Ensuring smooth sailing

The 55th annual Tommy Bahama Newport to Ensenada festivities will end

today south of the border. More than 500 volunteers spend countless hours

on making the race happen every year.

On Thursday, the event’s promoter, Ralph Rodheim, sat down with City

Editor James Meier to discuss the race’s past, present and future.

Rodheim has been involved in the race since the 1960s, mostly as a

participant.

Q: What are your general thoughts on this year’s Tommy Bahama Newport

to Ensenada Yacht Race?

A: I’m really pleased with the progress the event is making. It’s

always been a wonderful activity. The Newport Ocean Sailing Assn. board

works all year long, as do we -- we’re already working on the 2003 race

-- and made some fabulous strides this year to improve the race, to

improve the image and to improve the benefit to the participants, the

racers.

Q: And what are the improved benefits to the racers?

A: I think one of the elements we did this year was the West Marine

Sailing Seminar and Expo, which was held at the Newport Beach Marriott.

We were very pleased with West Marine as a race sponsor -- put a lot of

effort into it and actually had two tracks, a beginning sailor track and

an advanced sailor track with seven hours each. So, for a first-year

event, we had 300-plus people attend, and I would think in the future

there would be several thousand people because it was so well done.

And we had a lunch, which the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce was

involved in, that featured Gino Morrelli, the world-class yacht designer

of Stars and Stripes and a boat named PlayStation, which just set the

U.S. to England transatlantic record. So people think that sailing is

slow. They sailed across the Atlantic Ocean for four days and some hours.

They averaged 25.8 knots, average.

So, for the Ensenada race, that was one new activity that came about

this year. The NOSA board improves the Volvo pre-race seminars -- a

series of seminars from Santa Barbara to San Diego that are hosted by the

sponsor Volvo to make sure that people know the boating safety, that

people are aware of supplies and safety requirements on the boats. Safety

is a huge concern because when you’re sending 500 boats and upward of

10,000 people in the ocean, safety is very important. So we stress that.

Q: What brought about the Tommy Bahama sponsorship?

A: Part of Rodheim Marketing Group’s role is to selectively add

sponsors, and the purpose for the sponsorship is allowing the NOSA board

to keep the entry fees down do people can participate. The sponsorship

has also allowed the NOSA board to choose some charities to actually

support. They’ve chosen El Viento, which is a wonderful charity that Jack

Shaw founded. He actually lives in Bay Shores. That’s a whole story on

its own.

In our process for finding a good match -- actually David Jahr in our

office thought of Tommy Bahama and contacted them. I think they are

absolutely the perfect sponsor for the race. I’ve never had the

opportunity to work with such a quality company that is true to their

image: Life is one long weekend.

Their goal in the race is that Tommy Bahama -- actually a fictitious

character -- if he were real, would be sailing and entering the Ensenada

race. Tommy Bahama is a guy who really loves to have fun, and the

Ensenada race is really fun. There’s a lot of camaraderie and class.

That’s what Tommy Bahama is. That’s what the race is. And there is the

competition and excitement of the race, and Tommy Bahama would be sailing

in this. So it’s just a perfect match, and we’re really pleased to have

them on board. They have signed on for at least three years as the

[race’s very first] title sponsor.

And it’s allowed the race to improve itself one more level. We now

have an official logo and have started the branding. It will allow us to

become more international.

Q: What other changes were made this year? Obviously, you mentioned

the West Marine Sailing Seminar and Expo.

A: And the title sponsorship. For the first time, Tommy Bahama

sponsored a fund-raising event for the charity and, between Union Bank

and Tommy Bahama, raised more than $14,000 for El Viento. So that’s

something new this year.

They also have in United States Sailing special people who are chief

judges to make sure the major events around the country are run right.

There’s only three of those in the United States, one of which will

actually be on our boat to make sure this is a world-class event. So

that’s new. We never had that kind of support.

Q: Will that become a regular addition to the race?

A: I really don’t know. Those were basically the new elements this

year. Last year, we added the Volvo double-handed race, so there was a

category, and they’ll be sailing again this year with two people on a

boat.

