25 Sailboats Compete in a Contest for Classics

Somis resident Dick McNish knew his classic sailboat couldn’t win a race against modern sailing ships, so he organized a competition of his own.

And 14 years after he donated the trophy to get it started, the contest seems to be a winner.

The 14th annual Corinthian Classic Yacht Race on Saturday outside the Channel Islands Harbor breakwater is open only to wooden sailboats designed before 1952. The 25 boats that competed Saturday were a varied lot of schooners, ketches, yawls, sloops and cutters from as far away as Morro Bay and San Diego.

“We can’t really compete in the races of today against the modern designs,” McNish said. “But this race is not really a race. We all get together and it’s more like a race/parade.”

The competition, one of four major wooden-boat races on the West Coast, features a reverse start, with the boats handicapped according to size, class and racing history. The slower boats start first.

“This is a good race because of the reverse start,” said Mike Ludwig, who owns the Gold Eagle, a 53-foot schooner from Redondo Beach. “It makes for an exciting finish. Last year, there was only four minutes between first and third places.”

The Strathmore Cup, as McNish’s trophy is called, is presented to the winner of the 17-mile race. There are also awards for the winners in each of five classes and for the oldest ship. A Bristol Boat Award is given to the cleanest and smartest-looking vessel.

Top honors in Saturday’s race went to a Santa Ana man, while three Ventura County residents won in their divisions.

Santa Ana resident Jim Squire, sailing Man O’ War, won the Strathmore Cup for overall honors. He also placed first in both the Class B and the sloop and cutter divisions. Oxnard resident Walter Rustakoff, who sailed the Vignette II, won the Class A race.

McNish, who sailed the Cheerio II, won in the yawl category. The schooner trophy went to Oxnard resident Paul Bick, whose vessel is called Te-Gia. And first place in the ketch category went to Los Angeles resident Kevin Cassady, who was sailing the Spanish Rake.

Gerald Burch of Ventura owns Los Amigos the oldest boat in Saturday’s race. The ship was built in the West Indies in 1879.

“We still win most of our races in our class,” said Burch, 70, who has been sailing since 1938 when he was in the Canadian Navy.