Sailors Beat the Traffic to Ensenada

For the second year in a row the first finishers in the 70th Newport to Ensenada Race, which started on Friday, completed the race before the race committee and media could drive from Newport Beach across the border to Ensenada. "Who would have thought a sailboat could make it to Ensenada faster than a car?" questioned NOSA’s Dave Shockley.

Though no records were broken, Lloyd Thornburg’s, MOD70 Phaedo3 and Howard Enloe’s ORMA 60 Mighty Merloe crossed the finish line with times of 5:45:52 and 5:49:28 respectively.

What was a swift race for the fleetest boats in the fleet turned into a slowpoke bob-fest for the rest just south of San Diego. Though high winds had dissipated even before the start, a big sea swell remained, and Saturday morning finishers reported a slow, bumpy night.

Click here to view more of Tom Walker’s photos from the race, and see www.newporttoensenada.com for results and much more.