[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ theme_builder_area=”post_content” _builder_version=”4.24.3″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.24.3″ _module_preset=”default” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_column _builder_version=”4.24.3″ _module_preset=”default” type=”4_4″ theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.24.3″ _module_preset=”default” theme_builder_area=”post_content” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n
Morgan Parrill remembers \u201cvisible twisters, like tornadoes on the water\u201d during the Salton Sea\u2019s only sailboat regatta, held April 18\u201319, 1964.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was blowing 40 to 50 knots, and a lot of \u200aboats were capsizing,\u201d Parrill recalls of the first day. At 10 years old, he had two years of sailing experience alongside his Navy-veteran dad. But the 350-square-mile sea east of the Coachella Valley presented an unprecedented test for 14-foot sailboats designed for tranquil bay sailing. \u201cWe were going as fast as I had ever gone. My dad looked up and said, \u2018Uh oh.\u2019 When I looked up, the mast bent in half, and our sails landed in the water. We had to get towed in and spent a good portion of the night straightening the mast to race the next day.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite the setback, Morgan and his father, Langdon, finished in third place. Langdon\u2019s good friend Chad Twitchell won but capsized his Lido 14 only a few seconds after the race ended.<\/p>\n
According to a 1964 article in The Desert Sun<\/em>, Boyd Thomas of Desert Shores had been sailing his 32-foot Islander sloop on the sea and \u201cspreading the word that the Salton Sea has everything a mariner looks for except mermaids.\u201d William Schock \u2014 whose eponymous Newport Beach company introduced the Lido in 1958 and was its exclusive manufacturer \u2014 officiated the regatta. Desert Shores Yacht Club awarded trophies.<\/p>\n \u201cLido 14 in those days was a very strong fleet,\u201d Parrill says. \u201cWe raced at Alamitos Bay, Newport Harbor, Mission Bay, and Lake Arrowhead. There was a tightknit group of 20 to 30 competitive sailors that traveled around together.\u201d He recalls between 20 to 24 boats in the regatta at the Salton Sea, which he attests caught even the \u201cadventuresome\u201d bay sailors by surprise. \u201cIt was a massive amount of water and quite an environment to race [14-foot\u200a boats].\u201d<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.24.3″ _module_preset=”default” theme_builder_area=”post_content” column_structure=”1_2,1_2″ hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″][et_pb_column _builder_version=”4.24.3″ _module_preset=”default” type=”1_2″ theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/palmspringslife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/22105221\/SaltonSeaBoats2.jpg” _builder_version=”4.24.3″ _module_preset=”default” theme_builder_area=”post_content” align=”center” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.24.3″ _module_preset=”default” theme_builder_area=”post_content” module_class=”psl_captions” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″]Back row, from left: William Schock, Langdon Parrill, Chad Twitchell, Harris Hartman, and Rowland Lohman (president of the Lido 14 Class Association). Front row, from left: Morgan Parrill, Gary Cline, and another young boating enthusiast.[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column _builder_version=”4.24.3″ _module_preset=”default” type=”1_2″ theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/palmspringslife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/22105230\/SaltonSeaBoats3.jpg” _builder_version=”4.24.3″ _module_preset=”default” theme_builder_area=”post_content” align=”center” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.24.3″ _module_preset=”default” theme_builder_area=”post_content” module_class=”psl_captions” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″]A boat battles windy conditions on the Salton Sea.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.24.3″ _module_preset=”default” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_column _builder_version=”4.24.3″ _module_preset=”default” type=”4_4″ theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.24.3″ _module_preset=”default” theme_builder_area=”post_content” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n San Bernardino Sun<\/em> reported regatta results on April 30: \u201cWords like \u2018challenging,\u2019 \u2018sporting,\u2019 and \u2018just great\u2019 summed up the first annual invitational sailing regatta on Salton Sea. Of course, these words came from the rag-bag sailors who trailered their craft from every major port and marina in the Southland to participate in this desert type sailing,\u201d columnist Almon Lockabey wrote. \u201cEven our old friend and fellow Balboa Yacht Club member Chad Twitchell liked the action despite the fact that he and crewman, 13-year-old Gary Cline of Desert Shores, capsized \u2018Little Twitch\u2019 a few seconds after finishing the race. Chad found those desert winds can be as tricky as a santana [sic] in Newport Bay.\u201d<\/p>\n Lockabey concluded, \u201cThey\u2019re really taking this sailing thing serious on Salton Sea as evidenced by the graduation of the first sailing class sponsored by the Desert Shores YC.\u201d<\/p>\n Alas, what was billed as a \u201cfirst annual\u201d event ended after its introduction \u2014 one of \u200athe reasons it is particularly special.<\/p>\n Thomas Schock, son of the Lido 14 boat builder, vaguely remembers the regatta. \u201cI don\u2019t think they ever held a second regatta, primarily because the Salton Sea was very shallow,\u201d he says, \u201cand it was extremely windy that weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n As for the Parrills, they capitalized on their Salton Sea\u2013honed skills to come in fifth a few months later in their boat, \u201cSeventh Heaven,\u201d at the Lido 14 national ocean regatta launched from King Harbor at Redondo Beach.<\/p>\n But the story Morgan has gone on to tell numerous times over the years has been about the time the mast bent in half at the Salton Sea.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Morgan Parrill remembers \u201cvisible twisters, like tornadoes on the water\u201d during the Salton Sea\u2019s only sailboat regatta, held April 18\u201319, 1964. \u201cIt was blowing 40 to 50 knots, and a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":68,"featured_media":746977,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":true,"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[549,522],"tags":[14022,3640],"advertiser":[],"poi_city":[],"class_list":["post-746976","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history","category-sports","tag-sailboats","tag-salton-sea"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n