Newport to Ensenada -- by Buz Branch

REPORT FROM MEXICO (ALMOST)

Hello fellow sailors,

Slowest race ever were the words for this year’s Newport to Ensenada. Booked as the biggest international yacht race in the world with sometimes over 650 yachts competing. Numbers were down at 455 racers this year. Wind predictions were for 0-4 knots right out of the south and held true. Now what could be more fun than going to windward in light air for possibly days? Brutal conditions prevailed with the wind on the nose the entire race.

Our crew of 5 on the Olson 30, SOUTHERN COMFORT, worked her to the max. My job this year was helmsman and ran things at night, big job as it is well known that the night fight is where this race is usually won or lost. We kept her moving and in the breeze, tacking back and forth, not a star or moon, not a windex light, totally by the feel of the breeze on your face. This might not sound very efficient but the Olson 30 is a high powered sport boat so any slight change in trim or helm is immediately felt. She has a narrow groove and so it’s fairly easy to keep her at full speed with an inch of helm either way. She will move at 5-6 knots in 4 knots of breeze. Visibility was zero with the rain, fog and pitch blackness.

My biggest worry was running into a navigation buoy or one of those 75 foot by 75 foot fish farms that are along the coast of Mexico (Unlit and floating via 50 gallon drums). I told my navigator to keep us no closer than 5 miles off the coast as there are large kelp beds that were thick several miles off shore. We were 50 miles from the finish line at 3 am when the skipper stuck his head out of the cabin and asked if I needed a break. ”Sure”, I said and went below. An hour later we hit the kelp that stopped us dead and it took an hour to get out. An hour lost with the kind of competition we faced usually meant last place. The skipper lost heart… I took over again and just after dawn the skipper made the decision to quit the race and head back to San Diego.

Turns out that by doing the math, we had less than 50 miles to go and 12 hours to do it as the 1st place guy didn’t finish till after 5pm and he owed us a bunch of time. The second place guy finished 5 hours later so it looks like we could have had second if not the first. (should of, could of) A lot can happen in 50 miles. We have trophied 6 out of the last seven years on this race -- always a second, never a first ... Maybe next year.

One thing is certain, we had a great team and it was the right decision to quit as another deciding factor was the boat yard that hauls us out for the trailer ride home would have been closed. It was either wait till Tuesday when they reopened or slog 18 hours north with a 2 hp Nissan outboard pushing a 30 foot boat. Sail home you say, well the winds were predicted to change ….again on the nose. Not a pretty prospect for an extremely tired crew.

So it was off to the San DiegoYacht Club where we called for a pick up from our shore crew already in Mexico. We had a nice lunch and I got to visit with Paul Calyard (A thrill for this hick from the sticks) as he is skipper of Americas Cup fame and Volvo round the world ocean race winner. As we sat resting, there must have been half the racing fleet come into the harbor -- even some of the Maxies and turbo sleds. We were in good company.

Well… That’s this years report from (almost) Mexico. See you on the water (not till end of June as Doubloon is in San Carlos where the Branch family will join her in a few weeks ).

Buz Branch

S/V DOUBLOON 5/1/07

This document can also be seen at REPORT FROM MEXICO.doc