adds to

the complexity of managing such a huge event.

Balboa Yacht Club member James Mahaffy is the commodore for this year’s

race. Literally thousands of hours are spent organizing everything,

including the starting lines (this year there are three), committee

boats, judges’ boats, media, hotels, and meetings in Mexico with

government officials, the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard and the Mexican navy.

Commodore Mahaffy is assisted by Vice Commodore Jerry Shandra; Rear

Commodore Ron Masterson, Jr.; Staff Commodore Wallace Cook; race chairman

Fred Slocum and assistant Tim Johnson; Secretary Victor Stern; Treasurer

Bob Carolan; and Richard Pacelli, judge advocate.

To say this race is a colorful event is a clear economy of words. In

years past, boats have been seen with crews wearing long-tailed tuxedos

and bathing suits, a spinet piano-playing crewman performing ragtime

music on deck, and a boat adorned with a real live mermaid maiden head

leaning over the bow. Once, a tall ship square rigger with an all-female

crew scattered about the rigging in all their, well ... splendidness.

Most recently, the all-female crew, known as the Impeachment Committee

(1999) and the White House Interns (1998), has added a little spice to

the splice.

Serious sailors turn their heads to such frivolity and concentrate on the

facts: get to Ensenada faster than anyone ever has before.

Steve Fossett set the record in 1998 aboard the America’s Cup-winning

catamaran Stars and Stripes in 6:46:40. However, the mono-hull record,

also set in 1998, was Roy Disney’s turbo sled Pyewacket, which made it in

11:54.

The Newport to Ensenada Race is spectacular -- an event in which many

cities would love to be involved and envy hosting.

We are fortunate to have such an event right here in our little corner of

the sea, Newport Beach.

* TERRANCE PHILLIPS is the Daily Pilot’s boating writer. You can leave a

message for him at (949) 642-6086 or via e-mail at o7

dailypilot@latimes.comf7 .