by Brad Poulos
Cherimarie #1015
San Diego, CA

About a year after getting my Catalina 36 Cherimarie I began to enter some local club and summer “beer can” races. All of these races were governed by the local PHRF handicap rules and regardless of how one finished on the race course, it wasn’t until the “corrected” times were calculated, that one knew the final race outcome. Frustrated by various handicap adjustments, I fondly recalled for my former one-design racing days (in the Lightning class) where race outcomes were straight forward; and skill, tactics and boat condition were the decisive factors in winning. In the fleets I was now racing in, typically only one or, at best two, other Catalina 36s were in a given race. On those rare occasions, I ignored my usual competitors in various sized vessels and brands and focused on competing with my “equals.”

A little over a year ago, I was sitting in my cockpit, enjoying an early morning cup of coffee when I saw a handful of boats heading down the fairway, with some J-boats and Beneteaus flying their “battle flags” and each hull having a large colorful “NOOD” sticker on the bow. Asking a few nearby dock rats revealed that NOOD stood for National Offshore One Design, and were part of a premier series of one-design regattas held each year, in nine cities throughout the country organized by Sailing World magazine and sponsored by Land’s End and other companies. Some phone calls revealed that if a fleet had 5 boats or more enter, they could have their own start and race course in the NOODs. Visions of a true mano-a-mano Catalina 36 race danced in my head.

With a bit of persistence, arm-twisting and, dare I say - pleading, for the first time ever, Catalina 36 foot sailing yachts were included as a one-design fleet in the San Diego stop of the 2006 Land’s End NOOD Regatta series.

In addition to the Catalina 36 fleet, 168 boats from 17 classes participated in the 3 day event. This was a historical event for Catalina as this was the first time in the history of the NOOD Regatta’s that a Catalina fleet participated. The San Diego portion of the NOOD Regattas was held March 17-19, 2006, and was hosted by the San Diego Yacht Club (SDYC).

In addition to the being part of the NOOD Regatta event, Catalina 36 owners were also competing for the Southern California Catalina 36 Championship, as sanctioned by the Catalina 36 International Association.

Five San Diego-based skippers competed for the title including Dan Golembiewski on Inspiration (Hull No. 1542), Terry Smith on Rippin (Hull No. 774) , Larry Pascoe on Sabbatical (Hull No. 598), Dave Flint on Isle Run (Hull No. 299) and Brad Poulos (me) on Cherimarie (Hull No. 1015).

The venue for all races for the Catalina 36 fleet was the “near” ocean course, set about 4 miles south of San Diego Bay’s Point Loma, and 3 miles offshore from the Coronado Strand. This location was perfect for our boats as it eliminated the usual issues of racing in the bay such as significant currents, kelp bed entanglements and the geographic wind shifts off the Point Loma peninsula, as well as dodging the occasional US naval warship or 900 foot cruise ship entering or returning to port. The Ultimate 20, J/80, J/24, PC and Holder 20 classes would be sharing the course with us.

The first day of the regatta had forecasted a daytime high temperature of 60 degrees, Westerly winds of 5-10 knots, with a 60% chance of rain in the afternoon, with West-Northwest winds 10-15 knots accompanying the expected storm front. In the San Diego area, the mornings are generally calm and the wind builds in the afternoon. As we prepared for the 12:30 start, the winds were in the 2-5 knot range with a 2-4 foot ocean swell. The race committee was hoping the wind would pick up and postponed the start for 30 minutes. With winds 4-6 knots and anxious skippers getting even more anxious, the race committee chose a four-legged windward-leeward course 3.2 nautical miles long. Sabbatical and Island Run had excellent starts and fought for the lead.

The light air favored their tall rigs and as the wind stayed in the 2-4 knot range, they pulled ahead of the pack with Island Run taking the first 1st place finish of the regatta, Sabbatical taking second place and Inspiration taking third. The winds continued to remain in the 4-6 knot range as the race committee announced the course for the second race; another windward-leeward course, 3.5 nautical miles long with five legs. Island Run had another great start with our boat, Cherimarie, fighting them for a lead position. Again, the light air and broad reaching favored Island Run’s tall rig with Island Run scoring another first place finish and Cherimarie coming in second place with Sabbatical close behind. With two bullets under their belt, the Island Run crew was smiling all the way back to the yacht club. On our boat we looked at our third place series standing and decided to push harder the next day. At the end of day one the competitors enjoyed a post-race party at SDYC. A highlight of the evening was a presentation on downwind rules and tactics Dave Perry, author of “Understanding the Racing Rules of Sailing,” as part of the Mount Gay Rum Speaker Series.
On the second day competitors shook off their previous night’s party effects and headed out the bay entrance to a much different weather forecast.

The predicted storm front had arrived, bring rain throughout the night and the forecast calling for continued cool temperatures with Westerly winds 10-15 knots, 2 foot wind waves, a West swell of 3-5 feet, with scattered showers and thunderstorms possible.

For San Diego sailors, seeing a thunderstorm is extremely rate, so the fleets marched out with crews in foul weather gear, PFDs, jacklines rigged and tethers at the ready.

