TIM CARTER’S VIPER 640 SCORES 2ND AT LBRW 2010
6/28/2010

Last weekend at Ullman Sails Long Beach Race Week, the Viper 640 class had a strong showing with 8 entries from three different states for the three-day event.  Robert Miller and his team from El Paso, TX, took first place in the regatta with Tim Carter from Alamitos Bay YC close in second place.  Tim competed with a new set of Ullman Sails as he helps with the ongoing Viper 640 development program at Ullman Sails.

Keith Magnussen of U/S Newport Beach was onboard Tim’s Viper and gives a full report on the fleet, the weekend’s conditions, and a few tips on how to avoid getting your keel stuck in the mud:

“I was lucky enough to race on a Viper 640 with Tim Carter, who is the West Cost Rep, and his friend Bryan Milne from Canada. Ullman Sails is working hard to get into the class and we were testing out a brand new set of sails. The Viper is such a fun boat, and the group of people campaigning them make the class even more desirable. Just remember that you do not take out all the keel bolts when raising the keel or you will spend your time after the regatta figuring out how to raise it out of the mud. If you need some advice on this, please ask the owners of the newest Viper as they have now had some experience with this.

The regatta was sailed in extremely tough conditions and the usual Long Beach theory of going right did not pay off on Friday. We had good starts, played the shifts well and had fantastic boat speed. Even though we had never sailed together we clicked right away and grabbed two bullets on day 1. The second and third day proved much tougher and all the boats were improving with every race. We managed to still have a lead on Saturday but the spread from first to fourth was only 3 points, super tight racing. Sunday was a different story for us. We missed some shifts and could not change gears as well as the other boats. It came down to the final race as we were tied on points with Robert Miller from El Paso, the only boat with a gun rack on it. They managed to get a better start and sailed in clear air to left side of the course and were first around the weather mark. Unfortunately for us we could not fight back and they deservedly won the race and consequently the regatta.”

Follow the Ullman Viper 640 Development Program at www.ullmansailsnewportbeach.com
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