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This website gives information about our boat, Lizzie B, and also about the Sunset Series run by California Yacht Club in Marina del Rey, California, which is where we compete these days. 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. A while back we came across one named Nemesis for sale on the East Coast and as you can see from the photos she is laid out pretty much the same as Lizzie B except that she has an outboard (we don't know her hull number). As of July 2009, there was a Mariah 27 for sale in the Chicago area. That boat was the original Insatiable from the Chesapeake (Fishing Bay YC) but she was bought and moved to the Midwest about 2007.

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

The Regulars
The Semi-Regulars	The Occasionals

PHRF Rating - We have had some issues with our PHRF rating over the last 10-12 years. A description is available here. Our current Area B buoy rating (used for the Sunset Series) is 129; that rating will stay in effect through October 2010.

New for 2009 - Other than our rating of 129, the only changes for 2009 are some new sails - a #1 genoa and mainsail. As always, these are North sails, 3DL for the genoa and dacron for the main.

2009 PHRF C Competition - Final PHRF C Standings Before the season started we expected the "hot" competition to be among Creeper, Avet and us. That prediction was partially correct - we and Creeper were in a tight competition for 1st in our class for about the first two-thirds of the season. Up to race #10, we were swapping the lead every race or so. However, in race #10 Creeper had some bad luck and lost their headsail on the windward leg. As a result, we won that race and that started a hot streak for us (better to be lucky than smart!) and we won four of the next six races as well. That allowed us to take over the lead and build a cushion too large for Creeper to overcome. So, we wound up winning PHRF C for 2009, while Creeper finished in 2nd place. Apparently, Creeper is actively for sale so we might not see them in 2010.

Traveler has began to realize some of their potential and wound up in 3rd place for 2009. They won two races outright and tied for 1st in another. Plus, they had lots of 2nd and 3rds. They definitely sailed better in 2009 and in the second half of the season were in contention for a top-3 finish virtually every race. They definitely have uwpind boatspeed and improved their ability to pick windshifts and sail better downwind angles, two areas where they had been weak. We expect them to be tough in 2010.

Avet was 4th in 2009. Her perfomance in 2009 was surprising since she definitely was the top boat (by a gigantic margin) for the first two-thirds of the 2008 season. Then she fell apart and didn't recover until the second half of the 2009 season, when she started doing better. Superstar was 5th in 2009 and was much improved from the prior year. They had Tim Tunks back on board calling tactics this year and that made a huge difference (no more banging the north corner almost every race!). But, as the winds got lighter they didn't do quite as well and so wound up 5th at the end of the season.

One of the bigger suprises of the last two years has been MisQue. They were 2nd in the class for the 2007 season. However, they haven't hasn't done as well since - they were 6th in 2008 and 2009. It might be crew issues. Teaser seems to be less interested in racing these days as she hasn't been a regular participant in Sunset for the last three years. But, she can be competitive if she tries. There are a number of other boats that either come out regularly but aren't in contention (such as Agua Cheetah) or only come out occasionally but could do well in any particular race (such as Hitchhiker). Interestingly, PHRF C class is the biggest class in the 2009 Sunset Series, averaging just under 14 boats per race.

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 (points table). As a result, the competition has become fierce in recent years and now includes boats from different-sized classes (top boats each year). CYC has a list of prior winners. Lizzie B was 2nd in 2002, 1st in 2003, 5th in both 2004 and 2005 and 1st again in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009.

For 2009, we wound up 1st overall - our fifth time winning the Marylyn Ritchie Trophy. Up until race #10, there was tight competition between us and Creeper, another PHRF C boat. However, Creeper had a run of poor finishes in races #10 - #16 while we had a run of good finishes and that decided the issue. So, Creeper wound up 2nd overall - their highest finish in the overall standings. Plankton (PHRF B) would up 3rd overall after serious competiton from Piranha (PHRF A) and Strange Crew (M242). You can check out the Marylyn Ritchie overall series standings as well as class series standings (A, B, C, M242 and D). We also have individual race results.

King of the Hill - In 2008, we finished 2nd for the second time (after rounding the windward mark first!). As in prior years, it was a lot of fun. We are one of only three boats to have qualified for this race each year it has been held (full results); the other two are Bandit (Santana 20 - picture) and Ho'omele (J/24).We are hoping to finally win this one some day but even if we don't, it is a fun race to end the sailing season and we are sure it will be lots of fun again this year!!

Last updated: Sept. 8, 2009