Meet the Fleet

USITA Long Beach is actively racing three Mark I Tempests, USA-318, USA-323 and USA-335 at the Alamitos Bay Yacht Club (ABYC) in Long Beach, California. These two boats are rigged as identically as we can make them, to make the racing as fair possible. In addition, we are rebuilding two Mark I Tempests, USA-160 and USA-211 to make them as identical as possible to the two boats being actively raced. Work started some time ago on USA-160 and USA-211, and USA-211should be finished about the middle of next year.

These five boats will form the core of the Tempest racing fleet, which will be skippered by younger sailors who cannot afford to own and campaign a competitive, high-performance keelboat. The cost of maintaining these boats will be paid by donations to USITA Long Beach, which is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. All donations are tax-deductible.

The following table provides a summary of the above five boats. They represent Tempests constructed by three different boat builders: O’Day, Plastrend and Mader between 1967 and 1984.
Sail No. Name Year Built Builder Mold No. Builder's Serial No. Type of Spinnaker Launcher
USA 160Dr. J. 1967PlastrendM2P1T1115Bow
USA 211Breakthrough1970O'Day316836Bag
USA 318Showboat Gambler1975MaderM13199Bow
USA 323Class Act1975MaderM13149Bag
USA 329Long Term Affair1975MaderM13197Bow
USA 333Arabesque1976MaderM13212Bow
USA 335Showtime1984MaderM13281Bow
The following photos provide you with a quick look at the work we are doing on the two Tempests that are actively racing and the three that are being rebuilt.

BOATS ACTIVELY BEING RACED

USA-323, Class Act

A Mark I Mader, built in 1975, this boat was raced by Canadians Allan and Lorne Leibel in the 1976 Olympics, which were sailed in Kingston, Ontario. Brothers, the Leibels finished seventh in what would the last Olympic event for the Tempest class. The boat was purchased by Dominic Meo III in 1976, and he has owned it continuously since then. Class Act has a stainless steel keel and bag launchers for the spinnaker. When the boat was measured in prior to the start of the Olympics, each part of the boat was measured and checked to confirm compliance with the class rules. After thirty-five years, the measurement-certification sticker applied to the boom is still there. For photos of this boat, click on Boat Rebuilding and Maintenance Photos.

USA-318, Showboat Gambler

Another Mark I Mader, built in 1975, this boat was one of the two boats used by Dennis Conner and Con Findlay in preparing for the 1976 Olympic games in Kingston, Ontario. Dennis and Con finished third and won the bronze medal. Although the boat was not sailed in the Olympics, it has the distinction of being used by Dennis in preparing for the Olympics. Showboat Gambler also has a stainless steel keel, but uses a bow launcher to launch the spinnaker. For photos of this boat, click on Boat Rebuilding and Maintenance Photos.

USA-335, Showtime

This boat is a Mark I Mader and was constructed in 1984, shortly before Mader started producing Mark IIs. It has been refinished and looks very nice. As a typical, late-model Mark I, it has a spinnaker launcher that runs inside the boat from the bow to the starboard side tank. This boat is the newest addition to the fleet, and we now have five Tempests. Because ABYC will not provide a separate start for a class at club regattas unless five boats show up to race, the Tempest fleet now has enough boats to get their own start. The name of the boat was picked because now that we have five Tempests, it really is show time!

Once we start work on this boat, it should not take long to get it in the water. We are delaying starting work until we get some of the other boats, which we have already started on, further along. For photos of this boat, click on Boat Rebuilding and Maintenance Photos.

BOATS BEING REBUILT

USA-160, Dr. J.

This boat is a Plastrend that was built in 1967. Despite being the oldest Tempest in the fleet, the boat is in remarkably good shape, a testimony to the quality workmanship by Plastrend. Since its initial construction, the boat has been retrofitted with a spinnaker launcher that runs inside the boat from the bow to the starboard tank. In addition, the original steel keel blade has been replaced by a stainless-steel keel blade. A detailed description of this boat is provided on the USITA website.

The boat has been totally refinished and is in the process of being rigged. The overall rebuilding program for this boat is divided up into stages. The first stage, which involved refinishing, is now complete, and we are into stage two, which is the rigging. For photos of this boat, click on Boat Rebuilding and Maintenance Photos.

USA-211, Breakthrough

This boat was made by O’Day in 1970. The quality of the Tempests made by O’Day steadily improved from the time they started production, and this boat is well built. The boat does not have a spinnaker launcher and uses bags on either side of the mast to launch the spinnaker. Similarly to Dr. J., this boat is a total rebuild. For photos of this boat, click on Boat Rebuilding and Maintenance Photos.

More Boats are Coming

In addition to the above five boats, Bill Dimpfl would like to sail his Tempest with the Long Beach fleet at ABYC. Additionally, we will be driving to Austin, Texas in April of 2013 to pick up one more Mark I, USA-329 and bring it back to Long Beach. Finally, Reese Lane is rebuilding two Tempests, and we hope to see these boats racing in the Holiday Series at ABYC