Sailing off into sunset

Chris Yemma

Chuck Brewer was fairly new to the sailing scene when he set out on

the Newport Beach to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, race in 1986. Just a

couple of years into a sport he picked up in his late 40s, Brewer was

in for a surprise he hadn’t yet had experience with.

About halfway down off the coast of Baja California, Brewer,

guiding his Tartan 40 named Amerigo, a 40-foot sailboat, and other

competing boats, encountered wind speeds of up to 35-40 knots, or

45-50 mph.

Brewer’s boat was blown over 13 times, he said, with the top of

the mast touching the water each time. But an opposing boat,

captained by a friend of his, Warren Rosendale, had its mast snapped

in two, ending the race for Brewer’s friend.

On a fast pace, the race can be finished in four days, he said. In

the conditions Brewer faced, it took six.

But the less-than-ideal conditions during the Newport to Cabo race

didn’t deter Brewer from sticking with the sport. More than 25 years

later, Brewer has owned 10 boats and has dedicated the majority of

his time to the avocation. He currently owns three boats.

“Keeping the boats up keeps me pretty busy,” said Brewer, 70, a

resident of Newport Beach. “It takes up most of my time. Between

sailing and seven grandchildren, I’m kept pretty busy.”

Brewer has been a Newport Harbor Yacht Club member since 1992 and

is now on the board of directors of the Newport Ocean Sailing

Association.

He has won numerous races, including the Newport to Cabo

competition twice, although not the windy race of 1986. But a race he

hasn’t won, and is seeking to this year, is the prestigious Newport

to Ensenada International competition, scheduled to set sail Friday.

Newport to Ensenada, a 125-nautical mile event, draws more than

500 boats each year and was finished in a record 6 hours, 46 minutes

and 40 seconds in 1998.

The first race was held in 1948 with 117 boats entered. But only

65 finished in the 25-30-knot wind conditions, similar to what Brewer

encountered in his Newport to Cabo race.

The Ensenada race was what drew Brewer into the sport, he said.

“I started sailing a Catalina 30 at first,” he said, referring to

a 30-foot boat built by Catalina Yachts. “And then for some reason,

one year, we decided to take a cruising boat to Ensenada for one

race.”

Brewer said he is aiming for first in the race this year, a goal

he has had since picking the sport up.

But it’s not just about winning races for Brewer. There are so

many other aspects of it he enjoys, he said.

“I love the camaraderie of sailing with other people,” he said.

“It’s just a bunch of people getting on a boat and enjoying the

company of each other. It’s a social sport.”

Brewer said he hopes to be able to keep sailing into his 80s.