Disney leads after one

Rick Devereux

The one thing a sailboat race needs is wind, and while the 6 to 8

knots blowing off Newport Beach for the start of the First Team Real

Estate invitational regatta Friday might have seemed low, it could

have been worse.

“I heard there was a high pressure system coming in, so I expected

[the wind] the be very light,” race spokesman Rich Roberts said. “I

was surprised at how much wind we got.”

The light breeze might have made conditions slow, but that was an

advantage for the bigger boats on the 12-mile buoy course.

“Things happen a lot slower [in lower knots],” said Richard Loewy,

a crew member of 86-foot Pyewacket, the second-largest boat competing

in the race. “If you’re going 20 knots, the buoys come up a lot

quicker and you have to move a lot faster.”

Pyewacket, owned by Roy Disney, finished first among Class 1 boats

in an adjusted time of one hour, 31.07 minutes. Genuine Risk, at

90-feet, the largest of the 16 boats, was second in an adjusted time

of 1:33.41.

Disney has said this is his last year of sailboat racing.

“We’re ecstatic,” said Pyewacket crew member Scott Eason. “It was

a seesaw battle. It was a great race and it was fun to go against

another big boat [in Genuine Risk].”

Loewy and Eason, along with members of other winning boats, said

the key to finishing first was starting well.

“We lined up for a great start,” said Gavin Herbert, a member of

Class 2 winner Skylark. “A boat cut in front of us at the start and

we had the choice of either staying behind them and going slow or

tacking to the right. We tacked, the wind changed directions, and we

had clean sailing. It really ended up helping us out big time.”

Skylark, owned by Doug Ayres from Newport Beach, finished in an

adjusted time of 1:23.38, beating Grand Illusion (1:24.31) by more than one minute.

Class 3 winner Chayah also credited a solid start for the victory.

“We really benefited by starting on the right side of the course

because the wind shifted slightly,” skipper Walter Johnson said. “The

start really got us in the right position for the rest of the race.”

Chayah, which finished in an adjusted time of 1:23.39, is one of

the smaller boats at 48 feet.

“The most exciting thing for us was that we were one of the

smallest boats out there and we were able to hold our own against

some of the big guys,” Johnson said.

The race, which benefits the Hoag Heart and Vascular Institute at

Hoag Hospital, had a somewhat relaxed atmosphere do to the

philanthropic cause associated with the event. But make no mistake

about it, the sailors wanted to win.

“It’s always serious,” said Skyler Lehr, a member of Bolt, which

finished second in Class 3 at an adjusted time of 1:23.50. “That’s why we’re out here -- to race and win.”

Skylark’s Herbert had the same thoughts.

“Whenever you’re in a sailboat, you’re always competing against

someone,” he said. “Even though this is a fun event, you always want

to win. It doesn’t matter who you’re sailing against, even if they’re

in a different class, you’re racing.”

Craig Reynolds, the owner and skipper of Long Beach-based Bolt,

wanted to perform well in the regatta but had his sights set on the

Long Beach to Hawaii race scheduled for mid-July.

“Our race is the Transpacific,” Reynolds said. “That is the one we

really want to do well in. But this is for a good cause and we want

to help out. It’s great to sail in Newport Beach and I appreciate the

people that put on this event.”

David Team, who skippered Class 2 Scout Spirit, also used Friday

as a bit of a warm up.

“We practiced [Thursday], we practiced [Friday] morning and we

practiced during the race,” said Team, who won the right to drive

Scout Spirit through an auction with proceeds going to Hoag Hospital

and the Boy Scouts. “This was a good warm up. My learning curve is

great. Everyone else [on the crew] was perfect. Any faux pas we made

were my fault.”

Scout Spirit crossed the finish line before any other Class 2

boat, but finished seventh out of nine boats in the class after its

time was adjusted to 1:29.23.

All 16 boats started Friday’s race at the same time, but today and

Sunday will split the boats into the separate classes with a

staggered start about five minutes apart.

Today and Sunday will also have two races for each class.