In race, sleep comes as a luxury

An elite group of sailors will test their skills and their fortitude Saturday in a 24-hour race during the annual Crew of Two endurance race in Newport Beach. At noon, the competitors will begin their voyage to Catalina Island. The race is sponsored by the South Shore Yacht Club, and generally takes about 20 to 30 hours to complete. Only two sailors are allowed on each boat.

The race has earned a reputation for its considerable difficulty. Joe Greenblat of Irvine has won the race on numerous occasions, yet he keeps coming back for the excitement.

“It’s challenging,” he said. “The sailboats are meant to carry a crew of about nine, but we only have two sailors. That means we have to work efficiently.”

To prepare for race, Greenblat stocks up on sleep the night before.

“I make sure the night before the race, I get lots of sleep,” he said.

Each year, there are two possible courses, and teams that opt for the shorter course must travel to Catalina Island and back (about 63 miles). On the longer course, teams travel around the entire island of Catalina before they return (about 90 miles). This presents some unique challenges said Steve Ellsworth, event chairman.

“If the moon’s not out,” he said, “it’s pretty dark because Catalina shields the light from Long Beach.”

There is little downtime during the race, said Beverly Day, the event spokeswoman.

“It’s a real endurance test,” Day said. “Since there are only two of you, you have to take turns eating sleeping, navigating and so forth.”

According to Ellsworth, sleep is actually a luxury during the race.

“It’s a challenge race for stamina,” he said. “If you go around back end of Catalina and you’re using a spinnaker, and you’re tired, and it’s dark. That’s where the challenge comes in.”

The race is so challenging that participants feel proud of their accomplishment — regardless of how they place.

“It’s an endurance race, and making it through is a real accomplishment,” Day said.

The winners will each get a trophy; yet the sailors agree that the trophy is nominal. “It is a race that people come back for, despite little advertising,” said Hank Kepplinger, a race officer. “Some of them have done it for a numbers of years.”

It is such a personal race, and it only appears to a special kind of sailor

“When you cross that finish line, and you’ve completed the race where you win or not,” Greenblat said. “But winning is better.”

If You Go

Where: Boats depart from Balboa Harbor

When: Boats leave at noon, and will return over the course of the next day