CAL25

The 2025 Cal 25 National Championship was hosted by BYC this year in the Detroit area. The event, that has been so special and respected by Cal 25 sailors, was well organized by Commodore Keith Ziegler and his wife Dana. The first National Championship was held in California in 1965. Over the years there have been many renown champions. The Regatta turned out to be a great success and a hard fought battle between competitors. Every boat brought accomplished racers all with the hope of adding there name to the trophy.

Day one was predicted to be winds of 20-30 knots with gusts up to 35 knots. At the skippers meeting, the PRO advised the teams to check signals on shore before they left the dock on Friday morning. The RC sent out a boat, but racing was wisely cancelled for the first day. It was a good decision because the Melges 24 fleet did the same thing.

Now it was coming down to be a two-day windy Regatta that would sort out a championship. The RC did a great job in these tough conditions. Plus, they managed to run eight good races.

Day two turned out windy just as predicted and all the Cal 25s had their 110 percent blades up still giving the boats plenty of power upwind. Art Melendres, a multiple time National Champion from California sailed with our own Brian Shenstone also a multiple time National Champion on his boat Draco.  They used their #2 very effectively. The #2 sails that we use in Detroit are 145 percent genoas with the leach also cut back. Art’s #2 sail is trimmed to the cabin top and they kept it up all the time when we were switching from jib to number one and back.

The Cal 25 one design class in Detroit is being reenergize by young sailors that already have shown to have great sailing skills. Best out of the box was the crew of Goat Yard Sailing skippered by Alex Hume with all notables on board. They handily won the first race and were on top of the leader board on Saturday night. Keith Ziegler on Thor was not to be topped and he showed his heavy air speed with two bullets on the first day. Suzanne Scoville on The Hotness (Scoville units for pepper heat) finished the Regatta in style by winning the last race on Sunday. Tough racing led to close scores on Saturday night at the end of a tough day!

On Sunday morning we were comfortable being in third place. I slept better that night and it made the previous night’s party with friends even more enjoyable. Now with the breeze still up, and if I were a betting man, I would have put a few chips on John McAllister sailing his boat, Patriot. He and his team have always been formidable in big air. So, on Sunday the boats were switching between number ones and jibs between races and during races.  The crew on Never Alone opened with a bullet. That was like rattling the sword.

Even though we were overpowered and the main needed to be eased generously and never cleated, Ron Sherry always found pressure and a decent angle to go with it. Ross found a way to drive the boat fast through the difficult conditions in all eight races and Ken Swetka, wow Ken, can trim and make a Cal 25 go fast all of the time. He never seems to get tired! When we came into a port gate, and the takedown was to weather, it was always great to see my hot box man Tom Dawson next to me on the foredeck to help get the kite down at the last minute.

Even when we were with other boats, patience was the key and we always seemed to get a little something special to get us out in front again. We scored a second bullet on the next race and that felt good, but the third bullet was the key that opened the door to winning the Regatta.  We could not catch “The Hotness” on the last race of the day. They were too spicy for us!  But finishing second and seeing the other leaders behind us, we all got that loving feeling that comes from racing sailboats together. Wow, what just happened? I flashed back to before the Regatta. I reviewed the crew lists of all the Cal 25s that competed. You could not have been unmoved by the depth of talent on each of the boats in this class. I am proud to race a Cal 25 in Detroit.

 

Click here to see racing results…

Another National Championship in the books!

US758 Never Alone
Paul Nuechterlein

Once again I had the distinct honor of representing Long Beach Yacht Club at the Cal 25 Nationals held in Detroit on September 5th thru 7th. In past years I was able to tow our boat “One More Time” to the venue locations but alas this year circumstances negated that possibility. Hence, we borrowed a boat from Brian Shenstone (seven time national champion) and “DRACO” was the boat he sailed to that record. Brian is a real friend and a true gentleman.

