THE RACING Division 3, with Bob Lane's Andrews 63 'Medicine Man' seen here in the foreground and Lorenzo Berho's Kernan 70 'Peligroso' in the background, started the San Diego to Puerto Vallarta Race on March 7.
San Diego to PV Race The 2018 San Diego to Puerto Vallarta Race delivered everything that the brochure promised. In a race that can encounter foul weather or light air, this year's competitors were graced with perfect conditions for a classic downwind romp to Banderas Bay. Twenty-six monohulls and two multihulls took up the challenge of racing the 1,000 miles to PV, and a testament to the speed of the quickest boats in the fleet, both monohull and multihull course records were under threat. Knocking some four hours off Tom Siebel and the MOD70 Orion's 2014 course record, H.L. Enloe's ultra-quick ORMA 60 Mighty Merloe set the new mark at 2 days, 3 hours, 58 minutes and 21 seconds! Sailing into PV just over a day after Mighty Merloe was Manouch Moshayedi's Rio100, which finished in 3 days, 6 hours, 58 minutes, missing her own course record from two years ago by just over an hour. Claiming overall honors for the first time in 20 years was Roy Pat Disney on Pyewacket. Rock-star navigator Tom Addis cut the corner on her Division 3 competitors near Cabo San Lucas, with Pyewacket sailing near the coast at
ROBBIE HAINES
The overall winners, the crew of Roy Disney's Andrews 70 'Pyewacket'.
sunrise in localized land breezes before punching through to the stronger winds off the Sea of Cortez. Sailing at least 40 fewer miles than her rivals, Pyewacket beat nearly all the faster boats in her division to the finish line to win Division 3 by some 12 hours and the overall by nearly three hours. Finishing second overall and winning Division 6 was Viggo Torbensen's J/125 Timeshaver. With navigator Jon 'the Hippie' Shampain and a host of talented sailors onboard, Timeshaver was a pre-race favorite, though she found her hands full in a long match race with her J/125 sistership Derivative. "We lost our instruments and communications for some of the race, so we were sailing sorta blind, but seeing Derivative right there for the entire race made us really want to push the boat harder," said Timeshaver crew Keith Magnussen, a rep for Ullman Sails. It was fun, but it was difficult and nerveracking to be able to see the competition the whole time." Leading the first wave of starters, Tracy Obert's custom 59-ft ketch Marjorie only narrowly missed out on being the first monohull to reach Puerto Vallarta. "The breeze went a little bit lighter closer to shore and also farther offshore, so we just sorta rode the 'sweet spot' in the middle and had strong breeze most of the
BRONNY DANIELS / JOYSAILING
In the California Republic, the arrival of March put an exclamation point on a generally mellow winter. Stormy or windy conditions affected the SSS Corinthian Race, the Tiburon YC Midwinters, Jack Frost, the Rites of Spring and the Squirrel Bank Race. Big Daddy dealt with light air and low fog, but conditions were just right for the PV Race. We also check in on the Opti Nations Cup and Merlin in the St. Petersburg-Habana Race. Box Scores includes a slew of midwinter results, and we end with Race Notes.
race," Marjorie navigator Bill Guilfoyle told us. "A big key for us was that we arrived near Cabo San Lucas at sunrise and played the shore breeze through the transition zone, and kept the boat moving — no small feat for us in light air — and made it through to the other side. We missed out on third overall by just five minutes!" — ronnie simpson PUERTO VALLARTA RACE, SDYC, 3/1-3/9 DIVISION 1 — 1) Vincitore, R/P 52, Ricardo Brockmann; 2) Prospector, Mills 68, Shelter Island Tansatlantic Partners; 3) Rio100, Bakewell White 100, Manouch Moshayedi. (5 boats) DIVISION 3 — 1) Pyewacket, Andrews 70, Roy Disney; 2) Mr. Bill, Andrews 70, David Happ; 3) Peligroso, Kernan 70, Lorenzo Berho. (5 boats) DIVISION 4 — 1) Bretwalda3, Rogers 46, Bob Pethick; 2) Blue Blazes, R/P 50, Dennis Pennell; 3) Good Call, J/65, Tom Barker. (5 boats) DIVISION 5 — 1) Horizon, SC50, John Shulze; 2) Lucky Duck, SC52, Dave MacEwen; 3) Hano Ho Ho, SC50, Mark Dowdy. (4 boats) DIVISION 6 — 1) Timeshaver, J/125, Viggo Torbensen; 2) Derivative, J/125, Mark Surber; 3) Fast Exit Exit, Andrews 40, John Raymont. (4 boats) DIVISION 7 — 1) Marjorie, BBY 59-ft ketch, Tracy Obert; 2) Tropic Thunder, Beneteau 46, John Miller; 3) Cabernet Sky, Beneteau 48,