Baja Ha-Ha 14 Wraps Up

The 14th annual Baja Ha-Ha Cruisers Rally from San Diego to Cabo San Lucas officially ended Sunday evening with the big awards party. In addition to the top placers in each of 14 divisions, those recognized included the Best Boat Bite (injuries), Top Woman Skipper, Master Baiter (biggest/most fish), and the only ‘serious’ award of the event, the Steven Swenson Spirit of the Ha-Ha award. Lyman and Terry Potts of the Oregon-based Royal Passport 43 San Clés won the latter. Not only did they sail the entire 750 miles, but after finishing, they turned around and went back out — far out — to tow in a competitor whose engine had been disabled. The Spirit of the Ha-Ha award honors the participant who goes above and beyond the call to help others. It was renamed for Steven Swenson, who won it in the 2004 Ha-Ha and perished in a tragic diving accident the following year.

After the final tallies, 154 boats and 601 people participated in the 14th edition of the Ha-Ha, which features stops in Turtle Bay and Bahia Santa Maria on the way. There were of course many similarities to past events — potluck parties ashore, the Pussers Rum tasting, and a night of celebration at Cabo’s infamous Squid Roe — but many notable differences made this one unique. For example, Ha-Ha XIV was one of the top three in terms of great sailing breeze, and many boats completed one, two, or all three legs under sail, earning ‘soul sailor’ green T-shirts for their efforts. (Generous motoring allowances have always been allowed.) Also, as mentioned in a previous ‘Lectronic Latitude, 72 Ha-Ha’ers were marooned ashore after the party in Bahia Santa Maria when a big southerly swell ‘closed out’ the beach. Among the best quotes of the event was one from Mark Acosta of Wahoo, who observed, “I never thought there was any danger until I saw the panga guys wearing lifejackets.”

In addition, there was a runaway dinghy which ejected its two occupants and frolicked at near full throttle through the surf by itself before being corralled by other dinghies; another dinghy lost, found and recovered miles offshore; one person overboard — and quickly recovered; numerous acts of kindness and chivalry; expertise and volunteers to fix everything from alternators to watermakers; lots of new friendships forged between cruisers; and — we hope — good memories to last a lifetime.

Look for coverage of the hilarious “From Here to Eternity” competition in Wednesday’s ‘Lectronic Latitude, and the complete story of Baja Ha-Ha 14 in the December issue of Latitude 38.