Welcome to the Website.

Lizzie B is the overall winner of the Sunset Series again in 2007 and wins the Marylyn Ritchie Trophy for the 3rd time. Congratulations to all of the 2007 Team!!!

Here is information about Lizzie B and the 2007 Sunset Series run by California Yacht Club in Marina del Rey, California (webpages from prior years: 2006; 2005; 2004; 2003). We were 1st overall in the Racing Division of the Sunset Series in 2007, 2006 and 2003, winning the Marylyn Ritchie Trophy in those years. After doing well in 2006 we were hoping to be in contention again this year and that turned out to be the case, although our margin of victory in 2007 was the smallest in modern times. Check out a photo of Lizzie B rounding the weather mark and setting the chute.

Lizzie Who??? - Lizzie B is a Mariah 27 (however, we prefer to call it a G&S 27, referring to the designers Scott Graham & Eric Schlageter). Lizzie is hull #2, launched in 1986 (Lizzie is the second production hull of the Mariah 27 but the third hull of the same shape if you count the original prototype, which was built as a custom boat two or three years before the Mariah 27 started production). The Mariah/G&S 27 was designed under the MORC rule and has a very similar hull shape to several well-known later G&S designs - the S-2 7.9 and S-2 9.1.

There aren't a lot of Mariah 27s around anymore. We recently came across one for sale on the East Coast and as you can see from the photos that boat is laid out pretty much the same as Lizzie B. Note that Nemesis has an outboard. We don't know what hull number Nemesis is.

Dick Hampikian has been an owner of Lizzie B since the boat was first launched. Originally, he was a co-owner with Mike Braney but Mike died in 1999 and Dick has been the sole owner since then. The boat was actively sailed by Dick and Mike all around the US under MORC in the late '80s and early '90s, winning her class (2nd overall) at the MORC Internationals in San Diego in 1986. Lizzie B has a lot of silverware in the trophy cupboard from the many National, North American and International regattas she did during the years she was actively campaigned around the country on the MORC circuit. Now she is like a retired racehorse - a thoroughbred that likes to show her ablities and relive some of her past glories when she can.

"Lizzie B" is short for "Lizzie Borden," the Fall River, Massachusetts girl alleged to have killed her mother and father with a hatchet. Mike Braney was born and raised in Fall River. According to nursery ryhme:

            Lizzie Borden took an axe
            And gave her mother forty whacks.
            And when she saw what she had done,
            She gave her father forty-one.

Recently, Art traveled to Fall River, Mass. and visited the birthplace of Lizzie Borden, now a fancy Bed and Breakfast! (Check it out.)

The Crew of Lizzie B

Changes from 2006 - We have a new #1 genoa and 0.5oz spinnaker for 2007. Otherwise, the only significant change is that the name on the side of the boat has been repainted. We hope that will make us feel faster even if it doesn't actually make us faster. (We also are hoping that the diesel mechanic was finally able to find and fix the fuel line leak that kept causing us trouble in 2006. Our fingers are crossed!)

At the end of the 2005 season our rating was assigned to be 132 by USPHRF as the result of a rating appeal. More about the appeal is available here. We also provide answers to some persistent questions.

Description of Individual Sunset Races During 2007
  April 18     May 2     Aug 1  

PHRF D Competition -

For 2007 the class splits were slightly different but most of the boats were the same. Last year's PHRF D class went from 120 to 147. This year's class ended at 135, putting Windfall and the J/30s (Eggemoggin and Friction Loss) into PHRF E (plus, Mayhem, the B-25, was sold before the season started).

For 2007 the 2nd place boat, and clearly the "most improved boat in class," was MisQue. She started slow but ended with two 1sts and a 2nd. The J/80s were not quite as tough in 2007 as they had been in 2006. Avet was the top J/80 in 3rd place, even though she sailed in fewer races than Athena did (and despite her owner being off the boat for at least races). Athena wasn't too far back in fourth. Both Joy Ride and Wildcard, J/80s, did well in the few races they came out in. That was true of Hitchhiker as well. But, the Sunset Series was 18 races this year and none of these boats even did half of the races.

Finally, no one knew what to expect of the Open 5.70s but clearly they have the wrong rating. They probably have untapped speed potential but even so they probably should rate 150+ (which means their rating is at least 18 sec/mi too low!).

There is virtually no serious competition for the class leadership. This is mostly because many of the better boats have not done many races. Lizzie B is the only boat with a finish in every race! Avet, MisQue and Miss Demeanor are the only boats to have sailed in all but one of the races (and Avet had substitute crew for three of four of the races and basically just finished those races). We finished 1st in Mini-Series #1 (races 1-6) with an average of 8.67 pts/race. Avet finished in 2nd. In Mini-Series #2 (races 7-12) we finished 1st and MisQue was 2nd. She certainly is getting better and better as time goes on. After five races in Mini-Series #3 (races 13-15), we are 1st and MisQue is 2nd. There is one other factor which has helped us in 2007 - the wind has been above average for the whole season. Since we tend to do better in more wind that has been a definite help (as they say - Better to be lucky than smart!).

Marylyn Ritchie Competition - The Marylyn Ritchie Trophy is awarded to the boat with the best record in the Racing Division of the Sunset Series. The scoring for the Marylyn Ritchie Trophy was modified in 2002 so that class size is much less important than it was in the past. As a result, the competition is now fierce and includes boats from different-sized classes. We provide a table showing the Sunset points awarded to a boat in an individual race, depending on the number of class entrants in that race. CYC has a list of prior winners of the Marylyn Ritchie Trophy. Lizzie B was 2nd in 2002, 1st in 2003, 5th in both 2004 and 2005 and 1st again in 2006 and 2007.

The 2nd place boat in 2007 was Strange Crew, a Martin 242, with 154.493 points (compared with 156.199 for Lizzie B). It come down to the last race - when Strange Crew needed to do two places better than Lizzie B to take 1st place for the season. But, both boats got a 1st in race #18 so Lizzie B was 1st for the season and Strange Crew was 2nd. Trust Me, a Soverel 33, wound up 3rd with 187.447 points. The top six boats are members of CYC! Here are the final 2007 standings. Also, here are the results for the Racing Division for individual races.

In 2004 and 2003, the 2nd place boat in the Marylyn Ritchie race (and a close competitor for 1st) was Bandit, a Santana 20 (see a picture here). You can find out more about Bandit at Bruce Fleck's website . They are close competitors and friends so check out Bruce's webiste. Teaser has a website here but it doesn't appear to have been updated for a while. We don't know of any other boats with websites (if so let us know and we'll add a link).

2007 King of the Hill - Are finishing mid-fleet in the 2006 King of the Hill Regatta. We are looking forward to the King of the Hill race in 2007. After winning the Marylyn Ritchie Trophy, we are hoping to do well!!

Last updated: September 5, 2007