The regatta was sailed on Lake St Clair which to those familiar with it is a mere eight feet deep throughout its entirety. For this reason swells and chop are prevalent and the surrounding land creates constant puffs, lulls and changing wind direction. In other words, it’s difficult to sail there.

Detroit is the site of the most prevalent Cal 25 fleet in existence. It’s also home to an abundance of great sailors several of whom could be considered near professional. Thus the competition is pretty stiff, as it should be for a national championship.

The regatta’s first day was cancelled due to winds forecast in the mid twenty’s with gusts to 35 knots. It developed exactly as predicted and the race committee did the proper thing by cancelling.

The second day saw twelve boats on an extremely short starting line. Yelling and perhaps “some colorful language” could be easily heard. The wind was brisk at about eighteen to twenty two knots and the pressure was moving all over the place. The local guys had their way with us but we managed to do a respectable job by finishing in the upper half of contestants. All finishes were extremely close.

The third and final day saw us a lot more competitive as we led two races to the weather mark only to be passed by a few boats on the downwind legs. The real heartbreaker was being passed due to wind gusts in the last ten feet of a race for a second place finish. The ultimate winner was a repeat performance by Paul Neuchterlein, a great sailer and a better friend.

When the sun finally set on the regatta we ended up with a fifth place finish. Pretty good for a “family” boat but alas not good enough to earn some hardware. What we did earn, however, was the respect and admiration of our competitors for racing with one son and three grandsons. Let someone try and match that.

— Art Melendres

This year a Cal-25 team was picked to represent Detroit in the Helly Hanson/Sailing World Caribbean Challenge raced in the British Virgin Islands.

Team Never Alone accepted the challenge to race against the winners of the regattas from Marblehead, Annapolis, St Petersburg, Chicago, and Team Quantum from San Diego.

Our homes for the week and racing platforms were Moorings 42-foot cruising boats sailed out of Tortola BVI. Perfect conditions of sunny skies, 80 degrees, and 15-20 knots made the island to island racing a great event.

There was no Notice of Race, No Race Instructions, and only a description of the days challenge on WhatsApp 30 minutes prior to the race. Every boat rallied to make the last-minute instructions work. Since these are volcanic islands, the race committee was forced to anchor in shallow waters close to the rocky shores of the islands! Again, more challenge.

The logistics for these cruising boats were the first hurdles to overcome. The itinerary suggested we bring our own blocks, shackles, trim lines, extra winch handles, and a locally sourced whisker pole. We asked the taxi driver if he knew a lumber yard on the way to the Moorings. He said “Yah no problem Mon” and we had a 14-foot 2×4 tied to the top of his taxi when we arrived. Ken Swetka drilled holes and attached the appropriate spectra fittings to the pole ends to make it work!

My son Ross Captained the boat and drove for all the races. He dealt with a boatload of issues (constant boat maintenance and old people). Ross drove the boat fast. Cal 25 style. Ron Sherry brought needed telltales and did our tactics. Ron always called a few tacks that left the fleet behind us. Ken Swetka was the magician. He used all of the tackle to trim the jib outboard forward and aft even to go upwind. We were the best upwind boat with this outboard jib trim. Speed led to climb. Tom Dawson was on top of navigation to slip us around the islands even with waves crashing on the rocks next to us.

All the racing boats brought a chase boat with them to make life really more fun and comfortable. By a chase boat I mean a 45-foot catamaran with every convenience available. Our support team crew encouraged us at all times but came on strong at all the fun challenges. Oh yah, there were points for winning the parties. Example, a rum challenge where you bring your best rum cocktail creation for the judges to sample. Next the anything but clothes party where we wore only award flags. Also, catamaran racing with limited rules, and dinghy surf board racing. Our support team made life so much better and came to win all the parties. We did.

The Cal 25 team would have been lame without our racing and support team of Karly Nuechterlein, Tim and Michelle Sgrazutti, Joe Romer and Tonya, Shari Swetka and Lori Dawson. They kept us going!”

