MELGES 15 CLASS TAKES OVER LONG BEACH RACE WEEK
Submitted by Morgan Paxhia
Over twenty Melges 15s gathered in sunny Southern California for the 20th edition of Long Beach Race Week. There was a large contingent of ABYC boats, as well as others travelling from further away, including San Diego, Colorado, and even two teams from Mexico.
The regatta was sailed in light sea breezes from the south of around 8-10 knots. With big wind shifts rolling through, each race offered new pitfalls and opportunities. For the final race on Sunday, a classic Long Beach 15-knot seabreeze rolled in and the fleet had a fun last race with fast downwinds.
Robbie King (helm) and Karla Reinhardt (crew/owner) took first in the Melges 15 class representing Alamitos Bay Yacht Club. The pair maintained their lead position through the weekend in the ever-competitive class. “The racing was tight and competitive,” said Robbie. “We managed to put in a strong and consistent series over the three days. We had good pace downwind, which allowed us to pass boats and climb through the fleet.” Other than practice racing together during two Wet Wednesdays, it was Robbie's first time racing a regatta in the Melges 15.
“I enjoy racing the Melges 15 and appreciate the opportunities to learn and improve,” said Karla. “We looked at each race, even each leg, as a fresh start and chance to sail better than the previous. In the lighter winds I really saw the difference that even tiny changes in weight placement made.”
Morgan Paxhia and his sister Emily of StFYC & MBYC joined forces again to race LBRW and finish second. It was their first time sailing in the boat together since the Coronado/SDYC Spring Dinghy event back in March. “We sailed day one with some rig issues that resulted in our tension being much tighter than the fleet. We should have known better before leaving the dock, proper rig tension for the conditions is a critical starting point for success. We sorted that out after day one, and got back in the game winning the next two days but insufficient to catch the strong overall performance of Robbie and Karla. It was a great overall event and we look forward to more West Coast action this season.”
So far we have 12 boats signed up for the second weekend of the High Sierra Regatta on Huntington Lake in July. And many more boats are expected at the West Coast Championship in Marina Del Rey on September 13-14. Sign up at www.calyachtclub.com.
Interested in joining the growing west coast fleet? Contact VELA LA for new boats and for charters for the West Coast Championship event.