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July 26, 2019

One More Time Regatta

Santa Monica Bay is known for advocating RRS number 1 (“the wind shall quit immediately after the start of the race”). No such rule applied on the July 20th running of the 44th annual wooden-hull One More Time Regatta. The doldrums present in previous 2019 races literally blew away. Fairly flat seas and a high pressure cell over the Four Corners area that brought in sunshine and winds of 12-15 knots welcomed the race.

Bequia starts
Bequia, a 1978 40-ft Bowman, at the start.
© 2019 Andy Kopetzky

Rather than quitting near the end of the race, winds increased slightly, and considerable bits of popcorn appeared on the waters. This 44th running was the fastest One More Time on record, as all 11 boats finished by 4 p.m., sailing the 13.6-mile course in under three hours.

This year had everything from a Thistle to several 60-footers.

Thistle sailboat
Painted Lady, the Thistle. Thistles are 17-ft racing dinghies designed by Sandy Douglass, an American of Scottish heritage. The first Thistles were built in 1945.
© 2019 Andy Kopetzky

2017 winner Dick McNish and his 86-year-old Fellows and Stewart yawl Cheerio II blasted around the course in a little over 2 hours and 22 minutes to repeat as first overall and first in split rigs. Alejandro Bucagov and Bequia took second overall and first in sloops and cutters. It could be said that the winds had “gone Hollywood” since famous celebrities owned both boats at one time: Errol Flynn and Bob Dylan respectively.

Cheerio II with spinnaker
Cheerio II, a 46-ft LOA Fellows & Stewart yawl built in 1931, heads south.
© 2019 Robin Mohilner

CF Koehler and Sally, a Starling Burgess 10-meter sloop, came in third overall and barely beat out the other Burgess design, 59-ft Rose of Sharon with Wayne Ettel at the helm. The latter was the first schooner to finish.

Rose of Sharon
The schooner Rose of Sharon was built in 1930.
© 2019 Robin Mohilner

2015 winner Tracy Obert and Marjorie finished fifth. Complete results are at www.dryc.org.

Marjorie ketch
The 59-ft ketch Marjorie, a Stephens Waring design built in 2007, crosses the finish line.
© 2019 Andy Kopetzky

Chris Frost, a staff commodore of Wooden Hull Yacht Club, is responsible for handicapping all these boats. It’s difficult given that it’s a pursuit (inverted) start.

Trophy presentation
The crew of Sally with Chris Frost (right).
© 2019 Andy Kopetzky

The July date for this second event of the California Classic Yacht Series seems to work well. The woodies race in San Diego in mid-May in the Yesteryear Race, do Santa Monica Bay the third Saturday of July, and proceed north to the Channel Islands and Pacific Corinthian Yacht Club to race in the McNish Classic the following Saturday. A sail to Catalina provides a nice side trip.

Sighting the Transpac Finish

Photographers covering the Transpac Race to Honolulu often capture a scene that includes a finishing boat, a red buoy, and, in the distance and looking remarkably small, a lighthouse perched on a low ridge below the looming peak of Diamond Head.

Naos at the finish
Walter Cooper shot this fabulous finish photo for Ultimate Sailing. Charles Devanneaux’s foil-assisted Figaro 3 A Fond le Girafon is about to line up with R’2′ and the Diamond Head Light, the white tower barely discernible in the gap between the buoy and the yellow spinnaker.
© 2019 Walter Cooper / http://ultimatesailing.com

Louis Kruk, in Honolulu during the arrival of the Transpac fleet this month, checked out the means by which finishes are recorded.

Diamond Head Light
A sighting tube is barely visible on the walkway to the right of the open door below the light.
© 2019 Louis Kruk
Sighting tube
The tube is fixed in a rigid position according to a bearing. The buoy moves with the wind and current, within the view.
© 2019 Louis Kruk
through the tube
The buoy as seen through the finish line sighting tube high atop the Diamond Head Lighthouse. A boat finishes when any portion of the sails or vessel enters into the sight of the tube.
© 2019 Louis Kruk

All boats finished the 50th Transpac between July 17 and July 24. Celebrations have been ongoing, Hawaii and Waikiki yacht clubs have hosted official parties, and the Transpac YC will dish out copious trophies and prizes tonight at the Hawaii Convention Center, from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. HST. We’ll have a boatload of coverage of the historic race in the August and September issues of Latitude 38.

Punny Boat Names

Is there an unspoken tradition that some boat names have a certain amount of “punny-ness” to them?

Here’s a case in point from our recent trip to Maine:

Our question is, what do they call this boat for short? Seas? Mo? Ceasemo?
© 2019 Latitude 38 Media LLC / Tim

On that same trip, we saw a lobster boat with the name Captain Mortgage written in the same font as the famed brand of rum.

At any rate, punny boat names seem to be a fixture in the sailing community. At our marina in San Rafael, there’s a boat called Knot to Worry. We’ve seen several variations off “knot,” like Knot My Problem and Knot Completely Paid For Yet. (We might have made that last one up, actually.)

We should also distinguish the punny name vs. the general funny name. Also on the San Rafael canal, there’s a motor boat named Wastin’ Away with a port of call of “Margaritaville,” and we suspect that this isn’t the only such port of call or Buffett-inspired boat name. We have photographic evidence of at least a few Salt Shakers. (Should those ports of calls be “Lost?”)

Latitude Nation: Is there a punny (or funny) boat name at a slip near you? Have you passed a few clever names on an afternoon sail or while cruising? We think it’s about time we start creating an informal but well-thought-out, well-researched encyclopedia of said names.

Please send us pictures here of clever boat names, or comment below (but pictures are paramount to this bit of research). Depending on the volume, we’ll either publish them on a future ‘Lectronic, or in a future Letters. (We certainly prefer sailboats, but if you happen to snag a photo of a good name on a motorboat’s transom, well, who’s gonna know?)

The “best” of the punny names will win a Latitude 38 hat. Good luck everyone, and thanks for playing.

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