Q: Were the changes necessary?

A: I don’t think that they’re necessary, but each year the NOSA board

is always looking at how to make it a better event, how to make it a more

professional event, so each year the commodore continually pushes the

envelope and challenges us to help with ideas.

Q: Can you foresee any other changes being made to next year’s race or

races thereafter?

A: There’s clearly one thing that I’ve been lobbying for. And I think

there is support with NOSA, and I know it will help Newport Beach in the

tourism industry. In the world of sailing, there are certain races around

the U.S. -- the Chicago to Mackinaw race, the Key West race in Florida,

the Block Island race on the East Coast -- where yachtsmen from all over

the country go just to say they’ve sailed in that race.

Ensenada is one of those. In fact, this year, we do have an individual

trailering his boat from Texas, we have somebody else coming from Canada,

we have several boats coming up from Mexico. But we’d like to continually

establish the race as, if you are involved in sailing in the United

States, you need to have done the Tommy Bahama Ensenada race.

We have, in the past and hopefully it’ll be reinstituted, the Ivy

League trophy, where each of the Ivy League schools would have a

representative on a boat here and the first Ivy League to win would get

that trophy.

We’ve discussed a U.S. Yacht Club challenge, where each yacht club

within the nation would enter a team and they would be in it. That’s

where I see this race needing to go and hopefully will go. A. It raises

the visibility of the race. B. It does help tourism and people coming to

town. And it raises the visibility of Newport Beach and all the wonderful

things we have to offer.

So the race itself is very well-run and very well-organized, is a lot

of fun. It really is not broken. So, it’s one of those things that we can

just, each year, try to enhance. I’d like to see more charter boats, so

if you wanted to go and didn’t own a boat, you could go.

Another thing I would hope would answer that is our friends in Mexico

continually do a better job when we go down there by offering tours to

the wine country. Not too many people know, but Ensenada has a very good

and interesting wine country. That we have tours to La Bufadora, which is

the Blow Hole, in Mexico. So that when you get down there, there are

things to do. Each year, you’re always looking for something new to do,

so that’s what we’re looking at.

Q: What keeps this 55-year tradition afloat?

A: Fun. Fun. It really is fun. It’s a race that you could go to a

foreign country and yet it’s not so challenging that you can only be a

sophisticated yachts person to do it. You can do it in a long weekend,

which is perfect for Tommy Bahama’s “Life is one long weekend.” It’s fun

on this side. There are some really fun events going up, and I keep using

this word “fun” and I think that’s really the theme. When you get down to

Mexico, it’s fun. It’s not that far. It’s a beautiful drive. If you leave

here now [2:30 p.m.], we can be there for dinner.

It’s very well-run too. Each skipper gets wonderful prizes, but that’s

not why they enter the race. It’s the competition, it’s the camaraderie.

It’s the fun.

Q: Any final thoughts?

A: We really appreciate the Pilot and what you’re doing. I think by

what you’re doing and the other publications you’re raising the

visibility that boating and sailing is a good activity. Yes, it’s a

sport, but it’s something that everybody can do. You don’t have to be

ultra wealthy to do it. Anybody can. And Orange Coast College has a

fabulous sailing program. The Boy Scouts Sea Scouts have a sailors

program. There’s a trophy for all women, so it’s an opportunity that

women can sail.

So, by the work the Pilot and other publications do in raising the

awareness of the sport of sailing, I think, is really, really important.

It allows people to get out on the water and this is just the crown

jewel. So, we’re indebted to the Pilot.

BIO

Age: 58

Hometown: Longtime Balboa Island resident

Occupation: President of Rodheim Marketing Group

Education: Newport Harbor High School, Orange Coast College,

bachelor’s in psychology and history from Chapman University, master’s in

administration from Pepperdine University

Family: Wife of 33 years Penny, daughter Megan, two grandchildren,

mother Bebee

Hobbies: All sports, including sailing, golf and skiing; races on his

Harbor 20 boat during the week in the summer