SAILING : Conner Finishes First in Race to Ensenada

ENSENADA — Dennis Conner was first to finish the Newport Ocean Sailing Assn.’s Newport-to-Ensenada International Yacht Race as expected Saturday, but he was 3 1/4 hours behind his course record, set in 1991.

That was set in a 60-foot soft-sail catamaran, Stars & Stripes, the same boat he sailed in this year’s 125-mile race to finish in 12 hours 22 minutes 58 seconds. The record is 9:07:48.

The boat was Conner’s backup craft in his 1988 America’s Cup defense.

The Newport-to-Ensenada race enjoyed unusually consistent wind in its 46th running. By 9:30 a.m., when Conner was heading back toward home port San Diego, 30 boats were inside Ensenada’s small fishing harbor--the most to finish that early in recent years, according to race officials.

By 4 p.m. Saturday, 240 boats had finished from the 390 that started. Another 20 had dropped out.

Mike Campbell’s Andrews 70 Victoria of Long Beach Yacht Club was the first monohull and ULDB 70 class boat to finish, in 17:16:18, six minutes ahead of Ed McDowell’s Santa Cruz 70 Grand Illusion of King Harbor Yacht Club.

Victoria sailed a course close to shore and inside the Los Coronados islands after winning the noon start Friday. He flew heavy No. 1 headsails, except during four hours of spinnaker runs. Victoria’s top speed was 11 knots, attained one mile from the finish, in Todos Santos Bay.

“We were lucky to have our nose out in front and keep it there,” said Campbell, 48, who owns a Long Beach-based warehouse and trucking company. “There was wind all the way down. . . . We were always in sight of Grand Illusion.”

It was Campbell’s 16th Ensenada race and his first victory.

The 12-meter Intrepid, winner of the America’s Cup in 1967 and 1970, was first to finish in the Ancient Mariner class, with owner Joe Krawczyk, of Newport, R.I., at the helm. Intrepid’s time was 19:49:03.

Amazing Grace, a 1986 Far 55 sailed by Allen Puckett, 73, of California Yacht Club, was first to finish in Performance Handicap Racing Fleet, in 19:23:30.

Puckett, who has missed only four Ensenada races since 1953, was in the running for the President of USA Trophy for best corrected time in PHRF.