Commodore Mary Youngman welcomes Captain Dave Kettenhofen and the yacht “Kialoa III” at the Coronado Cays Yacht Club guest dock.
Coronadan Dave Kettenhofen and his Coronado crew of Jim Algert and Kevin Reilly, along with San Diegan Jim Keegan, recently delivered a famous yacht from Puerto Vallarta to Los Angeles for her Canadian owners.
Departing Puerto Vallarta early on April 13th, the crew battled strong headwinds for the majority of the trip up the Baja coast. The yacht and crew were then enthusiastically and warmly welcomed at the Coronado Cays Yacht Club on April 22nd by Commodore Mary Youngman, Vice Commodore RG Head, and Rear Commodore Chris Bondurant. At the request of Commodore Youngman, Kettenhofen and Reilly gave a brief presentation on the history of the yacht and their trip up the coast, which was well received by the Friday night membership crowd at the club. After the presentation the club members were invited aboard to tour the historic vessel.
The yacht, “Kialoa III,” is perhaps the most successful yacht on the world ocean racing circuit in the last 50 years.
Designed by Sparkman and Stephens and built in 1974 by Palmer Johnson Boatworks in Wisconsin, at 80 feet overall and over 90 tons, Kialoa III dominated the top levels of the world ocean racing circuit in the late 70s. Her many victories included the Trans Atlantic race to Cowes in 1975, the Transpac race to Hawaii in 1977, and the World Ocean Racing Trophy in 1979 with an impressive record of wins. One of her most famous victories was in the Syndey-Hobart yacht race in 1975, where she set a course record that stood for 21 years, longer than any other yacht in history.
In uncharacteristic special recognition of a yacht’s ocean racing achievements, Kialoa III was assigned the sail number “US 1” by US Sailing, the governing body for the sport in the United States. The yacht still proudly bears that number today.
After replacement by the more modern Kialoa IV (and then Kialoa V), Kialoa III was so loved by her original owner that he modified her for cruising and sailed the oceans of the world for 25 years, including two circumnavigations. Her most recent owners spent the last year cruising in Mexican waters before turning the yacht over to Kettenhofen and his crew for return to Los Angeles.
-Submitted by Kevin Reilly
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