Southland Sailing : Field for Newport Harbor Yacht Club Challenge Races Selected

Five Southern California yacht clubs are among the dozen leading clubs in the U.S. selected to compete in Newport Harbor Yacht Club’s third biennial U.S. Challenge to determine the best in the nation.

Besides the host club, the other Southland clubs are Balboa Yacht Club; California Yacht club, Marina del Rey; Long Beach Yacht Club, and San Diego Yacht Club.

Others selected were Bay-Waveland Yacht Club, Bay St. Louis, Miss; Bayview Yacht Club, Detroit; Chicago Yacht Club; Eastern Yacht Club, Marblehead, Mass.; Larchmont Yacht Club, New York; Manhasset Bay Yacht Club, Port Washington, N.Y., and St. Francis Yacht Club, San Francisco.

Announcement of the chosen clubs was made at a press conference at NHYC by William P. Ficker, staff commodore and one of the founders of the event.

The regatta, organized and held by NHYC and sponsored by Rolex watches, will be sailed in the waters off Newport Beach April 6-10 in Schock-35 sloops. The 1988 event will mark the debut of Balboa, Bay-Waveland, Bayview, California and Manhasset Bay.

Four of the clubs selected--Chicago, Eastern, NHYC, and San Diego--competed in each of the two previous Yacht Club Challenges, in 1984 and 1986. Eastern Yacht Club was the winner in 1984 and NHYC won top honors in 1986.

Long Beach YC and St. Francis YC sailed in the 1984 series and Larchmont was among the 1986 competitors.

Ficker said: “The selection committee has narrowed the field to the 12 yacht clubs that are the all-around best in the nation in terms of club facilities, past racing achievements, hosting of major regattas, and member service in yachting organizations. The regatta next April will be the final test of each club’s depth of yachting capability to determine which club is the best of all.”

Said NHYC Commodore Andrew Zimbaldi: “The 1988 regatta will be a truly national event, with participating clubs representing both coasts and America’s heartland as well. We’re looking forward to the most exciting U.S. Yacht Club Challenge ever.”

The 1988 series will be conducted as a Class IV event and will consist of five fleet races sailed without handicaps in Schock-35s supplied by NHYC and equalized as nearly as possible. In previous years the Challenge was sailed in New York-36 sloops.

Crew members must be bona fide members of the yacht club they represent. To maintain the Challenge’s stature as a true club event rather than s showcase for superstar skippers, individuals who have skippered a boat in the America’s Cup, Olympics, Congressional Cup or any other Olympic-class or world championship may not steer a yacht. They may, however, serve in any other crew capacity.

In addition to Ficker, the selection committee members included John Burnham, editor of Sailing World magazine; Peter Jenssen, editor of Motor Boating and Sailing; Edward Muhlfield, past publisher and editor in chief of Yachting magazine, and veteran yachtsmen James Michael, San Francisco; William L. Palmer Jr., Essex, Conn.; William Parks, Glenview, Ill.; James (Ding) Schoonmaker, Miami, Fla., and Eustace (Sunny) Vynne. Friday Harbor, Wash.

General chairman of the 1988 Challenge is Donald Russell, NHYC.