PV Race Begins

Report from "Brand New Day" just after the start of San Diego to Puerto Vallarta race:

Feb. 23rd, 1430. Crew on board is Jim Madden, Jeff Johnstone (J-Boats President), Jeff Brown, Jon Gardner, Greg Nelson, Erik Rogers, Wayne Terry, Chuck Sinks, Jeff Gordon, Tom Pollack - mostly a mix from San Diego and Newport Harbor YC.

Started at 1200 under beautiful San Diego skies with 10 knots of breeze out of the WSW. "BND," a new J/65 and "Free Range Chicken" a new Perry 59 composed Performance Cruising Class A. Though we can motor in the cruising class, our objective is not to. Shortly after the start, the breeze continued to build and clock West, allowing us to set a 3A before passing the Coronado Islands through the middle, just west of the middle grounds at only 90 minutes into the race. We are now going at 9-10 knots, heading about 165 degrees in 15 knots of breeze with a 2A up.

Very different experience so far on this boat as compared with racing other boats. She has a very light feel to the wheel, and is quite responsive for a 65 footer. We're also not quite used to having a chef (Wayne), a wine locker (28 bottles for a crew of ten over 5-6 days), an LCD and DVD player in each stateroom and the main salon, an ice maker, and enough space to store a J/145 inside.

A few minor glitches in the early going, like having to reset a breaker on an electric winch, and having to untangle a new snuffer on the 2A. Otherwise all is good as we start the Puerta Vallarta Race. - Jim Madden

Christening
Day One
Day Two
Day Three
Day Four
Day Five
Day Six