Ullman Sails Long Beach Race Week 2024 - Overall
by LBYC Race Office 24 Jun 14:10 NZST
June 21-23, 2024
The 19th edition of Long Beach Race Week concluded on Sunday with a full complement of races sailed in eleven divisions, including six one design classes and five PHRF fleets. Throughout the three solid days of racing conditions the breeze rarely dropped below 14 knots and settling in the 16-18 knot range for the most part, blue skies prevailed and temperatures in the 80s...YES, t-shirt and shorts racing!
"We're thrilled with the results from yet another outstanding LBRW, in particular we'd like to congratulate Long Beach Yacht Club member Chris Orlando and his crew who took seven bullets in the Catalina 37 (37) class - a feat which has never before been accomplished in this highly competitive class at LBRW, it's very exciting for Chris and his crew," Chuck Clay, Alamitos Bay Yacht Club Staff Commodore. "It was great to host so many out-of-towners this year; they love the Long Beach conditions and know that everything from the race committee to the parties are world-class."
Owning a clean sweep in the C37 class, Orlando's team were followed by Allie Tsai and her crew in second with 24 points. Keith Ives, racing with family as well as friends, scored 29 points for third.
An ecstatic Orlando said, "Today's first race was a little funky, we had a bad start and it was light and left. Then there was a big shift, so after the first beat there was a course change and it went back right which was the breeze we were expecting all day. Things just really went our way, we kept focused throughout the three days, the crew work was great and you couldn't ask for a more classic LBRW. Hats off to Justin Law who helmed all regatta - he was just great!"
In PHRF 1, the Melges 32 The Baby Screams lived up to its name as it shredded on the runs today to take two firsts on the final day of racing, finishing with thirteen points and a solid five points ahead of Dirk Freeland's Cape 31 Full Send. The Farr 40 Blade, owned and skippered by Mick Shlens, took third with 22 points.
"It was beautiful, perfect Long Beach conditions which the regatta is known for and the competition in our fleet was very tough. All the competitors were really strong and we had really tight racing with the Cape 31; the Farr 40s were terrific and so were the J111s!" Jeff Janov, owner of The Baby Screams, noted. "We had an excellent time. The boat requires every single person on it to be working hard all the time and the attitude on the boat was terrific."
In a turn of events in the J70 class, after sitting on the heels of Ryan Cox on DJ who led for the first two days, Ryan Eastwood on Cake squeaked in to take first in class with fourteen points while Cox finished with fifteen. In third was Eduardo Saenz on Nimbus with twenty points.
John Arens, racing on his San Francisco-based J109 Reverie, took first in class finishing with thirteen points, three points ahead of second place Blue Crush. Jeff Shew, who won in class in 2023, took third with 16.1 points.
"It felt really great today to come out in the first race with a bullet. It took a lot of pressure off and it just established that we could hang with this group!" Arens laughed. "The racing was extremely competitive; all the boats were capable of winning any particular race - Blue Crush and Fuzzy Logic both had very strong reputations coming into this having previously won the class here so we are just blown away that we were able to come down here and win. The environment here is just amazing; we're sailing in the sun, its warm, we had San Francisco breeze with So Cal weather; the racecourses were great, the race committee did a great job and was always on point. Our strength was being able to go to weather well and today we were just fast and high. We'd love to come back - my crew want to keep a boat down here!"
In Random Leg PHRF A, the RP 52 Vitesse owned and helmed by Tom Furlong took first with five points after leading the fleet for the past two days. In the Random Leg PHRF B Fleet, Steven Mee racing on his Sydney 41, Kibosh took first with two bullets and a second place. A fully local Long Beach crew, this was Mee's third time doing LBRW and the first time on the Sydney 41.
"We just got the boat about a year ago so we are still trying to figure it out," Mee said. "The wind was up; the conditions were good and our crew just worked their butts off. We were able to correct the mistakes when they came up as quickly as possible, the competition was tight all weekend, some of the boats were separated by seconds at most. It really was a weekend of who made the fewer mistakes. We learned a ton from our competition and we are privileged to have such great sailors in our class. I love the camaraderie, for me it's the most enjoyable part, the festive atmosphere, the conditions are always gorgeous, it's just so much fun."
Special trophies were awarded in the following categories:
Boat of the Day:
Friday: PHRF B - JIM/John Snook
Saturday: Catalina 37 Lando Watersports!/Chris Orlando
Boat of the Week
One Design: Melges 15 Clarence Comet/Kieran Searle
PHRF: RL PHRF C Off the Porch/Scott McDaniel
Yacht Club Challenge: ABYC Team 2
Melges 15 - He's Gone/Brad Thompson
J109 - Blue Crush/Bob Little
RL PHRF A - Taniwha/Peter Sangmeister
Golison & Kent Family Trophy - Tie
LBYC/ABYC - Keith Ives/Catalina 37 Team D-Ives Plus/Rubber Dog
California YC - Jim Barber/J109 Feleena
Furthest Traveled:
Southport YC - J70 Get It On/Garry Hold - Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia
Schock 35 Pacific Coast Championship:
Santa Barbara Yacht Club - Uncle Bob/Larry Leveille
Catalina 37 National Championship:
LBYC - Lando Watersports!/Chris Orlando
J/70 Corinthian Class:
SBYC - Cake/Ryan Eastwood
Campbell Cup - PHRF Random Leg A
RL PHRF A - Vitesse/Thomas Furlong (SFYC)
Bruce Cooper, owner of Ullman Sails Newport Beach and title sponsor, commented, "The racing was again super tight and super exciting with the big wind change in race 1 today, the westerly built and came in beautifully which we were expecting. A big shout-out to the race committee and all of the volunteers and sponsor who make this a truly world-class regatta. We look forward to seeing everyone next year!"
Hosted by the Alamitos Bay Yacht Club (ABYC) and the Long Beach Yacht Club (LBYC), the event is grateful to the generosity and support of its 2024 sponsors including Title Sponsor Ullman Sails Newport Beach on hand throughout the regatta to assist the fleet with their sails. Other sponsors include Evans, Clarke Marine Insurance, Cabrillo Boat Shop, Durant Design and Construction, Long Beach Parks, Rec & Marine, Mt Gay Rum, Pirates Lair, The Oriana Shea Group, and Tom Walker Photography.
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