By Richard | December 3, 2010 | Banderas Bay, Mexico | 0
Today is the third and final day of the Banderas Bay Blast, the ‘nothing serious’ cruiser regatta and social extravaganza now in its fifth year. As always, the last day is also the Pirates for Pupils Spinnaker Run for Charity, which will see the 20-boat fleet carry chutes — and lots of guests who donated money to the charity — for 12 miles in tropical sailing conditions from Punta Mita to Paradise Marina in Nuevo Vallarta. The skies are blue, the wind is expected to be 12 to 18 knots, and the air temperature in the mid-80s. Everybody here is hoping the sailing conditions are as delightful for friends back in their home ports. The following are a series of photos depicting the fun.
The three-day Blast started with a reaching course from Nuevo Vallarta to La Cruz. The J/160 Blue, seen on a tight spinnaker reach, is a vet of all five Blasts and is owned by anesthesiologists Ken and Cheryl of Tennessee. She’s often driven by Mike Danielson of PV Sailing.
Socializing is a huge part of the Blast. Once the fleet was safe in their free berths at the Nayarit Riviera Marina, the party began at the Sky Bar, complete with the annual water balloon drop. This is Dudley, crew on John and Gilly Foy’s Alameda-based Catalina 42 Destiny, looking at his balloon as if it was $1,400/oz gold.
Karen, Dudley’s sweetheart, who also sailed on Destiny, used a very different technique to try to catch her water balloon to win a pizza at Philo’s Music Studio and Bar. A former resident of Alameda, Karen loves being a full time resident of La Cruz.
After the water balloon drop, members of the fleet enjoyed tacos on the street in La Cruz, then migrated to Philo’s. While there, Francesca and Frederica, two lovely Italian girls from Lake Como who crewed on Profligate, bookended Leon the washboard player and his two alter egos. The last thing anybody would accuse Leon of is being ‘two faced’.
The second monohull division starts the second leg of the Blast off La Cruz. Halfway into the eight-mile windward course, the wind piped up to 18 knots. The boat in the foreground is Roger and Di Frizzelle’s Catalina 470 Di’s Dream from Richmond. Having found crew that night at Punta Mita, they vow to do the Ha-Ha again next year, which will make it their fifth or sixth.
How lovely can it get? Barritt Neal and Renee Blaul’s San Diego-based Kelly-Peterson 44 Serendipity crosses the Punta de Mita finish line in front of the Four Seasons, looking as sweet as can be. Barritt cruised the South Pacific with the boat in the ’80s, and Renee joined him for many more years of cruising adventures in Mexico and the Caribbean.
Lauren Buchholz and Lauren Smith, vets of the recent Ha-Ha aboard their Seattle-based Wauquiez 35 Pika, share a smile at the reopening of the Punta Mita Yacht & Surf Club after the second Blast race. Among their cruising goals is Southeast Asia.
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