Winner fond of race

Jeff Benson

Most of the sailors entered in the 69th annual “Flight of the Lasers”

boat race in Newport Harbor last weekend were there purely for the

fun, a spokesperson at the Newport Harbor Yacht Club said. Trophies

awarded included “Best Decorated Boat,” “Best Costume,” “First

Married Couple” and “First Parent/Child Team.”

But then there were those, such as reigning Laser Masters champion

Ned Jones and former America’s Cup Australia team captain Philip

Thompson, who had their sights set on much more. The two finished

fourth and sixth, respectively.

In an upset, it was a young unknown who drifted away with this

one. Lido Isle’s Clark Fonda, 19, staked his claim as the newest

force in the Southern California sailing scene by beating 68 other

competitors, only two weeks after his first career win in the

Southern California Youth Yacht Racing Assn.’s So Cal Laser

Championships. The “Flight of the Lasers” race, sponsored by the

Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce, allowed for males and females of

all ages in similar 14-foot, single-person, Olympic-class Lasers or

12-foot Bytes, which sailed as a separate class.

“I was really looking forward to this regatta,” Fonda said. “I

thought if I tried hard enough, I could win.”

Now comes the “purely-for-fun” part.

Newport Harbor Yacht Club Racing Director Jennifer Lancaster said

the race is historically so unofficial that no one has ever bothered

to keep finish times. So when Fonda, a sophomore at the University of

Southern California, said he eked out a win over close friend, fellow

Trojan and second-place finisher Harrison Turner on Sunday, he really

didn’t know how far in front the two were.

“I looked at my watch, and we finished around 2:15 p.m.,” Fonda

said. “We were supposed to start at 1 p.m., but I’m not even sure if

we started on time. Harry was maybe 20 seconds behind me. He and I

got punched after rounding the Z mark [northwest of Lido Isle], and

we just pushed each other on the downward leg [back to Newport Bay].”

Fonda said his pre-race plan was to hang around the top five for

most of the race and make a late surge. The strategy worked, as he

and Turner stayed in the top four before they found themselves

battling it out in front by a wide margin.

“He’s such a good upwind sailor, but I felt good about my downwind

boat speed,” he said. “It was just a matter of staying with him.”

The win netted Fonda the item in the toy-store window that he’d

been drooling over for months -- a new laser sail -- a grand prize

that Lancaster valued at approximately $400. His name is also on

display on one of the Yacht Club’s larger trophies. But the biggest

prize of all, he said, was the congratulations from his USC sailing

coach in attendance, Mike Segerblom, and mother Emily Fonda.

“We’re really pleased with his progress,” Emily Fonda said.

“During the year, he’s been sailing with a top national team at USC,

and he’s learned a lot on that team. It’s been very, very enjoyable.”

Cole Hatton, Ned Jones and Mark Gaudio rounded out the top five in

the race.

Lancaster said the race was entirely sponsored and free to members

of local yacht clubs. Two-time defending champion Chris Raab did not

race this year.