Welcome to the Website.

Here is information about Lizzie B and the 2008 Sunset Series run by California Yacht Club in Marina del Rey, California (webpages from prior years: 2007; 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 2007 we are hoping to be in contention again this year although with a new tougher class (and -9 sec/mi lower rating) that is going to be pretty hard. 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. In 2007, we 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. She apparently sold in late 2007 or early 2008.

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.

In 2007, 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

Rating Change from 2007 to 2008 - Back in 2005, we thought our rating of 123 was wrong so we appealed it to USPHRF. In October 2005, USPHRF ruled that 123 was "too harsh" of a rating for our boat and changed it to 132 (see 2005 appeal; we also provide answers to some persistent questions regarding the 2005 appeal). Just before the beginning of the 2008 Sunset Series, the local Area B Handicap Review Board hit our rating -9 sec/mi, changing it from 132 back to 123. We immediately appealed that decision to the SoCal PHRF Regional Handicap Review Board, which denied our appeal. The 2008 change to 123 took effect as of Race #2. We then appealed our assigned rating of 123 to USPHRF but there was some delay in scheduling a hearing. As of the end of the 2008 season, no hearing had yet been held.

New Rating for 2009 & 2010 - Our appeal of the 2008 change from 132 to 123 was finally heard by a Hearing Panel of the US Sailing PHRF National Appeals Committee on Sept. 22, 2008. Nine days later it issued a written decision assigning our boat a rating of 129. More detail of our 2008 appeal (including the written decision of the USPHRF Hearing Panel) is available. The new rating of 129 will be in effect at least until October 2010.

PHRF C Competition -

For 2008, the PHRF class splits are very different from 2006 and 2007. The number of PHRF classes has been reduced from five to four so this year we are in PHRF C instead of PHRF D. Last year's PHRF D class went from 120 to 135. This year's PHRF C class goes from 93 to 135, putting us in with some much bigger and faster boats. Plus, we expect to be racing at least part of the season with a penalty rating of 123. That won't make things any easier!

The #1 boat from PHRF C in 2007 is not racing in 2008 (Trust Me, Soverel 33). However, the 2nd-place boat Creeper, semi-custom Santana 30/30GP-Mod, is out again and is tough competition. After 11 races she is in 3rd behind us. Even tougher competition is Avet, J/80. Her owner is the Chair of the local Area B Board and helped to hit our rating by -9 sec/mi. For the first time, he has gotten serious about sailing in the Sunset Series. One reason is probably to take advantage of our "penalty" rating while he can (since the oppurtunity to do that may disappear by the beginning of August). After 11 races he is in 1st for PHRF C and the overall trophy (although he would be trailing us slightly had our rating not been changed). The 4th-place boat is Superstar. They have always been sailed fairly decently and this year is no exception. But, with two young children David Epstein isn't quite as serious as he used to be. He is far enough behind 3rd that he is unlikely to move up, especially since the second half of the season is usually lighter - conditions in which Superstar doesn't usually do very well.

The #2 boat from PHRF D in 2007, and clearly the "most improved boat in class" last year, was MisQue, SR 25 by C&C. She started slow but ended with two 1sts and a 2nd. After 11 races in 2008 she is in 5th but both Traveler and Teaser are right behind. Traveler is an Express 34 and has the potential to do well. However, her owner hasn't yet got a lot of experience racing this boat. Teaser is a Santana 30/30 which hasn't done much in the last couple of years but used to be really hot. Recently, she started taking things seriously and is starting to do really well. Her overall results will be influenced by the fact that she wasn't very serious in the first third to half of the season but she should do well in Mini-Series #2 and #3. There is a huge gap between Teaser and the rest of the boats - so big that it is probably unlikely that any of those boats will wind up 7th or better at the end of the season.

One sad thing to see is that Athena, J/80, isn't out this year. Her owner, Larry Travis, has been having some neck problems and racing is simply too painful for him. He and his crew are missed!

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 once was. As a result, the competition has become fierce in recent years and now 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 starters 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, 2007 and 2008.

Here are the final 2008 standings for the Marylyn Ritchie. Also available are class standings for PHRF A, PHRF B, PHRF C, PHRF D and Martin 242. Also, here are the results for the Racing Division for individual races.

It is interesting to note that for most of the season the owners of two of the top four or five boats overall in the Racing Divisi were Curt Johnson with Avet and Mike George with All In. Both were members (and Chairman and immediate past Chairman, respectively) of the local Area B PHRF Board that hit our rating. We guess that is a consequence of sailing so well and winning in 2007! Despite their efforts, we ended up doing well in 2008.

2008 King of the Hill - After finishing 6th in 2007, we were definitely looking forward to this race in 2008. As in prior years, it was a lot of fun. This year was fairly windy - probably 13-15 knots just after the start, which helped us. We rounded the windward mark first, having passed all of the boats that started ahead of us, and we wound up 2nd! This was our second time to finish 2nd. We are hoping to finally win this one someday but even if we don't, it is a fun race to end the sailing season!!

Last updated: October 20, 2008