The city’s first responders — including firefighters, police officers, lifeguards, local nurses and members of the U.S. Coast Guard, among others — were honored by the Long Beach Yacht Club during its annual Heroes Regatta on Saturday Aug. 22
USCG Air Station Ventura Air Station took top honors during the competition — and celebrated in style. A helicopter from the station did a flyby prior to the trophy presentation as a nod to their sailing colleagues.
USCG Air Station Ventura Air Station took top honors during the Long Beach Yacht Club’s Heroes Regatta on Saturday, Aug. 22. (Courtesy photo by Taylor Dixson)
The Heroes Regatta’s perpetual trophy was rededicated in honor of Judith Meyer, a distinguished Los Angeles County Superior Court judge and regatta volunteer who died on July 4. (Courtesy photo by Taylor Dixson)
Long Beach Lifeguards took second place at this year’s Heroes Regatta, which took place on Saturday, Aug. 22. (Courtesy photo by Taylor Dixson)
Show Caption
1 of 3
USCG Air Station Ventura Air Station took top honors during the Long Beach Yacht Club’s Heroes Regatta on Saturday, Aug. 22. (Courtesy photo by Taylor Dixson)
Long Beach Lifeguards took second place.
Aaron Fletcher, a marine safety rescue boat captain, was on the lifeguard team, which found inspiration from former Chief Lifeguard Ricard Miller, who died on Aug. 9 at 93 years old.
“What a great event,” Fletcher said. “Sailing with the Long Beach Lifeguard Association is always a good time and with Chief Miller in the forefront of our minds and in our hearts, this year was special. The LBYC was incredibly generous again and Scott Dixon did a great job of organizing.”
The remainder of the teams placed as follows:
Third: United States Coast Guard LB/LA.
Fourth: American Legion.
Fifth: MemorialCare Long Beach Medical Center’s emergency room staff.
Sixth: Long Beach Search and Rescue.
Seventh: Dignity Health St Mary Medical Center’s ER.
Eighth: U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Ninth: Long Beach Police Department SWAT teams.
This year, the perpetual trophy was rededicated in honor of Judith Meyer, a distinguished Los Angeles County Superior Court judge. Meyer died on July 4 after a long battle with cancer, leaving a lasting impact on the court and the first responder community.
Meyer’s health caused her to limit her volunteerism in recent years. But before that. she chaired the Heroes Regatta for many years and raised the bar — offering with branded shirts, prizes and activities for families. She recruited her parents, husband and friends to volunteer as well.
Her husband, Steven Meyer, was one of the 36 volunteer coaches on Saturday.
I asked him how he felt about the trophy now bearing his late wife’s name.
“I thought it was such an appropriate honor,” he said. “She had so much respect for first responders and military. And she was so integral to the launch of the initial heroes and patriot regattas. I think that the Heroes Regatta would not be what it is today without her involvement and dedication, even later behind the scenes after she had to step back.”
Her service will take place on Friday, Aug. 29, but will be private.
LBYC Senior Staff Commodore Drew Satariano, meanwhile, provided history the Long Beach Sailing Foundation’s fleet of Catalina 37s — which are used for the Congressional Cup and numerous community outreach regattas — for Saturday’s event.
Past LBYC Commodore Dixon chaired the event and reported that around 200 people attended the day of fun During and after the classic LBYC burger bash lunch, Long Beach Fire Department Battalion Chief Jake Heflin, serving as the master of ceremonies, presented prizes.
The drawing prizes were gathered by Dixon, Alison Jackson and Sparky Ferguson. The Robert Blair family donated Angels tickets. Gift cards for gas, a variety of Pelican Products, Catalina Express tickets and Bloch Wellness donated gift cards were also among the prizes.
“(This is) One of my favorite regattas of the year,” said LBYC 2026 Commodore Bob Piercy, who coached a team of nurses from St Mary’s, “(getting) to see beginners progress throughout the day and then to have them say how much fun they had, and they never knew what a great sport yacht racing was.”
Monterey Car Week
And now, it’s time to leave the water — and step onto the track.
My annual trek to the Monterey Peninsula for car week and the most famous auto show in the world, the Concours d’Elegance took place from Aug. 8 to 16.
Long Beach was well represented, as usual.
The many tents where the cars were displayed were all provided and assembled by Long Beach’s Ryan Choura and his team from Choura Events. This year, Choura added a warehouse to better service his accounts at Laguna Seca racetrackr.
At Laguna Seca, Long Beach’s Craig Carter raced against comedian Adam Carolla of Comedy Central’s “The Man Show.” Also on the track that same day were former F1 driver Jenson Button in a 1967 Alfa Romero, and McLaren CEO Zak Brown
The 75th Concours d’Elegance was outstanding once again.
The Best of Show at the signature event went to a 1935 Duesenberg SSJ Special Speedster, originally owned by Hollywood legend Clark Gable. Earlier during the week, a 1935 Duesenberg, also once owned by Gable, sold for more than $9 million at the RM Sotheby’s auction in Monterey.
This year, the five auction houses reported almost $748 million in sales. Gooding Christie’s at Pebble Beach set a company record, with $159 million in sales. A 1964 Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe sold at Gooding Christie’s for $42.9 million — a record mark for an American car at auction.
Concours d’Elegance reported raising $4.3 million for local nonprofits this year. Since 1950, the event has now accounted for $50.1 million in donations.
My two highlights of the weekend were seeing Princess Diana’s personal Jaguar at Concours d’Elegance and attending the Pininfarina reception.
Pininfarina, an Italian car design firm, has been part of more than 200 distinct production and concept car designs since its founding in 1930, according to its website. The design house has collaborated with Maserati, Ferrari, Alfa Romeo, Lancia, Peugeot, Honda, Nash and Fiat.
Pininfarina announced “Duetto Day 2026,” a special tribute to the Alfa Romeo, and formally established the Pininfarina Trophy as a permanent Pebble Beach award. Locally, Flying Cloud Yachts co-owner Eric Gustafson drives one. (Duetto is a nickname for the Alfa Romero because it is as cute as the duetto, a popular Italian crispy sandwich-style cookie.
At the same event, Pininfarina CEO Paolo Dellachà announced a partnership with luxury homebuilder Manny Angelo Varas and MV Group USA. Pininfarina will introduce the Collection Sei Design by Pininfarina, a limited offering of six branded residences and the first single-family homes to bear the Pininfarina name. Each approximately 8,000 square-foot turnkey residence is fully furnished (Frank Lloyd Wright-like) and offered at $16.95 million.
Later that night, Airstream CEO Bob Wheeler announced a formal design collaboration intended to shape the next generation of Airstream products as the iconic company approaches its 100th anniversary in 2031.
I’m anxious to see how riveted-aluminum trailers – sometimes nicknamed “Silver Twinkies” — will take on a luxury Italian feel and become “Glistening Cannoli.”
I’m reminded of the movie “The Graduate,” during which Dustin Hoffman drives that cute Pininfarina-designed Alfa. A sequel could feature Hoffman as a lifelong bachelor traveling in a Pininfarina-designed Airstream.