A wind and a sail

Danette Goulet

NEWPORT HARBOR -- Sleek vessels jockeyed for position Friday to be

among the first to pass between one of three sets of orange buoys that

signaled the start of the 126 nautical mile journey to Ensenada.

In contrast to the events of last year, when trouble with the buoys

delayed the race by more than an hour, the 54th annual Newport to

Ensenada International Yacht Race went off with out a hitch.

When the first gun fired at noon the largest of the sailing vessels

cruised past the starting line to begin their journey amid cheers and

shouts -- some friendly and some not-so-friendly, which were accompanied

by a shaken fist or obscene gestures.

“The objective of the race is fun, but it’s very competitive,” said

Reg Hasbach, the co-skipper of the “Tres Gordo,” a 30-foot cal2-30, which

he owns with Dave Price of Corona del Mar.

This was the 37th year that Price has sailed the race, having taken

first place with two boats in separate classes one year and taking first

overall in 1990 with the “Tres Gordo.”

So, although the biggest and the fastest set sail first, they don’t

always take the biggest trophy.

Skippers and crews of 438 yachts in 27 different classes are vying for

144 trophies, which will be handed out in Ensenada Sunday.

But many did not wait for the festivities in Mexico and began their

party on the docks of the Bahia Corinthian Yacht Club Friday morning with

spreads of cheese and crackers, lush fruits and bloody marys.

Even the overcast and ominous weather did little to dampen spirits,

although it had a few skippers concerned.

“We’d like a little more wind,’ said a grinning Price, clad in a

cheery Hawaiian shirt and sporting his boats’ name and the race she was

competing in. “It’s pretty gloomy as is.”

Others remained unconcerned with the less-than-stellar weather

conditions, which included winds out of the south at the start of the

race - not the ideal direction for a race with a southern course.

“It’s the calm before the storm,” said Joe Degenahardt, skipper of the

Lickity Split, a Catalina 38, that he would be making the 126-mile trek

in for the 30th time. “The big race is the prep for the race - more than

100 man hours.”

Sponsored by the Newport Ocean Sailing Assn. Since 1948, the race

boasts vessels up to 100 feet long and others that are just 25 feet.

The Ensenada race tradition began back in 1947, when members of the

Newport Ocean Sailing Assn. decided to organize a small, “just-for-fun”

event for sailors, who had returned from World War II. They’d expected

about 30 skippers to show up. But when the race got underway on April 23,

1948, 117 boats lined up behind the starting line.

In its most crowded year, in 1983 the race saw 675 ships set sail out

of Newport Harbor.

The quickest a boat has reached its Mexican destination was the Steve

Fossett’s “Stars and Stripes” Catamaran in 1998, which made it in six

hours, 46 minutes and 40 seconds.

The Catamaran is racing again this year, as is the ship with the

record time for a mono-hull, Roy Disney’s “Pyewacket”, a so-called

turbo-sled that made the journey in 11 hours and 54 minutes in 1998.