I can’t thank my crew and their wives enough. They made this a once in a lifetime event. I can’t get the smile off my face.

And even better yet, we left the British Virgin Islands with the title of Sailing World Caribbean Challenge Grand Champion. I love Cal 25 sailors!!

Short Video:  The final leg of the Helly Hansen Sailing World Caribbean 

Paul Nuechterlein
Cal-25 758 Never Alone

The North Channel Race: A Cal 25 Perspective

2025 North Channel Race aboard Whitefang.

An overly long tale so please pardon my enthusiasm.

The North Channel Race is a long running classic on Lake St. Clair. Something over 75 years running and still going strong. A race up the lake, around Harsens Island and back down the lake to finish at Bayview Yacht Club, hopefully in time to gather at the mahogany altar for all the usual race banter, congratulations, and this year, to crash a high school reunion party in the Mackinaw room. The guys left their female classmates without dance partners, so the sailor guys and girls gladly filled that role.

Originally meant for one design boats under 30 feet, the fleet has expanded to offer starts and awards to PHRFrated boats. There are still one design classes competing. This year there were two qualifying classes, Cal 25s and Nonsuch 30s. This story is from the Cal 25 perspective.

As the longest running and now growing again, consistently racing, one design class on Lake St. Clair; Cal 25 class boats have been sailing this race for over 60 years without ever missing one, even the one that blew most boats off the lake. The prize: the much coveted unique Morrill Dunn trophy, awarded to the one design yacht finishing first on corrected time over all other yachts in all the one design classes under 30 feet. It’s on the bottom shelf in Bayview Yacht Club’s trophy lined entrance hall. Look for the low lying trophy with two sailboats on green oxidized copper water with little pointed buoys near by. It needs an extended base to accommodate more award plaques. I’m sure the recent winner is motivated to make that.

This year was a spinnaker run with gybes from the start at the Little Club to NC2, the buoy marking the beginning of the North Channel entrance from Lake St.Clair. Then jib and spinnaker reaching up the North Channel, which included sailing alongside the docks on the north side of the channel, skimming along under the noses of spectators watching this circus from their docks as we seek the least amount of opposing current slowing our progress over the ground underneath us. Thank you to members and friends that showed up on shore to cheer the sailors on. Then make a sharp right turn around the Russel Island buoy a half mile or so upstream of the island, while managing at least 4 knots of current there that is trying to push you into that buoy. Then an upwind beat down the South Channel, which involved dozens of tacks across the full width of the channel and some short tacking between the Canadian shore and a downbound freighter. More short tacking down the South Channel between the rocks on the left and the shoals around Gull island, (think jobby nooner), just before entering Lake St. Clair. Now a long, port tack favored beat down the lake and at last a port tack fetch from Windmill Pointe to the finish line.

Keeping the details short and focused on our own class, Whitefang was third to NC2. Some North Channel current savviness, gleaned from decades of doing this race got us into second by the sharp left turn in the channel past the Harsens Island ferry docks. Thank you Harsens Island ferry for waiting to depart the dock on the mainland side as we sailed just under your bow, nicely out of the strong current just a couple boat widths further offshore.

At that turn, the leading Cal 25, The Hotness, owned and helmed by Suzanne Scoville, was by now within striking distance ahead of Whitefang. She chose to head towards the Harsens Island side of the channel, staying on the starboard gybe but not going dead downwind while bucking the current. We chose to stay on starboard gybe but sail dead downwind to hug the mainland shore rather than cross the current and then face the very strong current between the tip of Russel Island and the Russel Island buoy. To do that we stayed on the starboard gybe but had moments sailing by the lee, which was not fast, so we had to head up occasionally, which took us away from the shore and into the opposing current. Second by second, any slight wind shift that allowed Whitefang to bear away and get closer to shore, even a few boat widths, was taken advantage of. Releasing the vang to twist off the top batten kept the top of mainsail working when we were by the lee.

