Steve Natvig Leads California Dreamin’ Series

Steve Natvig and his Cabrillo Beach Yacht Club team won the second stop on the World Sailing Grade 3 2016 California Dreamin’ Series. The second stop on the three-venue match racing series was hosted February 27-28 by Long Beach Yacht Club and raced on the Long Beach Sailing Foundation’s fleet of Catalina 37s.

This is Natvig’s second victory in a row, adding to his first place finish held at San Diego Yacht Club, Jan. 9-10. The next and final stop in the series will be held at St. Francis Yacht Club in San Francisco, March 12-13.

“I’ve sailed in the California Dreamin’ Series a few times,” said Natvig. “It’s an awesome opportunity to get back here and it’s all West Coast skippers.”

The weather cooperated throughout the weekend with light to moderate breezes of 6-12 knots under mostly sunny skies which allowed the race committee to get in the two full round robins for the seven competitors without too much difficulty.

Natvig gives full credit to his team of Brian Angel, tactician; Chris Villicich, main; Wes Byrne, trim; Walker Banks, trim and Brian McMartin on bow.

Angel is a veteran match racer who has raced and taught match racing all over the world.

“Brian was my match racing coach when I was a kid,” said Natvig. “He was my motivation.”

The competition was so close that, at the end of the day Sunday, the top three positons were decided by tiebreakers between Natvig, Shane Young (LBYC) and Alex Jacobs (SDYC). Young was awarded second place and Jacobs received a third-place finish for the weekend.

“We made a few mistakes,” said Young, “and had a tough day yesterday. But, we had a stellar day today and knew, going in, that we had to win all of our races. We won all but one,” he said with a smile and a shrug.

This year’s series saw the addition of a special trophy awarded by Long Beach Yacht Club to the winner of this stop on the series, The Barney Flam Perpetual Trophy.

Flam raced in the first Congressional Cup match race and 10 more over the years. He was a staff commodore of LBYC, and a Congressional Cup chair, Principal Race Officer and Assistant Principal Race Officer for the 1984 Olympics. He worked tirelessly for the sport of sailboat racing until his passing at the age of 90 in January of last year.

His son, Steve Flam, presented the trophy to Natvig at the trophy presentation and said, “This was given to dad as a second-place trophy back in 1970, and I know he would want to have it used for this event.

Final Results – Long Beach
1. Steve Natvig, Cabrillo Beach YC, 8 wins, 4 losses
2. Shane Young, Long Beach YC, 8, 4 (on tiebreaker)
3. Alex Jacobs, San Diego YC, 8, 4 (on tiebreaker)
4. Nicole Breault, St. Francis YC, 7, 5
5. Will Durant, LBYC, 6, 6
6. Wendy Corzine, LBYC, 4, 8
7. Andrew Meade, Waikiki YC, 1, 11

Current 2016 California Dreamin’ Series Standings
1. Steven Natvig, CBYC
2. Nicole Breault, St.FYC
3. Alex Jacobs, SDYC
4. Shane Young, LBYC
5. Wendy Corzine, LBYC
6. Andrew Meade, WYC
7. Will Durant, LBYC
8. Dave Hood, LBYC
9. Nolan Van Dine, St.FYC

Event details – Complete results

Report by Rick Roberts.

One of the premier match racing series in the U.S., the California Dreamin’ Series consists of three match racing events.

2016 Schedule
January 9-10 – San Diego Yacht Club (San Diego, CA) – J/22s
February 27-28 – Long Beach Yacht Club (Long Beach, CA) – Catalina 37s
March 12-13 – St. Francis Yacht Club (San Francisco, CA) – J/22s

Each host club nominates two teams from their respective clubs, and then the three events agree on the remaining two teams to fill out the field of eight competitors.

The winner of the series receives an invitation to the Ficker Cup at Long Beach Yacht Club, which itself is a qualifier for Congressional Cup the following week, also at Long Beach Yacht Club.