Follmer places fifth in class

Fountain Valley’s Mike Follmer was looking forward to competing in

his seventh consecutive Long Beach-2-Catalina & Back GranPrix last

weekend, but weather wreaked havoc on the event, which in turn, was

rescheduled for an October date.

Fog was the culprit, and, instead of motoring to Catalina and back, a

two-hour GranPrix race around the drilling islands in the Long Beach

Harbor, and out around the breakwater, was to be held. But the fog

completely shrouded the drilling islands, making them invisible (a three

mile visibility is required by the Coast Guard). That race, too, was

scrapped. So was an alternative five-mile course around Freeman Island,

inside the breakwater, due to a lack of fuel for each competitior’s boat,

but finally, at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, some six hours after the original

starting time to Catalina, a 40-minute race was held to accommodate the

fuel each competitor had in his boat.

“My Yamaha-XL1200 Limited, three-seat boat, although ready for the

long, open ocean race to Catalina and back, is not ideally suited for a

40-minute sprint race,� Follmer said. “I got off to a good start,

however, and after rounding the island, I was about mid-pack at the

conclusion of the first lap. The water was extremely rough along the

entire length of the course, and I began to pass boats in front of me

with regularity.�

When the checkered flag had dropped, Follmer placed 11th overall out of 54 boats, and was fifth in his class. The finish gives Fullmer enough

points to move into third place in the overall season championship

battle.