BAJA HA-HA XXIV, PT 2 — I
f you're reading this hot off the presses, then a fleet of about 150 boats has crossed the border and is heading south. Now almost a quarter of a century old, the Baja Ha-Ha has been a staple of Latitude 38 for half its existence. Just
'Happy Together'
think, a toddler on one of the first HaHas could now be a skipper. Here's Part Two of abbreviated profiles (which have been selected at random) featuring some of the hundreds of sailors participating in the San Diego to Cabo San Lucas rally. (The letter 'W' after the boat name indicates white sails only. The letters 'SSB' indicate that the boat has a single sideband radio. When a bold number appears at the end of the bio, it indicates a general idea of how many times those on the boat have sailed to Mexico before. An *asterisks before a boat name denotes a 'kid boat'.) Happy Together — Leopard 48 Randall and Lennie Smith Delray Beach, Florida Randall, 53, is a flooring contractor, while his wife Lennie is a general contractor. The couple have owned their catamaran for two and a half years, during which time they sailed from Florida through the Caribbean and along the north coast of South America, and transited the Panama Canal in order "to join the Baja Ha-Ha." "We've been reading Latitude 38 since childhood, and the Ha-Ha sounds like a lot of fun. After the Ha-Ha we'll sail back through the Panama Canal." Page 86 •
Latitude 38
• November, 2017
Horizon — Dufour 310 Eddie Harrison Chicago, Illinois Eddie, a 70-year-old musician, will be sailing to Cabo with friend Tom Boucher, 56, a pilot, and another friend, Lisa Brock, an engineer. "We sail this Dufour 310 out of Sausalito, where our sons live in the Bay Area, but home is in Chicago where we sail a1972 Dufour Arpege." Eddie has done four Chicago to Mackinac Races and has also sailed in Florida and done 'Solo Scrambles' on Lake Michigan. He loves the Josh Slocum quote: “I heard water rushing by, with only a thin plank between me and the depths, and I said, 'How is this?' But it was all right; it was my ship on her course, sailing as no other ship had ever sailed before in the world." After some cruising in the Sea of Cortez, the boat will be trucked back to Sausalito. Inspirity — Lagoon 470 Olivier Hendrikx Basel, Switzerland Oliver, 57, a physiotherapist, 'Knotty Boo' and his wife Brenda, a software executive, hail from Basel, Switzerland — where the Grand Poobah spent a little time this summer. While the couple say they are looking forward to fun and socializing, they note that theirs is an "artificial intelligencemanaged boat." Don't knock it, as in the eight years they've owned the boat, they crossed the Atlantic to Brazil in 2011, did the South Pacific from Valdivia, Chile, to the Gambiers in French Polynesia in 2012, and Tahiti to Vancouver in 2016. After the Ha-Ha,they'll be continuing on to Tahiti. SSB Jacquot Bateau — Irwin 38 W Jacques and Theresa Lorch Long Beach Jacques, 71, a retired general contractor, will have a crew consisting of Don McLennan, 60, an IT consultant, Kevin Bicknell, 62, a property manager, and Laura McLennan, an attorney. Jacques has been sailing since 1953, and has owned Jacquot Bateau for 14
years. He's a vet of several SoCal Ta-Tas and a Ha-Ha with his boat, but has also sailed the English Channel to the North Sea, North Africa to the French Riviera, and the West Coast of North America. "This will be my second Ha-Ha as skipper, and I also did one as crew, so I'm looking forward to seeing old and new faces. Not sure what I'm doing after the Ha-Ha." 2 Knotty Boo — Beneteau 49 W Jason and Julie Holloway San Francisco Jason, 47, is a tech CEO, and his wife Julie, 55, is an attorney. "Fun is our business," say the couple. "This will be our first time out, and we'll use the Ha-Ha to decide if we want to retire on our boat for the rest of our lives. The event was recommended to us by serial Ha-Ha'er Doug Thorne of the Alameda-based Tamara Lee Ann." 3 Linda Marie — Beneteau 473 Ken and Linda Landis Marina del Rey Ken, 55, is the CEO of a credit union while Linda, his wife, is a credit union vice president. "This will be our third Baja Ha-Ha, but the first one on our own boat," say the couple. "We did it in 2014 and 2016 aboard No Ties. We love meeting other adventurous sailors and enjoy the camaraderie that develops along the way. The Ha-Ha will be the start of our plan to explore the world by sailboat. We plan on spending a full year in Mexico and then doing the Pacific Puddle Jump in 2018. "I grew up sailing on San Francisco Bay, and we have no plans of returning to Marina del Rey." 4, SSB
'Linda Marie'
Macushla — Bristol 35.5 Evan Marks Berkeley Evan, 63, a construction project manager, will be sailing south with his friend Kevin Hall, 59, a plumber.