The Hotness and Whitefang came back together five boat lengths from the Russel Island rounding buoy. Hotness was entitled to room at the buoy, despite approaching it on port tack. In a flurry of activity, The Hotness had to raise the headsail for the coming beat, clear their spinnaker pole, gybe, take down the spinnaker, turn sharply right while trimming in sails for a beat, all the while fighting the fast southbound current trying to push both boats into the buoy. Whitefang, with one less task and slowing ever so slightly, managed to swing its bow clear of Hotness’s outboard motor and squeeze between them and the buoy, with about 24 inches or less on each side. By far the most dramatic rounding of that buoy in my decades of NC races.

Meanwhile, Chicken Hawk with a crack crew had reeled both of us in and it was now a three-boat tacking battle down the South Channel. Whitefang held on to our lead into the lake. With all the three leading Cal 25s now on the favored port tack, Chicken Hawk chose to try to break through to leeward of us. I have been burned twice before in this race by that boat and crew doing just that. I was NOT going to let it happen again. Meanwhile, The Hotness, artfully helmed by Suzanne was gaining lanes to windward and keeping closer to the now favorable current in and near the shipping channel. Oh, the stress!

We chose to keep the steam gage at 5.5 knots, overruling the tell tails at times, but seemingly maximizing Whitefang’s upwind vmg. Having enough breeze to keep all five guys on Whitefang’s weather rail proved a slight advantage in speed through the water. Keeping ultra-sensitive to whatever sail trim and side to side crew weight placement felt and performed best in the current moment was superbly performed by Whitefang’s crew.

After about eight covering tacks to protect our position as these three Cal 25s beat down Lake St. Clair, we successfully held on to our lead to prevail at the finish line. Beating down the lake, as the sun got low and more westward, the wind slowly headed us on the favored port tack, just enough to keep that intensely bright celestial spotlight right next to the forestay and right next to my focal point on the headsail tell tail window. Good old Sol fried my face, but it was so worth it because Whitefang also won the coveted prize, the Morrill Dunn trophy!

Thank you to my crew. Dan Dameren, flawless and quick on foredeck. Paul Mauer, constantly on top of mainsail trim. Rudy Wedenoja, headsail trim, spinnaker trim, chief information officer and trusted counselor, keeping my head from over thinking and focused on my helmsman job. Jeff Polkowski, new Bayview member and recent newbie to our beloved pastime. He had to learn the pit tasks on the job. He was also the winch engine on all our tacks the entire race. Tacking down the channel he had worked up a visible sweat. When I mentioned that, he replied, “I’m loving this”.

Lastly and perhaps my most rewarding aspect of this race, Jeff sailed his first North Channel race and his first one design race. Providing him with that experience and giving him a win to boot was priceless.

See you all on the North Channel race start line next year.
John Harper

Crescent Sail Yacht Club hosted the first annual Crescent One Design Regatta this summer and showed that small boat one design racing is strong in Detroit. Ten fleets represented both keel and centerboard boats. The PROs Champ Glover and Matt Bounds set the courses for great racing. The Cal 25s ended up with a great six race series and eleven well sailed Cals on the line. We were rewarded with great food, live entertainment, and bonfires on the beach. It was a great experience for all sailors and families that attended. With three bullets, Paul and Ross Nuechterlein won the Cal-25 event on Never Alone followed by John Harper on White Fang, Dana and Keith Ziegler on Thor, John McAllister on Patriot,  and Curt Rozelle on Pepper.

Paul Nuechterlein
US758 Never Alone

Click here to see racing results…

Friends of Charlie Husar,

Very very sad news ~ Charlie died peacefully at 2:08PM today (March 30, 2024). “Sunshine of Your Love” was playing on the TV music channel.

Jim Pembroke, a long time and dear friend was with him at the hospice care facility when he passed. Please pass on the news to all of those who knew Charlie. I was so hoping he could have gotten his trophy in person. He so loved the CAL25 fleet and all of you.

