SEASON CHAMPIONS, PART III —
OYRA, Shorthanded Division (SHS) Racer X, J/105 Rich Pipkin, EYC Rich Pipkin and his wife Mary McGrath have now raced doublehanded for two seasons on Racer X, with 2012 being their first year in OYRA. They claim that success is all about who you know. "Phillip Laby (our former boat partner and an expert-level racer) really showed us how to race the boat in all conditions. We're working hard to apply everything that he showed us to our doublehanded racing. We also had the good fortune to meet Bob Johnston, owner of the J/92 Ragtime!, who shared a tremendous amount of knowledge on how to race shorthanded," Pipkin said. Throughout the year, the couple dis-
COURTESY AHI
OYRA PHRO 3 — Ahi, Santana 35 Andy Newell, BYC Andy Newell, owner/skipper of the Santana 35 Ahi and season champion — who is currently OYRA president — took the opportunity to reflect on some of the defining moments of the 2012 racing season, specifically those events that affected us all, and especially the offshore racing fleets. Andy Newell "For the OYRA offshore series the life-changing moment of the year has to be the Farallones Race and the Low Speed Chase incident," Newell said. "Low Speed Chase was a well-prepared boat crewed by an experienced group, and if this can happen to them, then… I think everyone out there that day will take a step back and look at things a little differently." This year was Newell’s second campaigning Ahi. However his crew has been together much longer previously campaigning the Farr 36 Petard. His regulars include Bob Walden, Lori Tewksbury, Mark Schieble, Jeff Raby, Valerie Suzawa, Seth Clark, Ben Eastwood, Ken Kiernan, Pete Peterson, Gabriel Serafini, Amanda Kawamura, Cory Schillaci, Tripp Floyd, Jason Lakis and others. "I’ll attribute our success to the crew," Newell said. "We have a large group of talented sailors who always seem able to work together well no matter who is on the boat or what job they do for a given race. It really does take a crew list of nearly 20 to put 8-10 on the boat for 40+ weekend days a year. But we do work
2) Ohana, Beneteau 45F5, Steve Hocking, SYC; 3) Green Buffalo, Cal 40, Jim Quanci, RYC. (7 boats)
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• February, 2013
LATITUDE ARCHIVES / ROB
2) Split Water, Beneteau First 10R, David Britt, RYC; 3) Whirlwind, Wyliecat 30, Dan Benjamin, BYC. (7 boats)
together well." Newell plans to sail Ahi in most of the same races in 2013, including OYRA and most other YRA races, and some midwinter and spring races.
boats on the line. LATITUDE / CHRIS
2) Zsa-Zsa, 1D35, Stan Glaros, CYC; 3) No Ka Oi, GibSea 42, Phil Mummah, SSS. (5 boats)
Rich Pipkin & Mary McGrath
covered the real benefit of an autopilot and the value of a Hershey’s bar. "On long beats to weather, I turn on the autopilot and hike side-by-side on the rail with my wife. Most times no verbal communication is necessary. These moments are a sailor’s definition of priceless! When the going gets tough, one of us just pulls out the Hershey's. Magically, all is forgiven and we focus on how much fun we are having together." Feeling that they are now members of that group of successful husband/wife teams happily racing their boats together on the Bay and ocean was their greatest success, said Pipkin. Racer X will be back out in the Shorthanded Division of OYRA, and her owners hope to see an increased number of
SSS — Singlehanded Moonshadow, custom Wylie 31 David Morris, HMBYC A couple of occasions stood out for Dave Morris as being particularly special when he was on the water this year, notably crossing the finish line on the Singlehanded TransPac during a beautiful David Morris sunrise with dolphins at the bow — definitely a hard one to beat. He also recalls singlehanding a spinnaker and a blooper during the Vallejo 1 in perfect conditions. The pleasure of pulling that off was heightened by having
LATITUDE / CHRIS
YC Mids. Big boat sailors have come out on other Cal 20s to race us, and they've been amazed at how much fun this one design platform is. We'll race PHRF until critical mass occurs." VonEhrenkrook hopes to repeat the PHRO 2 Championship in 2013. "We do over 40 races each year. I hope to never forget that — even if I do very well — there will always be sailors better than I, and that I can always get better."