In a race for all ages, Commodores Club presents its 88th annual Flight of Newport
Eighty-three sailboats lined up as close as they could get to the starting line in Newport Harbor Sunday afternoon for the race spectacle known as the Flight of Newport. Soon after, the roughly 90-minute race got underway.
“The Flight of Newport is a great annual community event intertwined with Newport Beach’s rich history and an excellent opportunity to experience race excitement of a regatta where it’s for all experience levels,” said race chairman Lawrence Jones. “It carries with it many fond memories for those that have participated in past regattas.”
The Commodores Club of the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce presents the race, with the help of the Balboa Yacht Club and several sponsors. Longtime residents may remember that the event, which was introduced in 1936, was first known as the Flight of the Snowbirds and went through several name changes until 2020, when it was renamed Flight of Newport and welcomed ILCA (formerly known as Lasers), Harbor 20 and Terra RS boats.
“We are pleased to continue the tradition for sailors of all ages, ranging from young aspiring skippers to legends of the bay,” said Jones, who has a background in youth programs and a passion for helping young people excel. “What I like to see is that there are representatives in all age groups in this race, and everyone who participated wins during this special event on the water.”
Among the participants Sunday were two first-time registrants who are both sailing instructors that teach at different facilities next door to one another.
Brad Gilreath began teaching sailing in 2022 on small boats at Orange Coast College School of Sailing & Seamanship. “I came into sailing late in life,” said the 50-year-old Gilreath, who hails from Atlanta but moved to Costa Mesa in 2016.
“I started during the pandemic in 2020, which led to an opportunity to be on the America’s Cup team of America Magic, a sailing team representing the New York Yacht Club in the 37th America’s Cup,” he said.
“All of the good stuff I learned at OCC I was able to apply to the America’s Cup experience, which helped me be a better teacher at OCC,” Gilreath said.
Before the race, Gilreath said he was looking forward to participating as a small boat instructor. “And with the breadth of the age groups in sailboat racing, it’s still going to be fun even if you finish last.”
Shaybree Lynette, 19, is a full-time instructor at Newport Beach Sea Base, where she teaches sailing and coaching to students between the ages of 5 and 17. “There’s a lot of different boats at Sea Base and you teach in all of them,” Lynette said. “With the younger kids I teach on the dinghy sailing boats, like Tera, with a smaller sail.
She said she began her sailing career about nine years ago when she was Sea Base student and became an instructor five years later. Since she was home schooled, she explained, she was able to finish her training and had enough time available to work several hours a week teaching.
“This is my first time racing with the Harbor 20 boat,” said Lynette. “My crew are all my friends and fellow sailors that I met at Sea Base over eight years ago and we are still friends.”
Winning Entries:
The first place winners in each category Sunday were Lin Zhou, Tera Fleet; Erik Hauser, ILCA-Laser; Alex Curtiss (helm) and Campbell Moore (crew), Harbor 20.
All the latest on Orange County from Orange County.
Get our free TimesOC newsletter.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Daily Pilot.
