Lions’ last man sails in Beer Can

NEWPORT BEACH — Hold up, hold up. Don’t sail away. Someone is missing.

Ramzee Robinson needed to know the whereabouts of his Irrelevant Week date, his uncle, Majin Childress.

“Where is he?” Robinson asked everyone onboard the Amante, a 48-foot Choate departing from Balboa Yacht Club Thursday evening.

“Over there!” yelled a member of the nine-man crew.

OK. The big man from Huntsville, Ala., stood proud on a power boat nearby.

As for Mr. Irrelevant XXXII, the last player selected in the 2007 NFL Draft, he was placed on the 25-year-old sailboat owned by the Richley family. He later got to steer the Amante as honorary skipper.

How fast can this puppy go during the Beer Can Regatta?

Fifteen to 21 knots is considered fast for the Amante. The former University of Alabama defensive back looked alarmed. Someone asked if he was scared because Robinson tightened up.

Remember this is the same 23-year-old who admits he can’t swim.

“I played in front of 100,000 fans, man,” he answered. “I am never scared.”

Worry? Well, the Detroit Lions, who own one of the worst records in the NFL over the last six years, drafted him.

But before the race, featuring a dozen boats, started, the skipper asked everyone to shut up. It’s typical protocol before the race to be quiet, so Robinson followed that up by hushing everyone still yakking, gaining himself respect amongst his crew members.

Buddy Richley, owner of the Amante with his two brothers, Steve and Tim, steered the heavy boat to the starting line.

There isn’t really such a thing, but if this were a 100-meter sprint, the Amante took off way after the sound of the horn.

Catching up to the other boats looked questionable. Robinson still asked, not knowing the boat’s competition.

“A bunch of newer, faster boats out there,” Steve said. “We still have a lot left.”

Not in the gas, because the Amante was sailing. When kayakers sped past the Amante, things looked bleak for Robinson and the crew.

Robinson never let up during the one-hour ride. He turned the winch handles, which direct the sails, as hard as his arms allowed, using one arm every time. Others used two.

The effort knocked back Larry McCook, a former University of Alabama football player attending the regatta just to meet Robinson.

McCook, a 1963 graduate who played for legendary coach Paul “Bear” Bryant, forgave Robinson with a “Roll Tide!”

Robinson is trying to make it in the NFL, but it seemed like he wanted to make a mark in the water.

Does Robinson have a future in sailing? To his uncle, a landscaper, Robinson resembled “a short skipper.”

The 5-foot-9, 196-pounder resorted to trash talking shortly after the race. The crew dug it when Robinson hollered, “I hope you all ate your Wheaties” to the boats ahead.

When the competition’s lead grew, so did Robinson’s voice.

“It’s not how you start,” he shouted. “It’s how you finish.”

The Amante finished dead last in the 4 1/2 -mile race, despite having a 5-minute advantage for being such an old boat.

The crew gave up after the halfway mark, when Buddy turned the boat back toward the dock.

Buddy even turned over the wheel to Robinson.

A little overwhelmed at first, as he has been since arriving at John Wayne Airport on Sunday. But Robinson took a liking to being the skipper after telling his crew to inform the other boats coming his direction to move out of the way.

“Where’s my blinker at?” Robinson asked. “Do I got a blinker?”

Steve said in Thursday’s race, blinkers were useless.

“In these kind of races, its like seven, eight knots,” he said. “When you’re sailing to Cabo [San Lucas], it is totally different and irrelevant for this race.”

Robinson made the race even more irrelevant when he left the wheel.

When everyone went into the cabin to munch on snacks and drink beer, Mr. Irrelevant followed.

Everyone freaked out and someone said, “Hold on, hold on. What’s the skipper doing?”

DAVID CARRILLO PEÑALOZA may be reached at (714) 966-4612 or at [email protected].