Regattas brew kegs of joy

Simon Brown

For those looking for a watering hole on the water with some family

fun on the side, look no further than the Balboa Yacht Club’s Beercan

Regattas.

Held each Thursday at 6 p.m. through Aug. 26 in Newport Harbor,

the Beercan Regatta is a chance for sailors with a range of skill

levels to enjoy great racing, barbecue and great sunsets, as the club

promises.

“The race is for people who don’t normally sail,” said Ben

Benjamin, the Balboa Yacht Club’s sailing administrator and program

director. “It’s more like a cruise. Generally, three or four people

in the boat know what to do everyone else has a beer in their hands.”

While other sailing clubs have similar races, Benjamin says his

club’s version are the largest in Newport Harbor, featuring more than

65 boats. There are two different courses competitors may chose from,

one at a length of four miles, the other at 4 4/10 miles. There are

six racing classes, five of which use the Performance Handicap Racing

Fleet system, which gives each boat a handicap based on size and

skill, and one design class that is a head-to-head race. The boat

with the lowest score at the end of a four-race series wins its

class. There is even an appropriate prize for winners.

“Trophies have been beer mugs or beer glasses,” Benjamin said.

“It’s representative of the style of racing.”

The most appealing aspect of these races for sailors like Len

Bose, a fleet captain at the Balboa Yacht Club, is not the promise of

Pilsener prizes but the opportunity to be with family and friends.

“It’s about taking as many people as you can fit on your boat up

and down the bay for a sail,” he said. “But I also see this race as a

way to get my [5-year-old son Andrew] involved in sailing.”

Bose has been racing in the Beercan Regattas since 1981 and plans

to do so “for another 100 years,” he said.

“It’s like the commercial: $45,000 boat, $10 pack of beer. The

rest is priceless,” he said.

The races are open to the public provided they are members in good

standing of the Balboa Yacht Club or United States Sailing. But if

getting on a boat isn’t for you, other options are available.

“There are a lot of restaurants and commercial boats that like to

watch,” Benjamin said. “It creates quite a spectacle for spectators.”