The first three arrivals for the finish of Del Rey Yacht Club’s 18th biennial Corum International Yacht Race were from the Salsa Division, not the ever-diminishing Racing fleet, unless you count Barking Spider 3 owner David Kory.

Kory and his crew from Barking Spider 3—an early race casualty—arrived by air Wednesday as Bob and Kathy Patterson’s Lark, Marina del Rey, crept across the line in fading zephyrs as harbinger of the Salsa fleet that started five to seven days ahead of the racers, with three stops and a little fishing along the way. Several other Salsas followed, with nary a Racer Division entry in sight.

“We’re the first Racers to P.V.,” Kory said, “with or without a boat.”

Indeed, Randall Pittman’s Genuine Risk withdrew two days before its scheduled start, and Roy Disney’s Pyewacket, its anticipated rival in pursuit of the race’s 20-year-record, bid adios off Baja California Tuesday with a crack in the top of its mast.

That was the same day that Jack Taylor fired up his engine after falling hopelessly out of contention in the three-way Santa Cruz 70 competition, leaving six boats vying for Racing Division honors in the waning stages of the 1,125-nautical mile race.

In the Transpac 52 match race, Karl Kwok’s Beau Geste, with world-class talent aboard including helmsman Gavin Brady and navigator Juan Vila, outsailed Mark Jones and Dick Watts’ Flash by 18 miles with a 225-mile day to take a 24-mile lead with 137 miles to go.

Similarly, Kirk Wilson’s Bay Wolf took charge of the Santa Cruz 50 contest by stretching its lead by 15 miles to 16 over Don Adams and Rick Palmer’s Chicken Little with 96 miles to go.

But if Doug Baker’s maxi sled, Magnitude 80, had thoughts about succeeding Genuine Risk and Pyewacket in the record chase, those vanished with the brisk breezes that gave Pyewacket momentary hope before its sudden exit. The big boat from Long Beach had logged a strong 286 miles at 11.9 knots in the 24 hours before Wednesday morning’s position reports—the longest day’s run for anybody—but fell into dying winds in the middle of the Gulf of California. The magic hour came and went with only Salsas in sight.

Magnitude 80’s ETA was 4:17 p.m. PST, which would be about 4 ¼ hours shy of the record of 4 days 23 hours 0 minutes 14 seconds set by the MacGregor 65 Joss in 1985.

Not only that, but PHRF-AA class honors could fall to Scout Spirit, the Newport Sea Base’s Reichel/Pugh 78 formerly known as Zephyrus IV and Bright Star, with Dave Janes and Jay Steinbeck as co-skippers. With its handicap advantage of one minute per mile—18 3/4 hours overall—the boat from Newport Beach, Calif. had an ETA Thursday morning of only 16 ½ hours behind Mag 80.

Curiously, the only sighting reported of Genuine Risk was by Kory on the Feb. 18 Friday evening after the biggest boats started. His MacGregor 65, Barking Spider 3, had started a day earlier, but he turned around when his main sail started to tear in the fierce headwinds of the San Pedro Channel.

Kory said, “We sailed downwind back to Avalon [on Santa Catalina Island] and moored right next to Genuine Risk.”

Instead of racing, Genuine Risk took advantage of the reversed prevailing winds to test spinnakers over two or three days up the coast from San Diego.

In fact, Kory sailed all the way back to San Francisco, without ever having to strain the main upwind.

“I’ve delivered a ton of boats to San Francisco, and I’ve never surfed north,” he said. “We did 120 miles in 10 hours.”

Kory’s friend and crew member, Marianne Wheeler, said, “It was very disappointing for all of us, but the beautiful run home made us all feel better.”

That’s how it was for another MacGregor 65—Richard and Camille Daniels’ Joss—going south in ‘85. But Kory and his crew weren’t finished. They parked the boat and flew to Puerto Vallarta.

Kory said, “We wanted to be here to cheer everyone else in. We didn’t want to miss all of this.”