— Harken7777@aol.com  (Annapolis Fleet)

Guys,

Sorry to inform you but Charlie Husar passed away today; peacefully while sleeping. As you know he has been afflicted with serious cancer for quite some time.

I was seriously hoping that they would be able to get the trophy change to him while still living but it’s my understanding that they were not. I hope I’m wrong. Too bad.

He was a good man and absolutely loved Cal 25 racing. I vividly remember our first meeting; Brian, Charlie and I met years ago in Las Vegas. At that time the three fleets (Detroit, Annapolis and Long Beach) were doing their own thing in a lot of areas. We met for two days in a Las Vegas hotel room and “homogenized” the rules. We are still guided by those rules today.
I’m going to miss him. I can guarantee you that a few Scotches will be consumed tomorrow in his memory.

Please say a prayer for him tomorrow during Easter services and keep him in your thoughts.

–Art Melendres (Long Beach Fleet)

 

Friends,

We are sad to hear of Charlie’s passing. We were fortunate to get to know Charlie on three trips to Annapolis to sail the Cal-25 National Championships. His legendary dark and stormies on the Burnside dock and sharing stories was a highlight of the regatta. He was a happy soul and always willing to help with whatever anyone needed. Thankfully we were able to celebrate his induction into the Cal-25 Hall of Fame at the last Annapolis Nationals. Charlie was very touched by this award, and it was a moving experience for all who were present.

It is unfortunate we did not get the Cal-25 National Trophy to him before his passing as it was unanimously agreed upon to dedicate this trophy in his name. Charlie’s memory will live on with the passing of this Trophy and in the hearts of all who knew him.

Click here to see Charlies generous university gift …

Please feel free to leave a comment or a Charlie story on this site for all to enjoy and commemorate Charlie…

–John McAllister  (Detroit Fleet)

Rebuild of Hull #1 – This is the restoration of the very first Cal-25 hull built !!!

Well it finally appears that we have finally completed the project of rebuilding Cal 25 Hull # 1.

This endeavor started in the summer of 2017 when my son Scott and crewman Pat Graham found hull #1 languishing in a home dock on Naples Island in Long Beach, CA. Once they verified its authenticity as the “first Cal 25 off the assembly line” it was purchased for the grand sum of $600.00. The original plan was to trailer our current boat “One Time” (hull #50) to the Detroit Nationals, sell it there for $6000.00 and utilize the proceeds towards restoring #1. Thus far I have spent slightly north of $23,000.00 on the restore and are still counting, albeit at a slightly slower pace. My business acumen knows no bounds.

I have no intention of misleading you. As I write this somewhat lengthy description I often use the pronoun “we.” I did this because it was convenient to do so. In actuality the entire endeavor was the result of a division of responsibilities. My son did “ALL” of the work and I wrote “ALL” of the checks.

On to the restoration: Upon first inspecting #1 it did not appear to be in too bad of condition. In fact nothing could have been further from the truth. As the old saying goes, “you can’t bid what you can’t see.” Well, in this case we didn’t “see” a whole lot. The bottom was in such a state that it was surprising that it hadn’t already sunk. Blisters were everywhere. Termites infested virtually every piece of wood above the water line. Dry rot and water logged wood were prevalent.

Phase One:
The first order of business was to put a bottom on it to prevent sinking.  Thereafter virtually all of the decking had to be torn out, repaired and/or replaced.  The transom had to be totally rebuilt. Ditto with the mast step.  None of the hardware was salvageable. Winches, cleats, chain plates, standing rigging and anything else that is affixed to the boat needed to be replaced. Previous owners drilled holes everywhere and each one had to be filled. New windows of course. There was a huge hatch hole on the front deck that had to be filled. I guess a previous owner had installed an air vent for ventilation or something. At any rate it had to go and it did, although filling the hole so that it was structurally sound was no easy project. The mast was salvageable but just barely. It had to be refurbished and and then painted. Not so lucky with the boom. It was tossed in the trash heap and replaced with a new one.

