More Than 70 Boats Competed in the 87th Annual Flight of Newport Beach on July 16

By Jim Collins – July 19, 2023

Source: Newport Beach Independent www.newportbeachindy.com/more-than-70-boats-competed-in-the-87th-annual-flight-of-newport-beach-on-july-16/


The 2023 Flight of Newport Beach / photo by Jim Collins

The 2023 Flight of Newport Beach / photo by Jim Collins

More than 70 boats competed in the 87th Annual Flight of Newport Beach, presented by the Commodores Club of the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce with assistance from the Balboa Yacht Club.

Initially known as the Flight of the Snowbirds and later the Flight of the Lasers, the Flight of Newport had three different classes of boats racing to circumvent Newport Harbor.

The 2023 Flight of Newport / photo by Jim Collins

The 2023 Flight of Newport Beach / photo by Jim Collins

Among the winners: Lynn Acosta from Dana Point Yacht Club (Top Female), Leela McClain from Balboa Island Yacht Club (Top Youngest Girl), Tucker Strasser from Del Ray Yacht Club (Top Radial), Alden Morales from Balboa Island Yacht Club (Top Youngest Boy), Rod Turner and Ashley Turner from Newport Harbor Yacht Club (Top Parent/Child), Rich and Karen Luttrell from Balboa Yacht Club (Top Married Couple), and David Tingler from Lido Isle Yacht Club. For more information, visit https://flightofnewportbeach.com

The 2023 Flight of Newport / photo by Jim Collins

The 2023 Flight of Newport Beach / photo by Jim Collins


By Jim Collins – July 19, 2023

Source: Newport Beach Independent www.newportbeachindy.com/more-than-70-boats-competed-in-the-87th-annual-flight-of-newport-beach-on-july-16/

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“I am pleased to report that a long-awaited water quality project, the Newport Bay Trash Interceptor, was approved this week by the Newport Beach City Council.”

On Tuesday, July 11, the City Council awarded a $3.9 million construction contract to Brea-based Jilk Heavy Construction, Inc. We expect to break ground this fall and begin operations in 2024.

The Trash Interceptor is a sustainably powered, floating trash and debris collection system that will be built in the San Diego Creek between the Jamboree Road Bridge and MacArthur Boulevard Bridge, upstream from the Upper Newport Bay Nature Preserve.

If you’re out and about on Newport Harbor on Sunday afternoon, July 16, you may see dozens of sailboats racing around the harbor. Give them plenty of room and cheer them on—it’s the 87th Annual Flight of Newport Beach, presented by the Commodores Club of the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce with assistance from the Balboa Yacht Club.

It’s hard to believe that Thursday, July 6 will mark nine years since the passing of Newport Beach Lifeguard Ben Carlson. He was special to so many people, as his unexpected and untimely death would prove.

On that Sunday, in 2014, shortly after 5 p.m., a Newport Beach rescue boat identified a swimmer in distress off 16th Street. The surf at the time was six-to-eight feet.

Ben, as everyone knew, entered the water to make that rescue and swam to the man, making contact, before they were both hit by an unexpected large wave. The swimmer Ben was attempting to rescue was successfully pulled from the water, but Ben was not.