Ullman Sails LBRW deals the highs and lows

Long Beach, CA (June 30, 2013) – Ullman Sails Long Beach Race Week brought broken hearts to some but a happy daze to others in a wild windup to the West Coast’s largest keelboat regatta Sunday, co-hosted by the adjacent Long Beach and Alamitos Bay Yacht Clubs

Daniel Woolery felt the experience both ways, and four of the other 14 class winners came from behind to prevail on the third and final day—Jay Golison of ABYC in Viper 640s, David Hood of LBYC in Catalina 37s, Bob Lane of LBYC on his Medicine Man in Random Leg 1 and Tony Festa of California YC in Open 5.70s.

Woolery, owner-skipper of Soozal, a King 40 from the Dana Point YC, had overcome a 10-point disqualification suffered by his team and six other boats in PHRF-2 class for rounding the wrong windward mark on Day 1 but battled back into first place by winning all three races Saturday.

Then, as he lined up for the first of two final races Sunday his boat was T-boned in the portside transom by Tango, a J/133 from Balboa YC coming downwind from the start line. The damage was so severe that both boats retired, leaving Rob Sjostedt’s Flyer, an RP37 from Coronado YC, to win the last two races and, temporarily, the class.

But wait. As the awards ceremony got underway, since Soozal wasn’t at fault, race officials awarded redress based on the average of its first five races (1-10-1-1-1) and subtracted 2.8 points from his two 8-point scores for the final two races that he didn’t sail.

The result: a final tally of 19.6 points, four-tenths ahead of Flyer.

“When we were hit I just thought it was over,” Woolery said. “I was just happy that we had sailed well as a team. Most of the guys have been with me the last four years.”

Other good news was that a crew member from each boat sustained injuries that were not as serious as in initially feared.

Among the rest of the 156 boats on three race courses, Golison and his crew on their Viper 640 It’s All Good were honored as one-design boat of the week for seizing the 25-boat class victory by one point from a fellow ABYC member. Kevin Taugher had led the first two days until going 7-3 on Sunday as Golison scored 1-4 to hold off Taugher and Viper veteran Glyn Locke from the UK’s Isle of Wight by a single point.

Golison thus qualified to compete in the EFG Bank Pan American Viper Championships in Miami next year.

Hood’s comeback rivaled Woolery’s. He finished a last-place 10th in the first race Friday but won four of the last five races to edge fellow LBYC co-skippers Scott Mehler and Greg Morse by two points. Chuck Clay’s Team ABYC, the defending champion, took a four-point lead into the last day but slipped to third overall with an 8-5 windup.

Some sudden changes in the weather may have been a factor. As a warm, sunny day slipped away into a misty overcast and a momentary sprinkle, an uncommon southeast wind held at 16 knots but turned uncertainly shifty.

Hood said, “Chuck’s a great competitor, [but] at the last leeward mark we decided to go right into what seemed to be smoother water, and the wind looked better on the right.”

Clay and the other key rivals went left to cover one another as Hood and his team won the race and the title.

Lane, tuning up for another Transpacific Yacht Race to Hawaii in the next few days, also came from behind to win the last two Random Leg 1 races 18.5 nautical miles around the harbor Saturday and Sunday, edging Victor Wild’s Bud, a TP52 from San Diego YC, by one point.

Thomas Wheatley’s Gator from ABYC, competing in Random Leg 2 class, was honored as PHRF boat of the week for its two-point win in tight competition.

The LBYC Blue team of Lane’s Medicine Man, Steve Crooke’s J/109 Sugar and Scott Mehler/Greg Morse C/37 won the Yacht Club Challenge for combined efforts.

Bill Durant’s Farr 40 Viva la Vida collected the Golison & Kent Family Trophy with his wife Pam and son Dustin on board.

Tony Festa, after a struggling at 2-4-8, pulled off a similar comeback among a dozen Open 5.70s with a 1-1-2-1 string over the last two days.

