Racer-patrol rift ‘horrible PR’

Carter Ford, a Newport Beach resident and port captain of the Lido Isle Yacht Club, said the Harbor Patrol has come to his aide in the harbor more than once.

“I have certainly been treated very well by them,” Ford said. “On the water, they have towed me home when the boat wouldn’t run.”

Still, he said he’d like to see them “lighten up,” when it comes to sailboat races.

Newport Harbor Patrol officials said a busier harbor with less space to race than ever before have caused the need to crack down on sail boat races, which regularly exceed harbor speed limits. The issue has dredged up deep-rooted divisions between boaters and the Harbor Department.

“It’s a case of horrible PR” in the Harbor Dept., Harbor Commissioner Marshall Duffield said at a Wednesday night meeting on the issue.

Duffield acknowledged that while he grew up near the water, he went in the other direction when he saw the Harbor Patrol headed his way.

“I think we’re talking about something that goes way beyond racing,” Duffield said. “It shouldn’t be just about boat speed, but it should be about PR between the Harbor Department and boaters.”

The Harbor Commission voted Wednesday to set up a task force to examine safety issues surrounding sailboat races in Newport Harbor, but some believe the issue goes deeper than speed limits and traffic on the water. Many in Newport’s boating community view the harbor patrol as outsiders with a lack of knowledge when it comes to sailing.

Boating enthusiasts gathered at the Harbor Commission meeting Wednesday groaned and rolled their eyes in protest when Harbor Patrol Capt. Deana Bergquist said Newport Harbor was one of the few area harbors that allowed sailboat racing.

Citing races in harbors across Southern California, Charles Brewer, a longtime competitive sailor and member of Newport Harbor Yacht Club, said Bergquist’s comments showed a lack of knowledge of sailing.

“Nobody was really rude, but it’s hard not to react when you hear blatantly wrong statements like that,” Brewer said.

Harbor Patrol officials gained no friends when they made participants in one recent race move the starting line in the wrong direction of the wind and decreed the boaters could not use horns to signal the beginning of the race, Brewer said.

“It created a terrible mess at the starting line,” Brewer said. “It was very bad public relations for the Sheriff’s Department.”

Most Harbor Patrol deputies spend eight to 10 hours a day on the water and are masterful boaters, Bergquist said.

“I guess I would ask what about sailing would it be beneficial for my deputies to know,” Bergquist said. “From the side of law enforcement, we look at, ‘Is it moving at a safe speed.’ ”

Bergquist hoped the new Harbor Commission task force would foster a better understanding between boaters and the harbor patrol.

“I think it’s a difference of perspective,” Bergquist said. “You have one group seeing one thing, and another group seeing something else. It’s not something new. This is an ongoing issue.”

Harbor patrol deputies might learn a thing or two from riding along with local sailors during a race, Ford said. Likewise, Ford said he wouldn’t mind doing a ride-along in a patrol boat.

“I’d like to see the harbor patrol measure their mission with a little bit of temperance for the pleasurable human activity in sharing waters of the harbor,” Ford said.

BRIANNA BAILEY may be reached at (714) 966-4625 or at brianna.bailey@latimes.com.