THE BORDER RUN – SAILBOAT RACING

The Border Run had 50 boats participate in the 9th Annual Border Run. The regatta kicked off with a Pre-Race Send-Off Party at the Sienna Italian Restaurant and Bar at the Balboa Inn, right at the foot of the Balboa Pier on the Peninsula. Several SSYC members were present for the party. Our featured speaker was Pete Melvin, of Morrelli/Melvin Yacht Design, designers of the AC 45 America’s Cup foiling catamarans.
Saturday morning began at 8:00 with Vice Commodore Dean Russell, skippering the Hunter 40 sloop, “Ku ‘uipo”. Herb Fischer provided the sandwiches and Robin Marshall brought those huge Costco muffins and fruit for the ten adults and three grandchildren on board. It was the first time for Dean and Barbara Russell’s granddaughters, Chloe (8), Berkeley (6) and Paisley (5) to be on the boat and had a “sleepover” on Friday night.
When we asked the girls what their favorite part of the Border Run was, we expected them to say, “The cannon!”. Nope, it was all the big boats passing close to the stern where they impersonated “Ga-ga” by chiming in with, “Good luck!” to all the racers!
Winds were 5-7 knots SSW at the start and we managed to get all the boats off to San Diego and Dana Point. Every time the cannon was fired at a start, a cloud of gunpowder flowed over the Race Committee boat. “We love the smell of gunpowder in the morning!”
We had 41 boat finish in Dana Point with Seth Hall and “Marisol” with the fastest elapsed time of 3 hours, 22 minutes and 42 seconds. “Marisol” finished ahead of James Wert and the crew of “Soffio Di Dio” (Breath of God) by a mere 40 seconds over 14 miles.
SSYC had Brian Boyle and the crew of “Tui” in the PHRF C class finished seventh out of ten boats in her class. SSYC’s Erik Waelput and the crew of “Sound Current” finished second in the Cruz No-Spinnaker B Class. On board with Erik was Kathy Abbott, Don Albrecht and Dan Orduno. Everyone had time at the helm.
The good news is that over half the fleet finished in San Diego. The bad news is that it was only three out of five boats! Many racers were concerned that the 70-mile course to San Diego was going to be a “drifter”, which is sailor code for “no wind”. The Race Committee at the finish line was SSYC Staff Commodore Steve and Pam Ellsworth, Jennifer Johns and Larry Marshall. They enjoyed a sumptuous feast of chicken tacos and live entertainment with Steve playing guitar and singing Zac Brown and Jimmy Buffet songs.
First to finish was Randy Reynolds in his Reynolds 33-foot catamaran at about 2:27 early Sunday morning. Second to finish was Brian Willess and the NACRA Maniacs of Arizona Yacht Club at 5:09 AM Sunday morning. Yes, they trailered their 17-foot Catamaran behind a 36-foot RV to join The Border Run! These two rugged yachtsmen are crazy!
The only mono-hull to finish was Larry Malmberg of Shoreline Yacht Club in Long Beach on his Catalina 38. They finished twenty minutes before the official end of the race! Their total elapsed time on the course was 26 hours and forty minutes, just 20 minute’s shy of the official end of The Border Run San Diego Course.
-Race Director John Marshall