Yachts Head for Ensenada in Light Wind

Another slow Newport-to-Ensenada yacht race loomed Friday as 507 yachts set sail in light wind and an overcast sky.

A breeze from the south-southeast at six-eight knots sent most of the fleet on a close-hauled starboard tack toward the beach near Laguna. Several took a port tack soon after the start, hoping to find better breezes offshore and hoping that winds would clock to the southwest or west, allowing them to set spinnakers for close reach or a run toward the Los Coronados Islands south of San Diego.

A collision between two yachts in the later starting classes left the 33-foot sloop Teaser, skippered by John Sampson of Oceanside, severely damaged. The other boat was not identified. There were no reported injuries.

Unless the wind improves, no yachts are expected in Ensenada, 125 miles down the coast, before early today.

The only threat to the record of 10 hours 31 minutes is expected from Dennis Conner’s 65-foot catamaran, Stars & Stripes, in which he won the 1988 America’s Cup. He was first to finish last year but failed to beat the record when he was becalmed off Rosarito Beach for about six hours.