Joss Wins Battle for Line Honors in Yacht Race to Puerto Vallarta

The battle for line honors (first to finish) in the 1,125-mile Marina del Rey to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, yacht produced no surprises.

Led by Dick Daniels’ MacGregor-65 sloop Joss, out of Long Beach Yacht Club, three Class-A yachts finished within an hour and seven minutes of each other Thursday--and all three shattered the elapsed-time record of 5 days 4 minutes set by Ragtime in 1979.

The record of 4 days 23 minutes belongs to Daniels, who was also the skipper of Ragtime on the 1979 record run.

Aided by brisk winds in the Gulf of California, Daniels brought Joss across the finish line at 7:12 a.m. Thursday, 25 minutes ahead of Fred Preiss’ 84-foot sloop Christine, Pacific Mariners Yacht Club, the favorite for line honors. Third to finish, 32 minutes behind Christine, was another MacGregor-65 Cheval, sailed by a syndicate composed of George Alexander, Mark Rossi and Hal Ward, California YC.

All but 11 of the 28 starters were expected to complete the course by noon today. Most of the fleet were reporting average speeds of 8-10 knots during the previous 24 hours.

The race was sailed in two divisions--18 boats in the International Offshore Rule division and 10 in Performance Handicap Racing Fleet. The two divisions sail under different handicap systems.

PHRF handicap leader at Thursday’s noon rollcall was the Hobie-33 Breakaway, skippered by Dennis Hibdon, Cabrillo Beach Yacht Club, with 230 miles to go.