The Gibbs's 49er passed everyone to win ABYC's Boxing Day Race goingaway

Boxing Day Race

AlamitosBay Yacht Club Long Beach, Calif. Dec. 27, 2014

Dec. 27, 2014
Saturday's weather: Wind 6-8k WNW; high temp. 62F.
Gibbs brothers start last, finish first
Long Beach, Calif.
The hometown Gibbs brothers---Riley, 18, and Sawyer, 16---started last in their 49er skiff but passed all of the other boats of various types to finish first in Alamitos Bay Yacht Club's annual Boxing Day race in brilliant sun but cool light air Saturday.
The pursuit race, in which the slowest-rated boats start first followed at several intervals working up through faster boats, was on the inner bay fronting the club, twice around for about two miles.
There were 59 boats and many different classes, six of which finished in the top 10 and nine of which didn't bother to finish at all. The Gibbs's only error was starting a minute early ahead of their assigned time.
"We did?" Riley said when informed of the mistake afterward. "I didn't know we were early."
No matter. Event chairperson and principal race officer Mark Townsend said, "Nobody said anything and I didn't blow a horn."
And it hardly affected the outcome. The Gibbs started alone and obviously had the fastest boat, even in the wispy southwesterly that built from 5 to 8 knots as the chase proceeded. Their boat handling through many spinnaker sets and gibeswas flawless.
Their last challenger was ABYC veteran Chris Raab, a two-time winner of this event and several national and internationalcompetitions in various classes. This time he sailed a Lido 14 and started 25 minutes ahead of the Gibbs and had passed everyone else on the second lap when they closed in at the windward mark in the channel off the bay.
"I'm winning!" Raab shouted hilariously as he approached the buoy, "I'm winning!"---knowing it was only seconds before the Gibbs followed him around and breezed by, 20 minutes from their finish five minutes ahead.
Riley Gibbs had sailed other boats in several Boxing Day races but said, "I've never been first. It seems we had the right boat this time."
Sawyer said it was his first race on a 49er, although he had won events in Lido 14 and Cal 20 junior classes this year.
Riley has higher ambitions: an Olympic campaign as crew for Zack Downing that will carry them throiugh a series of qualifying events leading to 2016 at Rio de Janeiro.
One thing he knows: it won't be as easy as Sunday.
Top finishers
1. Riley Gibbs/Sawyer Gibbs, ABYC (49er),
2. Chris Raab, ABYC (Lido 14).
3. David Klatt, Ventura YC (Wiley Wabbit).
4. Stu Robertson/Spanky McGee, Mission Bay YC (Lido 14).
5. Eric Conn/Stacy Conn, ABYC (Mercury).
6. Brad Bergeron, Seal Beach YC (Mercury 18).
7. Thomas Priest/David West, HLBC/TPYC (Mercury).
8. Keith Ives/Chuck Stevens, ABYC/LBYC (Cal 20).
9. Jennifer Kuritz/Steve Kuritz/John Ellis, ABYC (Cal 20)/
10. Axel Stordahl, ABYC (Naples Sabot).
Complete results, photo gallery and more
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Chris Raab (l.) in his Lido 14 fights off the Gibbs before they inevitably passed in their 49er

The Gibbs' 49er breezes
through a pair of rivals

The last boat they passed was
the race committee barge

Sabots started first and
led for a little while

Lido 14s jammed at the start
High-resolution photos