Boats Race in Long Beach for Most Important Reason--Children

Evolution, Bob Doughty’s 68-foot ultralight displacement boat (ULDB), will defend its 1989 victory in the second American Cancer Society Cup at Long Beach Sunday.

Transpac, Ensenada or Cal Cup aside, Doughty says it’s the most important race his boat could win.

“This race is for the children,” says Doughty, who owns several furniture stores. “We are racing against cancer.”

The ULDBs, commonly known as the 70-footers or sleds, are the most competitive big-boat fleet on the West Coast. Others entered are Ed McDowell’s Grand Illusion, the San Diego-to-Manzanillo handicap winner; Roy Disney’s Pyewacket, Mitch Rouse’s Taxi Dancer, Fred Kirschner’s Kathmandu, Don Ayres Jr.’s Drumbeat, Davis Pillsbury’s Holua and Hokalili from San Diego, to be sailed by America’s Cup campaigner Peter Isler.

There will be seven honorary skippers, dockside but worth noting:

--Mathew Perry, 5, Santa Ana. He has rhabdomyocarcoma.

--Joseph Klooster, 13, Anaheim, acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

--Jason Lockridge, 5, Yermo, non-Hodgkins lymphoma.

--Aubra Young, 14, Garden Grove, lymphoblastic leukemia.

--Caroline Parkinson, 4, Newport Beach, rhabdomyocarcoma.

--Janelle Verdugo, 16, Whittier, acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

--James Abasta, 16, Pomona, leukemia.

Honorary crew positions on board the boats are $100, spectator boat positions $50. Reservations may be made through today at (213) 437-0791 or on the dock at the Long Beach Yacht Club, 6201 Appian Way, by 10 a.m. Sunday. The event raised $15,000 last year, and organizers hope to double that.

Allison Jolly of Long Beach, who with crew member Lynne Jewell won the United States’ only sailing gold medal at the 1988 Olympics, will take the children on a tour of the boats before the 1 p.m. start. The race will finish at the club at about 2:30.

The event is tied to Cancer Awareness Month. A free skin cancer screening will be available at the club from 9:30 until noon. Details: (213) 437-0791.

Jolly hasn’t decided whether to defend her Olympic championship in ‘92, but Long Beach will have another prominent female sailor competing in the 29th annual Olympic Classes Regatta at the Alamitos Bay Yacht Club April 6-8.

She may be remembered as Pease Herndon, who waged an Olympic campaign in the women’s 470 class in ‘88, but others now know her as Sarah Glaser. The lady leads a double life.

As production manager for Pacific Valves in Long Beach--she has a mechanical engineering degree from Brown University--she is known professionally as Sarah Glaser. Pease (PEE-zee) is a nickname, and last month she married Jay Glaser, who was Randy Smyth’s crewman when the two won a silver medal on a tornado catamaran in the ’84 Olympics at Long Beach.

Now Jay Glaser, 36, crews for Pease Glaser, 26. They hope to represent the United States at Barcelona on a tornado. The women will have three classes of their own, but Pease Glaser already has proved she can compete with men.

She and Jay Glaser, co-owner of Danger Sails in Long Beach, are ranked No. 1 on the U.S. sailing team. They won the Olympic classes event at Miami in January with five firsts and two seconds and were second to ’88 Olympian Pete Melvin of Long Beach in the ’89 tornado nationals at San Francisco--beating Smyth both times.

“I’m pretty sure I’m the only woman driver in an open event on the U.S. team,” she said. “Perhaps the first ever, although I’m really not sure about that. The tornado is the only Olympic boat that Jay and I could sail together competitively, with our size.”

Their combined weight is only about 285 pounds, but they have done well in heavy air races.

They haven’t raced yet as man and wife, and they won’t at Long Beach. Glaser is committed to an Eastern event, so Pease will sail with his business partner, Steve Keefe.

Sailing Notes

The fourth biennial U.S. Yacht Club Challenge at Newport Beach Wednesday through next Friday has expanded the fleet-racing format from one to three classes. Besides the usual Schock 35s, juniors under 18 will sail flying juniors and lasers. The scoring will be combined to determine the champion club. Past winners include Eastern YC of Marblehead, Mass., in ‘84, Newport Harbor in ’86 and Manhasset Bay of New York in ’88. The selected field this year has Balboa, Newport, Long Beach, California, San Diego, St. Francis, Seattle, Chicago, St. Petersburg and Indian Harbor of Greenwich, Conn. A prelude event is the Balboa Challenge Cup for Southern California clubs Saturday and Sunday in Schock 35s.

Engineer Jerry Douglas of Catalina Yachts laughed when the only criticism that skippers had of the new Catalina 37s after the Congressional Cup was that they were “too maneuverable.” Pirouetting on their deep fin keels, the boats’ bows can turn 180 degrees in 28 feet--less than their overall length.

“We were really pleased,” Douglas said. “It added a new element to the event (with the prestart) interplay among the spectator fleet. Those skippers were putting the boats where you wouldn’t dare put a Catalina 38 (the less agile racer-cruiser used previously).”

Of course, by the end of the event, the sailors decided one boat was faster than the others. That was the boat Chris Dickson sailed to three consecutive victories on the final day to win the title.

“Those boats were closer in weight than the skippers,” Douglas said. Only 11 of the boats, on loan from Frank Butler’s company, have been built. But it’s likely there will be more after the skippers said it was the best model used on the world match racing circuit. A probable price tag: $50,000-65,000.

The Newport Used Boat Show runs through Sunday at Lido Marina Village, followed by the New Power and Sailboat Show April 4-8. Hours: 11 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. weekdays, 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Saturdays and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sundays. Admission: $5 adults, $2 children, under 6 free. . . . The Long Beach YC’s Catalina Island series for IOR and PHRF handicap boats starts April 7-8 with the race to Long Point.