Cazier’s Buttercup Wins Class A Race

John Cazier of the Balboa Yacht Club sailed his Schock 35 Buttercup to first place in the opening Class A race of the Audi Sobstad Race Week at Long Beach Friday but was dropped to fourth when he took a voluntary 20% penalty for a foul, in lieu of risking a protest hearing.

Buttercup’s penalty moved Tom and Doug Jorgensen’s J-35 Diablo into first place. The three-day, four-race event is being conducted under alternate penalty rules. Of six protests initiated Friday, only two went to a full hearing.

The aggressive 35-foot Class A fleet had two general recalls and a third individual recall for premature starts before getting its race under way.