About two-thirds of the way to Hawaii in the 2008 Pacific Cup, Buzz Blackett told skipper Todd Hedin that ET was the perfect boat to race to Hawaii, except that the bunks were too small. They decided that designer Jim Antrim should design a bigger version of ET. When they got to the island, Jim told them he already had, and that they needed his new Class 40.

For anyone who hasn't been paying attention, ET is the famous Antrim 27 that Todd, his wife Liz Baylis, and Jim raced to Hawaii in three prior Pacific Cups, finishing at the top of their class and high overall in each one.

The new boat is California Condor, a custom Class 40 for Buzz, Todd and Liz. It's named after Buzz’s father's Redline 41, Condor, which was designed by C&C and built in 1968. Dad was very excited when he was told they wanted the same name for this boat.

If there is unemployment in the rest of the country, you can't tell it from

the Richmond and Berkeley marine industry. (Case in point: try counting the workers in the photo at the top of the page.) Between varied repair and reconstruction projects at Berkeley Marine Center, three brand new

Antrim designs are in various stages of construction. The new bright red canting keel Antrim 49 Rapid Transit is completing final details and preparing for a quick trip south to her new home in Southern California. Around a corner in the yard, behind the trailer where Rapid Transit's carbon mast was built, a new Antrim designed whale boat style rowboat is just starting construction for the Ladies of the Lake - the Oakland Women's Rowing Club - who row every Wednesday on Lake Merritt. Cree Partridge, owner of Berkeley Marine Center, is planning to use a row from San Francisco to SoCal for initial sea trials to make sure she is

safe for the tempests of Lake Merritt. Cree has Jim and Cheryl Antrim signed up as crew.

Last of the new construction, and found behind the curtains is California

Condor. The deck laminations are nearly complete, and if things stay on schedule Buzz is planning a small ‘Deck the Hulls’ party just before Christmas to thank the work crew. The crew will have to maintain their current furious pace, as Buzz, Todd, Liz, and Jim plan to race the new boat to Hawaii in Pacific Cup 2010.

Kame and Sally Richards of Pineapple Sails are doing the sails, with mast and boom by Hall Spars. BMC will build the bowsprit. Dave Wahle has already done the beaver tail bulb. Erich Chase has cut the molds for rudder and keel fin. Cree's shop is building the parts. The steel keel spar is from Wilmington Iron Works.

California Condor is a Class 40 not an Open 40. They are similar except for a number of cost-saving measures: no canting keels; no carbon except in the mast, boom, and sprit, E-Glass hulls, decks and interiors and only 1,695 pounds of water ballast per side. In fact Class 40s with fixed berth requirement, minimum port size, and rules to ensure a liveable interior are much more "homey" below than Open 60s. But the wide hulls, huge rigs, shorthanded deck layouts, and manly speedometers are very much like their Open class relatives.

California Condor is a near sister to Yippee Kai Yay, a Columbia Yachts-built Antrim Class 40 splashed in August for Barry and Sue Senescu of Dana Point.

With luck, by March California Condor will move into her new home in Pt Richmond.

- seymour dodds and norcalsailing.com