The smaller classes in NHYC’s 2011 Newport to Cabo San Lucas got off to a great start last Friday – while 32 boats would get off the line in this year’s Newport to Cabo Race, the smaller C and D fleets enjoyed steady, moderate 5-15 knot breezes off the starting line.
These conditions helped some of the top 45- to 50-foot boats in this class to achieve respectable 200-mile-plus runs in the first day of the race. By the Saturday morning roll call, local boats Horizon, Blue Blazes and Locomotion were all trading the lead, often sailing within sight of each other. Overall these boats enjoyed a nice start to this typically fun 825-mile race.
But the next day extreme weather would slam the bigger class A and B fleets when they started. These larger Class A and B boats (longer, faster boats, generally 50 feet or longer) started last Saturday, they experienced a full gamut of extreme weather conditions.
Not far into the race, Saturday starters ran directly into the same storm systems that slammed our region over the last weekend. While the smaller classes were just far enough south to miss the severe weather, the larger boats were slammed with brutal 30-knot-plus headwinds and big seas.
In the extreme conditions, early race leader Bella Mente broke her mast and was forced to withdraw. Several other big boats were also turned around by the severe weather: Criminal Mischief, Peligroso, Holua, OEX and Rio all withdrew.
The remaining Class A and B boats that made it through the storm were then becalmed off Baja as they approached Cedros Island, a key milestone and turning point about 300 miles into the Cabo race.
Between the big breezes Saturday, and then boats getting becalmed Sunday, only one class A and five Class B boats remained in the race after Sunday evening. By mid-day Monday steadier winds were finally filling in for the larger boats, but the damage was done. With over half the race course behind them, conditions in this year’s Cabo Race were highly favorable to the smaller boats that started earlier on Friday.
By late Tuesday, the first five finishers were all Class C boats. Finishers in order were Locomotion (Ed Feo, Long Beach), Horizon (Jack Taylor, Long Beach), Blue Blazes (Dennis Pennell, San Diego), Bad Pak (Tom Holthus, San Diego) and Hula Girl (Wayne Zittell, Alameda). All five finishing between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. Tuesday. Based on positions at Tuesday morning’s roll call, Horizon was looking to be the overall leader on corrected time for both class and fleet. The remainder of the fleet looked to be on track to finish this year’s race by late Wednesday evening.
Full race reports are available at www.NHYCCaboRace.com.