Earlier, the Pattersons’ J/46, Lark, finished in time for breakfast at 9 a.m. local time. Kathy called her first offshore race “quite an experience and adventure,” although “the first night was sheer hell.”

After they had stopped to assist a dismasted non-racer in the San Pedro Channel, the headwinds built to 25 knots but, Kathy Patterson said, “the boat rode really well. We didn’t have any sick people [as several other boats did]. We had great food, but this was not a good fishing race. I had to improvise.”

Other Salsa finishers at this report were, in order, Alan Blunt and David Fox’s Cheyenne, Scott Adam’s Quest, Mark Biddison’s Ginny B, Andy Sibert’s Enchanted Lady, Jeff Allen’s Lazy Bones, Jim Maslon’s Broadway Babe and Gary Green’s Green Dragon.

Daily position reports, including latitude and longitude, and standings are posted at www.delreyyachtclub.org.

Corum, the title sponsor for this race, will present the owner or skipper of the overall winner in each class with a Corum Admiral’s Cup Trophy 41 watch, which has a retail value of $2,195.

Corum is an independent, family owned company producing high-quality and prestigious Swiss watches since 1955. The Admiral’s Cup Trophy 41, with a 41mm stainless steel case and nautical pennants instead of numerals to indicate the hours, was just introduced by Corum last year. The watch, along with the complete Corum line, may be seen at www.corum.ch

Racing Division

(Wednesday morning’s standings by corrected handicap time; seconds-per-mile handicap ratings listed)

PHRF-AA (started Feb. 18)

1. Scout Spirit (R/P 77), –120, David Janes/Jay Steinbeck, Newport Sea Base Syndicate, Newport Beach, 196 miles to go.

2. Magnitude 80 (Andrews 80), –180, Doug Baker, Long Beach, Calif., 71.

RETIRED: Pyewacket (Reichel/Pugh maxZ86), –265, Roy E. Disney, Los Angeles.

DID NOT START: Genuine Risk (Dubois 90), –274, Randall Pittman, San Diego.

PHRF-A (started Feb. 17)

1. Beau Geste (Transpac 52), –78, Karl Kwok, Hong Kong, 137.

2. Flash (Transpac 52), –78, Mark Jones/Dick Watts, San Francisco, 161.

RETIRED: Barking Spider (MacGregor 65), –24, David Kory, Point Richmond, Calif.

PHRF-B (started Feb. 16)

1. Bay Wolf (S/C50), –3, Kirk Wilson, San Pedro, Calif., 96.

2. Chicken Little (Santa Cruz 50T), 0, Don Adams/Rick Palmer, Los Angeles, 112.

RETIRED: Horizon (S/C 50), –3, Jack Taylor, Dana Point, Calif.

Salsa Division

(after Leg 1 of 3)

SPINNAKER-A

1. Lark (J/46), 45, Bob and Kathy Patterson, Los Angeles.

2. Cheyenne (Whiting 49), 75, Alan Blunt, Venice, Calif./David Fox, Santa Cruz, Calif.

3. Broadway Babe (C&C 110), 72, Jim Maslon, Marina del Rey, Calif., DNF.

RETIRED: Masquerade (Choate 40), 72, Tim Coker, San Diego.

SPINNAKER-B

1. Green Dragon (Catalina 380), 120, Gary Green, Culver City, Calif.

2. Enchanted Lady (Roberts 55 ketch), 96, Andy Sibert, Seal Beach, Calif., DNF.

NON-SPINNAKER-A

1. Lazy Bones (Irwin 54), 99, Jeff Allen, Marina del Rey, Calif.

2. Quest (Davidson 53), 72, Scott Adam, Marina del Rey, Calif.

T3. Ginny B (Beneteau 46), 78, Mark Biddison, Boulder, Colo., DNF.

T3. Far Niente (Catalina 42), 102, Patrick Hearne, Newport Beach, Calif., DNF.

NON-SPINNAKER-B

1. Camelot (Catalina 36), 144, Hiro Funaoku, Marina del Rey, Calif.

2. Wind Dancer (Tartan 38), 120, William Solberg, Los Angeles, Calif., DNF.

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