Class winners
(7 races; no discards)

CATALINA 37 (10 boats)—DH3 Racing, David Hood, Long Beach YC, 10-3-1-1-1-4-1, 21.
FARR 40 (7)—Dark Star, Jeff Janov, California YC, 1-1-2-2-1-2-4, 13.
J/109 (7)—Sugar, Steve Crooke, Long Beach YC, 2-2-1-1-1-3-2, 12.
J/105 (7)—Current Obsession 2, Gary Mozer, Long Beach YC, 1-1-1-1-1-1-8/DNC, 14.
J/70 (8)—Perseverance, Bennet Greenwald, San Diego YC, 1-1-2-5-1-1-1, 12.
J/80 (6)—Avet, Curt Johnson, California YC, 1-1-2-1-1-1-1, 8.
J/24 (5; sailing only 5 races)—Critter, James Baurley, Santa Monica Windjammers YC, 6/DNC-6/DNC-1-1-1-2-1, 18.
J/120 (11; sailing only 5 races)—Caper, John Laun, San Diego YC, 12/DNC)-12/DNC-1-1-1-2-2, 31.
OLSON 30 (8)—Blue Star, Larry Spencer, Pacific Corinthian YC, 1-1-2-1-3-1-1, 10.
OPEN 5.70 (12)—Tony Festa, California YC, 2-4-8-1-1-2-1, 19.
PHRF-1 (4)—Double Trouble (J/125), Peter Krueger, St. Francis YC, 1-2-3-1-1-1-2, 11.
PHRF-2 (9)—Soozal (King 40), Daniel Woolery, Dana Point YC, 1-10/DNC-1-1-1-8/- 2.8 redress-8/-2.8 redress, 19.6 points.
PHRF-3 (7)—Flyingfiche (1D35), Chris Wacker/Bob Zellmer, Long Beach YC, 2-3-1-1-1-1-5, 14.
PHRF-4 (11)—Rival (J/35), Dick Velthoen/David Boatner, Ventura YC, 1-1-2-2-5-1-2, 14.
VIPER 640 (25)—Jay Golison, ABYC, 1-4-1-3-3-1-4, 17.
RANDOM LEG 1 (8)—Medicine Man (Andrews 63), Bob Lane, LBYC, 4-1-1, 6.
RANDOM LEG 2 (7)—Gator, Thomas Wheatley, ABYC, 1-1-3, 5.
RANDOM LEG 3 (6)—Traveler (Express 37), Jack Mayer, Del Rey YC, 1-1-1, 3.

Complete results
Hi-res photo gallery
Regatta website

Ullman Sails Inshore Championship

Ullman Sails LBRW is again associated with the Sailors for the Sea program for Clean Regattas.  Sailors for the Sea, based in Newport, R.I., is the only ocean conservation nonprofit focused on the sailing and boating community.  Its program assists and certifies yacht clubs and regatta organizers as providing clean events that minimize impacts upon our oceans.

Ullman Sails mission statement: For over 40 years, Ullman Sails has been devoted to helping our customers reach their sailing goals. Whether you aspire to win an Olympic medal, dominate local fleet racing or spend your summer cruising, we provide the highest quality sails and service to make it happen. The Ullman Sails group is proudly unique, bringing together individual sail lofts from all over the world that specialize in serving their local markets. With a rich combination of skilled designers and master sailmakers, we work together to ensure every Ullman Sails customer benefits from our international collaboration. Ullman Sails was founded in 1968 by David Ullman, one of the world’s greatest competitive sailors and still an integral part of the Ullman Sails group. Serving as president of Ullman Sails International, he also directs the Ullman design team—a select group of sailors with equally impressive credentials.

Other sponsors and supporters are Swinerton Renewable Energy. Trimble Water, West Marine, Team Campbell Logistics, Beneteau Yachts, Anchor Sailing Gloves, Ayres Hotel Seal Beach, Mount Gay Rum, Naples Rib Co., Gelson’s Supermarket, Pirates Lair, Z Blok sunscreen and the Long Beach Parks, Recreation and Marine Dept.

MEDIA CONTACT
Rich Roberts
Press officer
310.835.2526
cell 310.766.6547
richsail@earthlink.net