The Harbor Report: Start of sailing season ‘off the charts’

I am so excited about the start of this boating season I cannot stand it! Last weekend was off the charts. It was Newport at its best, and there is much more to come.

The weekend started on Friday and Saturday with the Balboa Yacht Club’s Corona del Mar to Cabo race. The winds were light for the two starts, with the breeze coming in with a vengeance early Sunday morning.

By the end of Sunday, the carnage reports started to filter in.

Medicine Man broke a boom in a 38-knot puff, but the crew was safe. If you are getting 40-knot gusts, with a big swell off Cedros Island running, then you are going to have some wide-eyed sailors walking really low to the ground when they finish this race.

Go to balboayachtclub.com for a full report.

If you did not stop by Newport Harbor Yacht Club this weekend to watch the Baldwin Cup Team Race, then you missed some of the best sailing that our harbor can provide. Sailed in harbor 20s, the event ran from March 30 till April 1, with Sunday finals pegging out the fun meter.

I have never been at the edge of my seat watching sailing before, and with boats sailing within a “wet sponge throw” of the main dock, I do not know how it can get any better than that.

Well done, Newport Harbor Yacht Club and all the volunteers from around the harbor. I noticed a large number of people from other clubs helping out, and that’s truly what’s it all about.

NHYC also has the revised Ahmanson Cup Series, starting April 21 and 22. This is also part of the Newport High-Point Series. The new format is random leg racing with pursuit starting, which means we will be doing longer courses with the smaller boats starting first.

To me, the event has more of a grass-roots feeling for our harbor’s club racers. Make sure you sign up for this event. It’s time that we clean out our bilges and go boating together.

Over at the Bahia Corinthian Yacht Club, the Angelman Series will be running windward/leeward courses April 14. Paul DeCapua and his crew have been doing an outstanding job this season in setting up perfect windward leeward courses for our local PHRF racers.

BCYC will also be running the Lorin Weiss Harbor 20 Series on April 15. The last date was canceled because of too much wind, so make sure you sign up for this one. I have to get my name on this trophy, because Lorin was a good friend and one of our harbor’s finest.

BCYC is also very involved with this year’s Newport to Ensenada race, starting on April 27. This year’s race will set a new record on the fun meter, and I can’t wait!

Everything will be centered at the Hotel Coral, with scheduled bus trips to and from the hotel. Entries are approaching maximum capacity, and everything seems to be lining up for a memorable year.

We have had a little setback with finding a place for our harbor’s marine recycling center. If any of you ever have a chance to talk with a City Council member, please ask them for a marine recycling center and to reconsider the proposed tideland permits tax increases.

And, while you have their attention, have them throw a little spiff of eight annual parking permits for this year’s Newport High-Point winners.

I have one more story this week to tell you about, so head over to my blog site at lenboseyachts.blogspot.com.

Sea ya!

LEN BOSE is an experienced boater, yacht broker and boating columnist.