NEWPORT BEACH, Calif.—New boats are nice, but four Santa Cruz 70s harkened back to their glory days Sunday by sweeping the top four spots overall on corrected handicap time in the second biennial First Team Real Estate Invitational Regatta for the Hoag Cup.

Not to say there weren’t any records set. Jim Madden, a competitor and chairman of the big boat inshore event, announced at the awards ceremony that organizers of the Balboa and Newport Harbor Yacht Clubs had topped their goal of raising $400,000 for the Hoag Hospital Heart and Vascular Institute, believed to be the largest amount ever raised by a charitable sailing event.

Ed McDowell’s 21-year-old Grand Illusion, with Patrick O’Brien taking over as skipper and helmsman in the owner’s absence, led the way on the water, followed by Tim and Tom Hogan’s Westerly, Doug Ayres’ modified Skylark and Brack Duker’s Holua.

The 15-boat fleet represented a variety of some of the West Coast’s best racers over the last few decades, from Ragtime, now owned by Chris Welsh, in the 70s to Doug Baker’s Magnitude 80 in the 21st century. But handicap ratings and good sailing trumped new technology this time as the 70s—a.k.a. the iconic “sleds” that dominated downwind racing in the 80s and 90s—sounded a triple blast from the past.

After the 70s came Morning Light, Roy E. Disney’s team of young chargers and subjects of a documentary film in progress but who seem more bent on becoming world-class racers than movie stars.

Roger Sturgeon’s new STP 65, Rosebud, won Class A in its maiden regatta, while Grand Illusion also topped Class B and Oscar Krinsky’s 1D48, Chayah, came from behind to edge Andy and Camille Rasdal’s DK 46, Valkyrie, in Class C.

Appropriately, it’s been McDowell who has been leading the sleds’ resurrection of the class on the West Coast, even if he was on a cruise ship in Italy and wasn’t here to see his boat sail into Sunday with a commanding points lead and one race to go.

O’Brien, who has been sailing on Grand Illusion for 17 years, said, “It’s been a very good weekend for us. Today we decided just to sail safely and conservatively, but it was still a tough day.”

The wind was a light 8 to 9 knots with boats often overlapped in the mark roundings, but the 70s and smaller boats at least didn’t have to worry about Magnitude 80 and the new ocean racing thoroughbreds: Madden’s Stark Raving Mad III and Roger
Sturgeon’s Rosebud of Roger Sturgeon. They were quickly long gone in all five races over three days.

“They’re spectacular,” O’Brien said, “but we’re happy with the 70s. We’re trying to get this class going again. Ed is not going to get a new boat.”

Sturgeon was as happy with the performance of his new boat, despite losing its hydraulic power assists on Day 2, as he was about the charitable success of the event.

“This is such a good formula it ought to be marketed,” he said. “I don’t know of anything this big in sailing. We were so tickled to be invited back and that it came together for us against all odds. All credit goes to the crew. Whatever you throw at them they’ll find a solution.”

Krinsky, who had Chris Redmond at the helm and Paul Bishop calling tactics on Chayah, said with a nod to dock neighbor Morning Light, “My guys are great—my kids. It was fun.”

Tim Hogan, whose Westerly (formerly Mongoose) came on strong the last two days, said, “A lot of it was local knowledge, and it paid off”—for Westerly in particular by making a couple of strong pin-end starts and hitting the left corner hard. “We were out there to have fun with a lot of old friends.”

Magnitude 80, owing everybody more time than it takes to read this, looked great in winning the first four races, but stumbled into a come-from-ahead setback in Sunday’s finale. When principal race officer Mike Wathen shortened the course for the second of three laps, Mag 80 sailed far past the new windward mark before realizing its error. Stark Raving Mad III and Rosebud sailed past to finish 1-2.

Finally, Disney was more than pleased with Morning Light’s performance in the crew’s first series racing test marked by quiet and crisp boat handling and tactics.

“They’re doing a terrific job,” Disney said, adding this nugget of wisdom: “A quiet boat is a fast boat.”

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