By Lynn Fitzpatrick

H.L. Enloe had two trimarans on the starting line on Friday. At 11:15 am LeiLoe, his Corsair 31 took off from Newport Beach, California along with six other trimarans and catamarans as part of the inaugural Border Run Regatta. At noon LoeReal, his Jeaneau 60 trimaran, started the Newport Ensenada Race from a starting line a bit further north, also off Newport Beach. Less than nine hours later, both crews had crossed their respective finish lines off San Diego and Ensenada.

LeiLoe won the XS A Racing Class and beat the entire 112-boat Border Run fleet on corrected time.

LoeReal took line honors and won the 272-boat Newport Ensenada Race on and beat the fastest monohull, Doug Barker’s 80-footer, Magnitude 80 by nearly two hours on elapsed time and by almost an hour on corrected time. LoeReal’s elapsed time over the course is second only to Stars & Stripes, the catamaran sailed in the 1987 America’s Cup, which won the Newport Ensenada Race in 1998 with an elapsed time of 6:46:40.

LoeReal’s and LieLoe’s skippers, Enloe and Pete Melvin, share a multihull relationship that goes back to the early 1990’s when Enloe purchased his 60-footer, the Mariner’s trimaran from the movie Waterworld. While Kevin Costner transformed the trawler trimaran into a sailing trimaran by flipping gadgets and switches in the movie, Enloe enlisted the assistance of Morrelli & Melvin to modify the trimaran, make it seaworthy and put her back into racing condition. Morrelli & Melvin was also part of the design team for the America’s Cup-winning Star & Stripes catamaran.

Enloe’s stable of trimarans was well-crewed on Friday and used the same strategy. They followed the rhumbline and stayed comfortable flying a hull in the 11-15 knot westerly and flat seas. "We jumped on the layline and stayed there. The wind was very steady from the right direction,” commented Enloe recapping his Newport Ensenada victory. Bobby Kleinschmidt, a Morrelli & Melvin naval architect and part of the Border Run crew concurred, “It was the easiest distance race that I have ever done. The conditions were just right for the boat.” For the fast trimarans, the races started as the wind filled off of Newport Beach and ended in time for dinner, showers and a good night’s sleep in the comfort of a bed.

Melvin’s crew on LeiLoe, included Kleinschmidt, Lynn Fitzpatrick and Melvin’s 14-year old son, James, who also sails Formula 18’s with his father. They averaged 11 knots over their 90-mile race while Enloe and his crew, which included Tim McKegney, Cam Lewis and North Sails’ John Gladstone averaged 14.8 knots over their 130 nautical mile cruise down the 125.5 mile course to Ensenada.

LoeReal’s Newport Ensenada times: 8:45:0- Elapsed;15:23:30-Corrected.
LieLoe’s Border Run times: 8:08:45-Elapsed; 9:20:45-Corrected.

Photo of Melvin and his crew on LeiLoe – (L to R) Pete Melvin, Lynn Fitzpatrick, James Melvin and Bobby Kleinschmidt. Nat Shaver, Morrelli & Melvin Design Engineer also pictured.