Nauti Chicas have their game faces on for Cabo

REPRINTED FROM BYC WEBSITE:

CORONA DEL MAR, Calif.---The boat’s name---Predator---is intimidating enough, but wait till you see the crew lined up to sail it in Balboa Yacht Club's biennial race from Corona del Mar to Cabo San Lucas starting March 28 and 29.

Six determined members of the Nauti Chicas women’s sailing team are on an ambitious mission that will take them through seven events climaxing with next year’s Transpacific Yacht Race to Hawaii, and this is the first big step.

“We have a tremendous amount of experience on the boat,” says co-skipper Terri Manok, who owns the J/35 with her husband Tom. “Gender is not a factor. We probably have more experience than some of the other boats. It’s not anything we can’t handle.”

The smaller boats, including Predator in Class D, will start the 800-nautical mile race to the tip of Baja California, Mexico on Friday the 28th, the larger ones a day later. The starts will be at noon directly off the end of the Balboa Pier in front of the Original Ruby’s restaurant. Spectators are welcome.

Manok, vice commodore of Oceanside Yacht Club in Southern California, and co-skipper Sue Senescu, a staff (former) commodore of Dana Point YC, have selected their crew from the 18 Nauti Chicas members. The others are Denise Eldrige, Dana Point; Helena Cannady, San Francisco; Judy Rae Karlsen, Long Beach; and Betsy Crowfoot, Carpinteria.

These aren’t teeny boppers on a lark. Their ages run from 39 to 50 (;-D ), and among them they have completed seven Transpacs. Senescu and Crowfoot have raced on two and three all-woman Transpac teams, respectively, and Senescu has done two other Transpacs on coed crews. Otherwise, the crew’s collective résumés as sailing instructors and competitors are impressive but too long to list here.

“Let’s just say we’re mature in sailing years, as well,” Senescu said, dryly.

They’re approaching this race very seriously with new sails from VGM in Dana Point, new running rigging, a new boat bottom from the Villalva boat yard in Ensenada . . . and lots of practice.

Senescu said, “We’ve done some offshore practices in winds of 22 knots gusting to 33 . . . thunder and lightning and big black walls of squalls.”

Manok: “It was great experience. I’m totally confident we can handle anything at that level.”

Other events they plan to do are women’s one-design regattas at Puerto Vallarta in May and Long Beach in October, next month’s Newport-to-Ensenada race with two boats, Santa Barbara to King Harbor in August and Newport Beach to Cabo San Lucas next February.

“All of us have significant others who have been very supportive,” Manok said. “My husband has given up the boat for this year and most of next year.”

Their only problem is a shortage of sleeping berths on the J/35, the second smallest boat in the fleet, even rotating two to a bunk. An all-male crew would normally sail with five.

“We could sleep four un-comfortably,” Senescu said, “but I’ll probably just have to find someplace on the sails.”

The race is being conducted under PHRF, ORR and IRC handicap systems.Each boat will be tracked by iBoat, which has provided satellite positioning on the Internet for last year's Long Beach-to-Cabo race, the 2006 Pacific Cup from San Francisco to Hawaii and several East Coast races to Bermuda and elsewhere since 2005.

A sendoff party promising "Mexican buffet, cheap drinks and good company" is scheduled the evening of March 27 at Balboa YC. The Old Hacienda Hotel will host a poolside party late on the afternoon of Thursday, Aril 3, and trophies will be presented Friday, April, 4 at Tesoro Los Cabos. -- Rich Roberts

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