“Who dat,” “Who dat” sailing to Cabo?

By Len Bose

The entry deadline for the 2010 Corona del Mar to Cabo San Lucas International Yacht Race is today, Monday, Feb. 1. With the entry list almost doubling last year’s 2009 Cabo race you can’t help saying to yourself, “Who dat” and “Who Dat” when looking down this year’s entry list.

This being my 29th yacht race to Cabo, I do happen to recognize most of the entries, but I’m just amazed at the amount of entries the Balboa Yacht Club has gathered to attended this event. HATS OFF to General Chairman Paul Loubet and Entry Chairman Chris Hemans, well done GUYS and good luck Becky and Don!

So “Who Dat” going to the winner circle this year? Or who are this year’s favorites? It isn’t going to be easy to guess who is going to be the first to finish, or who the elapsed time winner will be. In one corner you have the boys from “Magnitude 80” and owner Doug Baker. Baker donated “Mag 80” to Orange Coast College last year and has elected to charter the R/P 78 “Akela” this year. In the other corner you have Alan Briety Reichel-Pugh 63 “Limit” who finished in fifth place in this year’s Sydney to Hobart race. Now, if we are lucky, the long awaited 72’ PendragonV might even be attending. Blend this altogether with the “Iboat Tracker” http://www.iboattrack.com/racetracking.html  and this race will be better to watch than the upcoming America’s Cup. Of course one rule of thumb in a Mexico race is, “the race is never over until the fat lady sings.”

Let’s have a look at the seven 70 raters entered this year. The 70 raters are the old Santa Cruz 70, Andrews 68 and Peterson 68 that are going and we haven’t had these entries since the late ‘80s. This will be an extremely fun class to watch and should be a very close race, as any one of them could win it. Peter Tong’s OEX has to be the favorite in this class because of its win in last year’s Transpac. The OEX crew has been sailing together for as long has I can remember which makes it that much more fun to watch. Not knowing exactly where the class splits will maker it even more interesting. I will have to assume the Transpac 52s will be mixed in with the 70s, and one very fast and well-sailed Reichel-Pugh 45 Criminal Mischief can easily be the giant killer. I’m assuming Elvis will be onboard! This alone will be some of the best yacht racing on this coast in years.

I’ll be sailing on the Santa Cruz 50 Flaca this year, and we’ll have our hands full with the seven other 50-footers in our class. I’m going to stick my neck out on this one and say that the yacht Morpheus Schumacher 50 from the Bay Area will be the boat to beat. I have raced this boat down the cost a number of times and this crew is not known to make many mistakes.

Now the real money maker of this entire event is the amount of entrees in the 40-foot class. Thirteen boats will be racing in this class, and I don’t recall ever seeing a healthier aspect for local sailing. This is absolutely fantastic, and in my option, this is a very positive sign for our sport. With 13 very closely rated boats, this will be the class to keep your eyes on. I would have to guess the J 125 Reinrag2 is the favorite, and if the Garniers can pull a win off in this fleet they should get a front row parking place at their yacht club. This fleet is “locked and loaded” with Tim Fuller and his new J 125 “Resolute.” Rumor has it the boat has been out of the water in Marina Del Rey getting the twice over. Dr. Laura Schlessinger will have her J 125 “Warrior” ready and the old J 125 I used to sail on  “Derivative” Ex Lucky Dog will be on the starting line. I heard Peter Heck would be on the Far 40 “Temptress,” along with the giant killer of this class – Richard Mainland Ross on 40 “Paddy Wagon.”

I plan on reporting back a couple of times before the event. You have to mark your calendars for this one. For those of you not going, well that’s too bad, because you’ll be missing one epic race.

Sea ya’
Len Bose

Len Bose is the owner of Len Bose Yacht Sales.

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