Cal 20 Class Championship 2021

Multi time Cal 20 champions Keith Ives and crew Chuck Stevens claimed their fifth Cal 20 Class Championship in a strong fleet of 29 boats on August 13-15 in San Pedro, CA. Cabrillo Beach Yacht Club hosted the 59th Cal 20 Class Championships with racing in the venerable Hurricane Gulch inside Los Angeles Harbor with varied conditions including light air sailing to full on Gulch conditions.

Locals Mike Burch and Kenny Dair were in a strong position to win the championship winning four of the seven races, but suffered a disqualification on a day two protest which knocked them down to fifth place. The Cal 20 Championship rules of conduct stipulate that no throw outs be allowed which places added emphasis on consistency. The Ives/Stevens team did not win any races, but managed to sail with single digit scores in each race.

The talk of the regatta, in addition to the windy day two conditions, was the youth team led by 14-year-old Noah Stapleton which came in third place (missing out on a tiebreaker for second place to Steve George). Stapleton previously won the 2021 CFJ Nationals and out-sailed many Cal 20 sailors who have decades of experience on the helm of these vintage keelboats.

Cal 20 Class President Richard Welsh from CBYC has been actively recruiting junior sailors to helm Cal 20s in order to recruit future and more youthful sailors to the class.

In the seven boat Bronze fleet, Steve Dimpfl earned four firsts in the four race Bronze series to capture first place. The Cal 20 has successfully hosted a Bronze fleet for intermediate and beginning level racers to provide skill and experience level diversity.

Complete results: https://cbyc.org/regatta/UsVzslEr2i/results

Source: Todd Smith