Sailing into a new position

The Newport Ocean Sailing Assn. will bring a new skipper on board in a ceremony Sunday at the Bahia Corinthian Yacht Club in Corona del Mar.

Irvine resident David Garcia succeeds Jane Benson as the commodore of NOSA, the local sailing organization that puts on the Newport to Ensenada international yacht race each year.

“NOSA is purely a volunteer organization. We’re not here to get paid ? we’re all volunteers. We just do it for the love of the race,” Garcia said.

Garcia will be busy in his new role. A NOSA commodore is active in helping to manage several NOSA-sponsored sailing races, including the Newport to Ensenada race.

“This year is the 60th year of the event, so it really should be extra-special,” Garcia said.

NOSA also sponsors several additional yacht races, including the Argosy Races and the 14 Mile Bank Race in the fall.

Although the commodore position isn’t easy to take on, it’s rewarding all the same, outgoing commodore Benson said.

“It was absolutely wonderful, it was probably one of the best experiences of my life,” said Benson, the organization’s first female commodore.

A Texan, Garcia was introduced to sailing when he came to Southern California with the Air Force. He took a sailing course at the Orange Coast College of Sailing and Seamanship and he was hooked. He took up racing with a co-worker and got into it.

“We won a lot,” Garcia said of racing with friend and co-worker Paul DeCapua. “Sailing got under my skin and in my blood.”

He’s been involved with NOSA for six years. At the ceremony Sunday, exiting commodore Benson will ceremoniously turn over her position to Garcia.

For Benson, her commodore year is a souvenir of Newport Beach yachting life she’ll keep when she moves from Newport to Prescott, Ariz., this month.

“It was an excellent year,” Benson said. “It is something that I’ll take with me and really treasure for the rest of my life.”

A 16-year resident of Newport Beach, Benson never thought she’d become a NOSA commodore. Benson became involved with sailing at Bahia Corinthian Yacht Club when she and her husband began running races.

Benson doesn’t know if she will join a yacht club in Arizona, but there is one in Phoenix.

dpt.14-water-C.1PhotoInfoJ11SU16220060714j2d7z2ncCredit: HEIDI SCHULTHEIS / DAILY PILOT Caption: (LA)David Garcia takes over as commodore of Newport Ocean Sailing Assn. in a ceremony on Sunday at the Bahia Corinthian Yacht Club. dpt.14-water-2-CPhotoInfoJ11SU9G320060714j2djznncCredit: Caption: (LA)