The first race was a 3.2 nautical mile windward leeward course with four legs. The racing was intense, as the five competitors battled for position on each leg. Isle Run was in the lead for all four legs, but on the final downwind leg to the finish, with our boat following close behind, we managed to block their air and slid across the finish only six seconds ahead. Our first 1st! We were now confident that our boat and crew had what it takes to “be competitive” in this regatta. The second race was the same windward-leeward course, but 3.6 nautical miles long and with five legs. On the first race, we noticed the right side of the course was favored, so we followed the same strategy for the second race and stayed to the right. Shortly after the start we tacked to the right, while the rest of the fleet went to the left. By the time we got to the first weather mark, Rippin, Isle Run and Sabbatical had rounded before us and suddenly we were falling behind. The order of the boats remained the same for the next few mark roundings.

On the downwind run to the finish line, we watched Rippin cross the line first, with Isle Run not far behind. Sabbatical was only 30-50 yards away, so we worked as hard as we could to try to catch up. Every thought and movement of our crew was focused on moving our boat faster, scooting down every wave, milking every puff for any tenth of a knot increase in speed. Again, we managed to catch up from upwind and finish just 3 seconds ahead of Sabbatical for a third place finish. The wind was still blowing 10-15 knots and the race committee called for one more race, windward-leeward, 3.75 nautical miles with four legs. The question was which side of the course was favored? Unsure, but knowing the Isle Run was doing well, we decided to observe their position and cover them as well. We both played the middle, tacking over a half-dozen times on each leg. Following the leader paid off, with Isle Run finishing only a few seconds ahead of us for first place, ourselves taking second and Rippin taking third. After 4 hours of intense racing in fairly brisk winds and seas, my crew was exhausted but smiling as we totaled the series point and discovered we had moved into the second place spot for the series.

The final day of the regatta had a slightly improved forecast with more sun and slightly warmer temperatures, but a continued chance of scattered showers. The Southwesterly winds were expected to be in the 10-15 knot range, but decreasing in the afternoon with a continuing 4-6 foot swell and 1-2 foot wind chop. Due to the rule that no races would start after 2:30, we were expecting at least one race and maybe two for the day. The weather forecast was accurate and with 10-15 knots winds holding throughout the day as our fleet skippers gathered for the final showdown, all intent on bettering their regatta standings. Rippin and ourselves had an excellent start and battled all the way to the first weather mark. As the fleet approached the last weather mark, with everyone on starboard tack, it was a classic parade of racing sailboats with all five Catalinas lined up. I would have loved to have taken a picture, but with Rippin in the lead, and Cherimarie closely behind, there wasn’t a second to spare. We weren’t able to catch Rippin but enjoyed our second place finish and watched Isle Run finish third.

The final race of the day was being set up and we realized that our second place in the regatta was not a sure thing. Isle Run had a sold lock on first place, but Rippin was now only two points behind and we would need to take first or second place, and beat him to maintain our standing. The pressure was on! Our start was perfect and we had a great position on the fleet.

As the fleet spread out, we found ourselves getting headed and slowed by the wave, much more than we’d like, so we opted to sail the middle of the course, playing winds as we could. When we got to the weather mark, Rippin was in the lead, with Sabbatical and Inspiration close behind. With desperation and disbelief we tried to improve our position only to find ourselves headed by a gust, pinching to clear the mark and ended up hitting it. Ugh!

After clearing the mark and doing our penalty turns, the only thing that made it not seem as bad as it was, was looking back and seeing Isle Run hit the mark as well. We chased the leaders as best as we could, but with the time lost doing the penalty turns, we frustratingly watched as Rippin grabbed her second bullet of the day, with Inspiration finishing second and Sabbatical third.

The Awards Ceremony at the San Diego Yacht Club was full of wind and sunburned skippers and crew, anxiously waiting for the final scores and regatta standings (for day-by-day race results, click here). Our group of Catalina 36 skippers and crew traded stories and tips while waiting for the announcements.

Congratulations to Dave Flint on Isle Run for his First Place for the regatta as well as earning the title of the Southern California Catalina 36 Champion!
Terry Smith on Rippin took Second Place honors, and myself (Brad Poulos) on Cherimarie received Third Place honors.

My desire for one-design sailing in my Catalina 36 was truly fulfilled. We all enjoyed the sailing, boat-on-boat competition along with sharing some tips, tricks and sea stories. An event of this magnitude involves a lot of people to pull it off and a huge thank you and mega kudos go to the folks at Sailing World magazine for working with Catalina 36 Fleet 6 to allow us to participate (Jennifer you were great); to Land’s End for providing the clothing, and awards; to Mount Gay for the hats, speakers, and open bar; to West Marine for their “nautical trivia” game prizes and shuttle bus service; numerous other sponsors; and to the San Diego Yacht Club for hosting the event and organizing an outstanding race committee (Jared and Jo Ann – Two Thumbs Up!). A special thank you to my wife, Cherimarie, for her patience and understanding of my near obsession in getting this event put together and then competing in it.

The Land’s End NOOD Regatta is an annual event, so we expect to do it again next year and welcome other Catalina 36 competitors to San Diego to compete for the title once again next March.