January 13, 2014

Continued from Part 2 …

Rocket 88's first race was in Long Beach in 1987, but first she had to be measured to become an official D-Class catamaran. The measurer was Alex Kosloff, a pioneer in lightweight C-Class cats and a D-Class builder from Southern California. "Alex came up to visit and measure Rocket," recalled Howard Spruit "He had an all-carbon D-Class that Dennis Conner and crew used to get familiar with before the 1988 America's Cup." (Remember the first time a catamaran was used in the America's Cup? That was the New Zealand Deed of Gift Challenge. The Kiwis used a 90-ft monohull while the Americans had a 60-ft cat. The Kiwis didn't have a chance.)

Howard continued: "So Kosloff came up here and said, 'I know it's wide and I know it's too long but it's a D-Class.' He put his blessing on it and it was wonderful."

Serge with Alex Kosloff. Photo Courtesy Serge Pond

Early teething troubles included a capsize. Here is Rocket 88 at Santa Cruz Harbor after being towed back from the ocean. Photo Courtesy Serge Pond

Part of the damage was to the cross beams. Photo Courtesy Serge Pond

Serge orders Rocket's second set of colors. ©2013 norcalsailing.com

They turned out nice. Photo Courtesy Serge Pond

Some of Rocket's credits. When they got to San Diego, they had to stay at the Police Docks because SDYC was freaked out by all the 'sponsor' names on the hulls. Photo Courtesy Serge Pond

So off to Long Beach they went for their first race, the Long Beach Speed Sailing Series. The Rocketeers came in fifth. For better results, Rocket 88 would have to wait for the '90s.

Launching the cat in Long Beach. Photo Courtesy Serge Pond

Rocket 88's most memorable paintjob, pictured here in the front yard of Serge's front yard in Capitola Village. Photo Courtesy Serge Pond

"We raced mainly on the West Coast," said Serge Pond. "San Diego, Long Beach, Monterey, Santa Cruz, and San Francisco Bay. We first beat Alan Driscoll and Beowulf at the Presidio Speedsailing Invitational in1990 – we only won the first day; he beat us on Sunday – but we saw the writing on the wall – we had finally gotten fast! We won the 1993 New Year's Day Regatta in San Diego and the Cat Fight."

An ad from Ocean Life in the summer of 1996. ©2013 norcalsailing.com

After the shift to San Francisco, Rocket 88 was able to dominate that scene for years. Rocket 88 won many distance races and set many records thoughout the '90s. They broke the record in the 1993 and 1994 Oyster Point Multihull Regattas and the 1995 Jazz Cup. They won and set records in the 1994 and 1998 Delta Ditch Run (and still hold the elapsed time record of 3 hours, 57 minutes set in the windy 1998 DDR). They won the doublehanded division of the SSS Three Bridge Fiasco twice.

Racing on the Cityfront. Photo Courtesy Serge Pond

Rocket 88's new crew, Bill Turpin, Ian Klitza and Brendan Busch, are not planning on slowing down. "Brendan bought Rocket 88 from Serge, sailed her some, then put her in storage up in La Honda," said Ian. "Brendan and Bill got to talking about bringing her out and sailing her again." Bill Turpin also owns the TP52 Akela, and Jay Crum had been the boat captain for both boats. "Bill helped out in the early days, and really liked the project," says Ian. "We modernized the sail plan with new sails, added a jib, painted her, faired the foils, moved the boards forward and added an aluminum spine." Serge still watches over Rocket from aboard the team's Protector.

Rocketmen Bill Turpin, Serge Pond and Ian Klitza shared some laughs with Sean Svendsen (second from right) at the 2013 Rolex Big Boat Series. ©2013 norcalsailing.com

With her new paint job and eager crew, she heads off to a new life racing fast once again. "We have raced her for the last three years and are having some success," said Ian. "We won the BAMA series twice, and we crushed the YRA Second Half Opener last year. The new D-Class boats are much faster – modern design, carbon everything and real expensive!" But Rocket 88 is still fast for the local racing conditions. "Downwind and on a windy day and especially reaching, we are still competitive."

Rocket 88 rocketing past the fleet in the 2013 Big Daddy Regatta. ©2013 norcalsailing.com

"We plan on sailing her this year starting with the Three Bridge Fiasco," says Ian. And what about breaking some records? "The1998 Delta Ditch Run record could fall some day but conditions must be perfect!"

So here's to perfect sailing conditions in 2014, and if you happen to see a Rocket buzz by you out on the course give them a wave.