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 News from Around the Americas | December 2006 
Ventura Sailors Take on World
 Stan Whisenhunt - venturacountystar.com
Ventura Yacht Club will be beaming with pride come March when several of its sailors compete in the J-24 World Championships in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.
In the fleet of about 70 boats from around the world, only eight boats from the United States qualified to participate. Two of those boats will be sailing under the burgee of Ventura Yacht Club.
Skippering one boat will be Deke Klatt, with an all VYC crew of Dave Paudler, Bruce Labins and Jon Avery.
Skippering the other boat will be Ryan Cox, whose crew includes VYC member Garrett Baum and Greg Larson, who was a VYC member for many years.
The Worlds will be sailed March 5-9. Preceding the Worlds will be the Mexican Nationals on Feb. 24-25. Klatt and Cox and their crews plan to race in the Mexican Nationals to tune up for the Worlds.
It will be an arduous trip, trailering J-24s to Puerto Vallarta — about 1,600 miles each way. Cox figures it will be a 10-hour drive to Nogales, then another 1,100 miles.
Klatt placed seventh in the 2006 Worlds in Australia. He qualified for the 2007 Worlds by placing sixth in the U.S. Nationals. Cox qualified for the Worlds by placing second in the Western Regional Championships at Lake Tahoe in July.
Both skippers come loaded with impressive credentials and both started sailing as young kids at Ventura and Channel Islands harbors.
Klatt, a sailmaker for Gary Swenson's Ullman Sails loft at Ventura Harbor, is the local J-24 fleet champion, having won the title numerous times. He has been racing J-24s since the late 1980s and has owned a J-24 since 2001. He began racing Sabots when he was 12 years old. His proudest accomplishment in the J-24 class was winning the North Americans in 2004. He has placed third and sixth in the 2005 and 2006 Nationals respectively, in addition to his seventh-place finish in last year's Worlds.
Cox was Collegiate Sailor of the Year in 1995 for sailing for the Naval Academy. He has won numerous regattas around California and on a larger scale placed third in the 2003 U.S. Nationals and 13th in the 2004 Worlds.
Putting things in perspective, there are somewhat more than 8,000 J-24s around the world with fleets in 35 different countries. There are several thousand J-24s in the United States. Out of those thousands of boats, just eight from the United States get to compete in the Worlds. Two of those boats are at Ventura Harbor and most of the sailors who will be aboard them are members of a local yacht club.
Klatt and Cox have raced against each other many times. In major events, Klatt has a slight edge, taking first in the 2004 North Americans while Ryan was ninth. In the 2006 Nationals, Klatt was sixth and Cox seventh. In the 2006 Western Regionals, Cox was second and Klatt third.
They will both be facing some hefty expenses to be able to compete on the world stage. Each plans to buy new sails for the big event. Fuel costs driving to and from Puerto Vallarta, along with food and lodging, will stagger their pocketbooks. But not many young men get a chance to perform at such a high level, so they'll foot the costs in search of a trophy which may cost about as much as filling up their gas tanks once.
After days of rigorous competition, Klatt and his crew plan to hang out in Puerto Vallarta for a few days before heading home. Cox, who now lives in the San Francisco area, has to be at work on the Monday following racing.
"We'll pack up and be ready to leave pretty quickly, probably Friday night, and drive straight through," Cox said.
He'll need to tow his boat back to its dry storage berth at Ventura Harbor and then head home.
Cox notes it won't be the first time he's undertaken a rigorous trip following a competition. Last year after the Nationals in April, he left Houston on Saturday night, dropped the boat off in Ventura and was home in Dublin in the Bay Area about 2 a.m. Monday morning. "I got to work a little tired, but we made it," he said.
In 2004 following the Nationals, Cox left Connecticut on a Friday night and made it to the Bay Area before dark on Sunday.
"With two drivers, it's pretty easy to drive straight through," Cox said.
Oh, to be young again.
Upcoming sailboat races
n 24 Regatta, hosted by Ventura Yacht Club. This is the first in a series of J-24 regattas, but Moore 24s and Kirby 24s also welcome. Skippers' meeting at 9 a.m., with racing beginning at 11.
2007 Ocean sailboat racing schedule:
Jan. 14, VYC, J-24 regatta
Jan. 27, PBYC, Spring Series 1
Feb. 3, VYC, J-24 regatta
Feb. 10, VYC, Spring Series 2
Fax your race announcements, results and other information to Stan Whisenhunt at 659-3058 or call him at 659-1464. His email address is Swhisenhun@aol.com. |
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