2009 Campbell Cup Memorial RegattaTue, 27th Oct 2009By Chuck Skewes  Mike Campbell the owner of a few sleds in his life lost the battle his battle with his illness last year just before the Long Beach to Cabo Race. His latest boat Pelegroso was a common site in the front of the “A” fleet on the long distance races. To memorialize his contribution to sailing the Long Beach Yacht Club now has the Campbell Cup Memorial Regatta. This regatta is mostly focused on the 70’ sled class since Campbell spent a great part of his sailing career sailing sleds. The winds were not completely co-operating over the weekend but with great committee work 5 races were held for the sleds and Farr 40 class. Winds were 5-9 knots and flat water. The first race saw a large left shift giving Grand Illusion who was over early a big lead that they held over the rest of the race. That was about the last time anyone but Holua saw the front for the rest of the weekend. Holua won convincingly with Grand Illusion in second and OEX in 3rd followed by Alchemy, Mirage, Vicky, and Ragtime respectively. The regatta had a fitting start with a distressed sea lion that had a net around its neck came aboard Alchemy seeking help. The crew of Alchemy left the race course and brought it into the harbor masters dock where a marine mammal rescue team and picked it up to give it medical attention. The Long Beach race committee postponed the start of the sleds to allow Alchemy to get back to the race course in time to start the race. Holua using the new A-1 spinnakers from Ullman Sails had consistently great speed around the course. The new A-1 is an Airx 500-600 blend and based on the 2009 Traspac modeling from Ullman Sails. Other boats in the regatta using Ullman Sails were OEX and Alchemy. This article was posted on Tue, 27th Oct 2009 |
