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Friday Night Sundown Series

The sun sets on summer, and on these Sundown sailors in Marina del Rey.

© Andy Kopetzky

For the past 30-odd years Del Rey Yacht Club has put on their Friday night Sundown Series. The races happen every third Friday of the month from May through September, with a start and finish inside the Marina del Rey main channel. The boats head out on a 4.5-mile course around one of the closer Olympic Circle spars outside the breakwater before returning.

The start of the last Sundown race last Friday.

© 2017 Andy Kopetzky

Spinnakers are not allowed and boats have ranged in size from a Catalina 22 to a J/124. The boats provide quite a sight at sunset, coming down the channel wing and wing. The races are followed by an inexpensive ($10!) no-host BBQ and trophy presentation.

Daniel Murphy’s J/120 Cuchulainn gets around the windward mark, ‘SS’.

© 2017 Andy Kopetzky

The 2017 series concluded on September 15, and 28 boats took part. In 2017 the wind gods cooperated, as the majority of the competitors for the series finished and weren’t subject to the usual wind shutdown at sunset. West Marine and Tony P’s Dockside Grill donated lots of merchandise and gift certificates for the series. For complete results, see www.dryc.org.

Derek Heeb’s Santana 30/30 GP Redline and David Epstein’s J/29 Zulu head for the beach.

© Andy Kopetzky

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If you’re taking a boat to Mexico, or buying a boat you think you might someday take to Mexico, you must be sure that everything is in order with regard to the Temporary Import Permit (TIP).
If you’re going to have a kick-off party, why not have it on the beach at the Santa Barbara YC, the premier yacht club beach site on the West Coast?
Can you feel it in the air? That undeniable crispness, the bite that comes from a cool, still day, rather than the searing, blasting cold of the summer seabreeze.