Cal 25 races in worlds largest international Yacht Race.

Fleet V’s own “Tiburon” raced the 2009 Newport to Ensenada Mexico International Yacht race.

Tiburon approaching the finish line in Ensenada under spinnaker after racing down the coast all night.

Tiburon completed the 62nd running of the 125 nautical mile race in 24Hrs 05 minutes, averaging 5.4 knots for the event. Tiburon was crewed by Rick Sottile, Jeremy Ewing, Mack Real, and Felix Basadre. The crew rotated shifts in pairs and all participated in navigating, driving and sail trimming, for the non-stop event.

Morning Coffee warms up the crew of Tiburon after a cold night

“Long distance racing is new to us” said Rick Sottile. “However, the time went by very quickly and we all had a blast” The crew was upbeat and everyone enjoyed every aspect of the race. This just goes to prove, that a little CAL25 can in fact handle the big water!

Sailing past the Coronado Islands

As most Newport to Ensenada veterans know, there are several ways to tackle the race. One can go inside along the coast, rhumb line inside the Coronado islands, or outside (around the Coronado’s). From a tactical perspective we chose to go outside, which is generally the tactic of the bigger boats looking for more wind. “Fearing for lack of wind on the inside routes (as has been the case the past three years) we chose to go outside” said Felix Basadre. “However as luck would have it, we chose incorrectly. There was plenty of wind in the shorter inside route. We were never able to make up the lost time going the longer route”.

Will we do it again? “Too early to tell, but I sure would like another shot at it said Mack Real” As for “Slider” (aka Jeremy Ewing); “I’m ready to go; I’m going to dominate next time!”

More pictures below- Scroll down

Checking in at the Bahia Hotel, Race Headquarters in Ensenada.


After Checking in it was time to go out for the famous Mexican lobster.