man, Santana 22, Tom Manheim/Marius Landauer, 38. (4 boats) Full results at www.scyc.org
LATITUDE / CHRIS
THE RACING SHEET
Eight Bells for Schoonerman Paul Plotts The iconic patriarch of the San Diego schooner fleet has slipped beneath the waves. Paul Plotts passed on April 10, 2020, a few days before his 93rd birthday. Paul has been involved in San Diego traditional sailing since at least the early 1980s when he sailed the 30-ft gaff cutter Artemis, crewed by his young son Tom, in races with the Ancient Mariners Sailing Society. Paul's obsession with schooners would begin with his purchase of the 1930 Alden schooner Dauntless in 1984. Paul challenged Bagherra, a local Alden schooner owned by Todd Schwede, to a match race on San Diego Bay in 1986 and again in 1987. The America's Schooner Cup officially commenced in 1988 with fleet schooner racing as a charity regatta hosted by Kona Kai YC. Paul and Dauntless won the inaugural 1988 Schooner Cup and then also the 30th Schooner Cup in 2018 when he was 90. Paul also started the Billy Bones Schooner Race in 1986 in honor of his late friend Bob Sloan of the schooner Spike Africa. The Billy Bones Schooner Race would draw up to 20 schooners from Southern California to race from Mission Bay to San Diego Bay. The race featured a beach BBQ and memorable schooner raft-ups in Mariners Cove (Mission Bay) and La Playa Cove in San Diego Bay. Dauntless not only sailed San Diego Bay, but regularly competed in the Master Mariners Regatta on San Francisco Bay and the McNish Classic Yacht Race in Oxnard. Paul and Dauntless were most comfortable in offshore races, and sailed twice in the Ancient Mariners Transpac races to Lahaina, Maui, in 1985 and 1991. His sights were always set on the race's elapsed-time record set by Byron Chamberlin's Burgess schooner Rose of Sharon in 1981. Unfortunately, the 1985 and 1991 Ancient Mariners Transpacs were slower races sailed in light winds. Paul is survived by his wife Peggy, son Tom, Tom's wife Deby, and grandsons Paul and Adam. A celebration of life will be announced at a later time. Fair winds and following seas, old Page 84 •
Latitude 38
• May, 2020
On t h e p l u s side, the Transpacific YC opened registration for the 51st Transpac on April 2. The first wave of starters will depart Los Angeles on July 13, 2021. As of midApril, 13 skippers had signed up to race to Honolulu. The early entries range in size from Charles Devanneaux's 31ft Figaro 3 Mary Girafon to Maryland-based David Happ's Andrews 68 Mr. Bill. Chip Merlin's Bill Lee 68 Merlin will be back for another go, and two Cal 40s are already signed up. See more at www. transpacyc.com. In mid-April, the SSS issued the following: "The This image of Paul Plotts graced the cover of 'Latitude 38' in July 2003. With Singlehanded one foot in the water rushing over the rail, Paul steered a galloping 'DauntFarallones race, less' in the Master Mariners Regatta. 'Dauntless' loved sailing on S.F. Bay. scheduled for May 16, remains on the calendar, subject to the May 4 lifting of the current stay-atfriend. home orders and other safety consid— jerry newton, schooner maid of kent erations. The board is reconvening the week of May 4 to consider race possibiliRace Notes ties." For the first time ever, the modern Regarding the Singlehanded TransOlympics will be held in an odd year. Pacific Yacht Race, they announced: The 2020 Tokyo Summer Games will "Given the gravity of the recent CObecome the 2021 Summer Games, with VID-19 outbreak, the Singlehanded Sailthe opening ceremonies scheduled for ing Society and registered skippers have July 23, 2021. The Games will close on concluded that the solo race from the August 8. The 16th Summer Paralympics Corinthian YC to Hanalei Bay in Kauai, will follow on August 24-September 5, with events at Nawiliwili YC, will be debut remember that sailing is out of the layed until 2021. Factors playing heavily Paralympics for now. on the minds of the group included the In early April, PCYC Commodore Mineed to not spread infection, the strain chael Moradzadeh had the sad duty of the pandemic has already placed on announcing that the 21st Pacific Cup facilities in both locations, plus considwould be delayed until 2022. This came eration of the risk of virus exposure to as no surprise — so many events large United States Coast Guard personnel and small were being canceled or postin an emergency. The SSS is moving poned. "We invited our existing entrants forward to offer an exciting event in 2021 to roll over to 2022," announced the for the singlehanded race to Hawaii." PCYC. "So far, we already have a respect— latitude / chris able number!" See https://pacificcup.org.
