30 Years Later, Rudy Choy Wins Yacht Race to Ensenada Again

ENSENADA — Rudy Choy of Waikiki, Hawaii, took a trip down memory lane in the 40th Newport-to-Ensenada yacht race when he sailed his 65-foot catamaran Aikane X-5 across the finish line at 2:15 a.m. Saturday to become the first-to-finish in the 125-mile race. His elapsed time was 12 hours 15 minutes.

In 1957, Choy was co-skipper of a 45-foot catamaran, also named Aikane, that finished the race in 14 hours 1 minute for an elapsed-time record that stood until 1983, when Bob Hanel’s 65-foot catamaran Double Bullet established the still-existing record of 10:31.

Choy, a noted catamaran designer, was sailing this race under the banner of Balboa Yacht Club, of which he is a longtime member.

Aikane finished 44 minutes ahead of Steve Shidler’s 48-foot catamaran Wind Warrior, which is affiliated with the Monterey Peninsula YC and was last year’s elapsed-time winner.

The third boat to finish was Bob Doughty’s monohull Kathmandu, a Santa Cruz-70 out of South Bay Yacht Racing Club with an elapsed time of 17:30. Fourth to finish was another Santa Cruz-70, Blondie, skippered by Robert McNulty of Los Angeles Yacht Club, with an elapsed time of 18:12.

Roy Disney’s Nelson-Marek-70 Pyewacket from LAYC was fifth in 18:13. It was Pyewacket’s maiden ocean race.

Others among the first 10 finishers were Bowie Houghton’s catamaran Viva, South Shore YC; Don Ayres’ Drumbeat, Newport Harbor YC; Mike Leneman’s catamaran Minette, South Bay Yacht Racing Club; Pat Farrah’s Ragtime, Long Beach YC.