Newport to Ensenada on the Wind

For Roy Disney and four-time America Cup winner Dennis Conner, the secret to winning the Newport-to-Ensenada International Yacht Race is a well-trained crew and a swift boat. For Jeff Palmer and Mike Shorey, the key ingredients are ice-cold beer and a crew that can sail and party, not necessarily in that order.

After 54 years, such is the split-personality nature of this Southern California rite of spring that has become part regatta, part family outing and part booze cruise.

Palmer’s 40-foot French-built sloop Victory, Conner’s Stars and Stripes and Disney’s Pyewacket are among 438 entrants in the three-day race that begins today off the Newport Breakwater. The swarming boats will be dispatched in groups with a red pennant and the crack of a starter’s gun.

Since its creation, the 125-mile race to the once-sleepy Baja fishing village has grown into the world’s largest international yachting event, attracting a variety of amateur enthusiasts, celebrities such as newsman Walter Cronkite and top skippers like Conner, Disney, Bill Ficker and Steve Fossett.

“There’s a lot of history, a lot of boats, and a lot of competition,” said Robbie Haines, the tactician aboard Disney’s boat, the Pyewacket, which set the fastest time for the race in 1998--11 hours, 55 minutes. “We’re pretty serious about it.”

The Newport Ocean Sailing Assn. created the race in late 1947 as a recreational event for sailors after the end of World War II. The outlying waters were safe again in the postwar years and yachting enthusiasts were eager to venture beyond Santa Catalina Island.

The Newport Harbor Yacht Club hosted the first regatta, then known as the Governor’s Cup. About 100 boats started the race, but in heavy winds, only 65 finished the race.

A year or two later, the association renamed the event the Newport-to-Ensenada International Yacht Race after then-Gov. Earl Warren failed to get to Mexico to present one of the trophies that bore his name.

Today, the race averages 400 to 500 boats a year. A record 675 craft competed in 1983. The boats range is size from Don Albrecht’s 25-foot Valkyrie to the 100-foot Christine out of Marina del Rey. There are low-budget sailors in small Cals and Catalinas as well as elite craft, such as Disney’s 73-foot Pyewacket and Conner’s new 50-foot sloop.

“That’s the beauty of this thing,” said Richard Caselli, 56, of Mission Viejo, an 18-year veteran of the race who sails a 30-foot Catalina. “There’s the hard-liners and the cruisers. The famous and not so famous.”

As the number of entrants increased over the years, so did the party atmosphere. Crews sometimes wore costumes. One year, the hands of the Prospector turned up in tuxedos with topless women and showed X-rated films on the main sail at night.

The race also used to coincide with Cinco de Mayo, when the streets of Ensenada were turned into a teeming mass of drunken college students, bikers, tourists and sailors. Some would end up in jail. Eventually, race organizers reset the schedule for late April after Mexican police turned a fire hose on a crowd of revelers about 20 years ago.

Doing their best to uphold the party tradition are Palmer, 35, and Shorey, 34, both of Newport Beach. Earlier this week, they finished an overhaul of the Victory, a white Dubois 40 docked off Coast Highway in Newport Harbor.

While they worked, they pondered a question. “Are we a racing boat or a party boat?” Shorey asked Palmer.

“Let’s just say we’re accomplished party sailors,” Palmer answered.

Victory, a 20-year-old carbon fiber boat, has a crew of eight: six men and two women. New electronics and rigging have been installed. The inside is strictly bare bones, with bunks of blue canvas supported by aluminum poles.

All of this is a means to an end. Palmer and Shorey say they hope to arrive in Ensenada no later than Saturday afternoon and head straight to the Bahia Hotel, where the festivities are scheduled.

In fact, the socializing began at noon Thursday with a luncheon at the historic Balboa Pavilion in Newport Beach, where Haines presented a new film about the grueling Transpac Race from California to Honolulu. The Bahia Corinthian Yacht Club in Newport later hosted 500 people for dinner and cocktails.

“It’s still a party,” said Jerry Shandera, the race organizer. “But over the last five or six years, we have seen the level of competition increase significantly. On race day, the nice guy at dinner the night before is now going for it.”

One of the entrants who likes to compete is Ed Quesada, 57, of Santa Ana. But he does so in comfort on the Sirena, a 46-foot Cardinal sloop fitted with teak decks and a teak interior.

There are ample bunks and a full galley in the fiberglass hull. There will be plenty of lasagna and wine for the seven-member crew, which includes Quesada’s son and daughter.

“We are not spartan at all,” said the 27-year veteran of the race. “Some boats hardly take any food or water to minimize weight. But having good food, good friends and a good time is 90% of the battle.”

Although comfort and camaraderie are essential, Quesada does want to win. For years, he has done well against the other 20 to 30 boats in his class, often taking second, third or fourth place. But never first. “This year,” he vows.

Even losers are honored in the Ensenada race. The Spitoon Prize goes to those coming in last. In 2000, the honor went to Caselli’s Bon Vivant, which posted a time of 46 hours, 50 minutes.

“At least we trophied,” Caselli said, noting that scores of entries didn’t make it into Ensenada last year.

Caselli, who wants to redeem himself this year, was faster than D.C. Shannon’s boat, Solano, which holds the record slowest time--68 hours, 1 minute, a record unbroken since 1949.

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International Reach

* What: 54th annual Newport-to-Ensenada International Yacht Race

* When: Race begins at noon Friday; officially ends at 11 a.m. Sunday.

* Where: Begins near breakwater off Newport Harbor, ends 125 miles south in Todos Santos Bay, Ensenada.

* Viewing: If you can see the ocean from the Newport Harbor jetty or the bluffs of Corona del Mar, you can see the race. Parking could be a problem, so arrive early.

* Noteworthy: Live updates will be available on the Newport Ocean Sailing Assn. Web site.

* Web site: www.nosa.org

Source: Newport Ocean Sailing Assn.