Most of this work was done while the boat was in the water which, as it turns out, caused some of our neighbors (unknown snitches) to complain to marina management that the boat was an eyesore and detrimental to the neighborhood. We were prime candidates to be piled on. Fortunately, the marina people worked with us and cut us some slack. In the end we didn’t disappoint them.

As sidelight while all of this was going on we actually took the boat out for a race. While heading for the starting line we were still drilling holes for equipment so that we could sail the darn thing. We didn’t win but it made for an interesting topic at the bar afterward.

Phase 2:
Once all of the above was completed the boat was in pretty good sailing condition. The deck was laid out exactly the way we wanted it and all of the equipment was in good condition. The problem was that it looked like hell. It’s not within me to own an ugly boat so this condition needed to be rectified. The whole exterior above the rub rail was painted with several coats of the best marine paint we could find. The interior wood of which much was rotted was repaired or replaced. It was then varnished or painted as appropriate. New cushions were purchased and new rugs installed.

Phase 3:
Back to the boatyard so we could give her the “racing bottom” she deserved. This meant that we could fare the bottom, eliminate the blisters, long board the heck out of it, put on a primer/sealer coat and then spray paint it to our hearts content. We then smoothed the whole thing out. Smoother then the proverbial “baby’s bottom.” While there we painted the hull. We also attached lifting points on the keel to facilitate lifting it out of the water. Things were looking more then just pretty good.

In conclusion there’s still a few minor things that need to be done to the interior. They’re all cosmetic in nature but as we all know you’re never really done tinkering with a boat. Are you?

Some of you, like my son and I, are in love with Cal 25s and don’t think there’s anything on the water that is better.  We’re proud to be the owners of the first one ever made and even more proud that it is in “mint condition.”

Many names were considered but we settled on “One More Time” because it fit.  Our plan is to trailer it to the Annapolis Nationals in September 2021. If you’re there and you want to take a look then feel free to do so. If you’re ever in Long Beach, CA and want to do likewise then give me a call and I’ll be glad to show you. We might even just take it for a tour of the harbor.

— Art Melendres

Related posts

• Restoration of hull #1 – Art & Scott Melendres (Part 2 of 3)
• The Very First Cal 25 (Part 1 of 3)

Congratulations to US1029 Holmebrew and crew for capturing the coveted Detroit Cal-25 Season Championship by winning both the Cal-25 Short Course (WL) and Long Course (PP) championships.

US1029 holmebrew

Owner David Holme
Club Bayview Yacht Club

Click here to see more …
 
 
 

The first Wet Wednesday series is in the books (May-20 – Jun-24, 2015). Congratulations to One Time. They came out with their hair on fire with three bullets in the first three races. Tiburon tried to fight back with 2 bullets of their own in the ensuing two races. So it was really a match race between One Time and Tiburon last night. Tiburon had a chance if they could get themselves a victory and beat One Time on the tie breaker. It didn’t happen. One Time took care of business with a bullet to close out the series with an impressive victory. We missed Iguana last night, they were unable to make it out. Story I heard was that Dennis was boozing all day and forgot where he left the boat? I’ve got to give a shout-out to Go Big Daddy. They sailed great last night and almost rounded the weather mark in first place. One Time squeezed by them in first, Go Big Daddy in second followed by Tiburon in third. With the wind holding steady it was a routine finish with no drama in the channel. Click here to see more …

OK we have about seven weeks to go before Nationals (August 15th and 16th). That should give everyone plenty of time to get their boats and crews squared away. If you’re going to make one regatta this year, please make it the Nationals! Talk it up, get as many people fired-up as possible. There are boats that are available should someone want to put a crew together and enter. I guarantee it will be fun!

Long Beach Fleet Captain

— Felix Basadre