ONCE MORE, DEAR FRIENDS . . .
Sarah 'Google' Bates kept the all-star crew of 'Auspice' in "Mexican mellow" mode, thus assuring them of victory.
Jim Taylor of 'Sooner Magic' was about to accept 'Auspice's victory gracefully — until they tried to lure away Heather, his 'boat bunny'.
was thrown six inches off its bed, and the prop shaft was blown out of the boat. Although her husband miraculously survived the explosion without major injury, he passed away a few years later of melanoma. Racing with friends who had flown down from Portland as well as folks cruising on another Portland-based boat, Patsy keeps chugging on with a smile, and was last seen dreaming up courses for the Sea of Cortez Sailing Week. There was a tight battle for second in Class 3, which ended up with Thomas Lilienthal, a vet of the '03 Ha-Ha on the Oceanis 41 Dream Seeker, edging Ron and Valerie Hoskin's formerly Avalonbased Columbia 43 Valerie K by one point. The Hoskins have an interesting story. He's from Corona del Mar while she was born and raised in Avalon. In '03, they did the Marina del Rey to Puerto Vallarta Race. Finding the tropical weather preferable to those cool evenings in Avalon, they decided to stay, and have subsequently opened up a business.
beginning of the week. Some wondered if they wouldn't have done almost as well in the MEXORC regatta which was going on at the same time. The Auspice crew credited, perhaps a little facetiously, non-sailor Bates for their success. After travelling the far corners of the globe for 15 months, she
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alking off with Class 1 honors, also on the basis of three bullets, was Jim Coggan, who was armed not only with his Richmond-based Schumacher 40 Auspice, but also with an excellent crew that featured such fine sailors as Gordie Nash and Ruth Suzuki, Bernard Slabeck, Chris Coggan on the bow, Patrick of Amy Michelle, Wayne Meretsky of Moonduster, and Sarah 'Google' Bates. Not only did this team win their class in the Banderas Bay Regatta, but took class honors in the Governor's Cup held at the
spent her last days of freedom at the regatta before starting work on hardware systems at Google. "She set a mellow Mexican tone for our boat," claims Coggan, "and was a great spirit to have around to keep the crew working well together." Having none of the harmony and sweetness crap was Jim Taylor, who finished third — in part because they had to drop out of the second race with a torn headsail — with Garland Bell's San Francisco-based Beneteau 47.7 Sooner Magic. "Coggan and his crew sailed really well . . . with his cheatin' little boat while citing racing rules to us on the course. I didn't mind any of that, but what really did get me was when they tried to steal Heather, my 'boat bunny'." Coggan, who won the glamour class of the regatta, is a halfway-retired periodontist, aka "floss instructor." While an accomplished racing helmsman, he says he's always loved the non-racing aspects of sailing also. "For instance, I always enjoyed delivering boats back to California as much as doing the Hawaii races