French Prevail in Formula 18 World Championship

Byline: Rick Roberts LONG BEACH — France’s Olivier Backes and crew Matthieu Vandame figured they needed to sail only two of the last three races to take first place in the Globaltech Formula 18 World Championship Sept. 15. Wrong. They needed only one, as a light southwest breeze gasped its last against warm desert Santa Ana winds — a local autumn phenomenon — blowing offshore from the opposite direction. It left the fleet of 118 Gold and Silver flight boats from 16 countries drifting helplessly during the event, hosted by Alamitos Bay Yacht Club. The regatta was caught in the middle. The single race was delayed 1.25 hours by racers’ early starts and course changes required with shifting light winds of 3 to 7 knots. Later, as the stragglers crept in from the mile-square trapezoid course, principal race officer Mark Townsend debated for an hour whether to continue. At one point, he even studied smoke from an oil refinery fire west of Long Beach for clues to what the wind might do. Then at 3:30 p.m., he called it a regatta — and Backes and Vandame’s coach, Alex Udin, jumped aboard their cat to provide the winners a champagne shower. “When I put up the...