Racing can be fun

June Casagrande

Daylight saving time is here. Summer’s on its way. The weather’s

beautiful. The harbor is welcoming. But if you need any other excuse

to get out and do some sailing on a weeknight, the Balboa Yacht Club

has just the ticket.

Every Thursday through the end of August, the club is holding its

regular “Beer Can Series” races, a not-so-competitive competition

designed with fun in mind.

“Think of it as a summertime excuse to go sailing,” said Wayne

Rodgers, a spokesman for the yacht club. “We’ve got excuse to go out

and have fun in an informal setting to race our sailboats on the

bay.”

The fun event started at Balboa Yacht Club in the 1950s and,

according to an unofficial history written by longtime yacht club

member Dick Lawrence, it’s aptly named.

“The ‘unofficial’ start also began at Balboa Yacht Club (‘BYC’)

sometime in the mid-’50s, in the bar, over a beer -- in fact, over

several of them!” Lawrence wrote.

Lawrence tributes former club Commodore Jack Baillie and the late

“Big Henry” Sprague of Newport Harbor Yacht Club for giving the race

its initial momentum.

“Like most racers they continued the after-the-race tradition of

re-sailing the race at the BYC bar,” Lawrence wrote.

Today’s race continues in this spirit, if not quite in such

spirits.

It is open to members of any of the area yacht clubs, and to boats

between 25 and 50 feet.

“It’s one of our best-attended events at BYC,” Rodgers said,

noting that when the race starts picking up steam next month, 10 to

15 boats are expected to participate weekly in each of five

categories.

Racers depart the club at 6 p.m. each Thursday evening, sometimes

with passengers who just come along for the ride.

From here, they race up to the north side of Lido Island to a mark

off Lido Village, which they loop around, and then head back to the

club.

“It’s a lot of fun,” Rodgers said.