Racing in choppy waters

A Harbor Patrol boat stands by as sailboats jockey for position for the Thursday night beer can race in Newport Harbor. The Harbor Patrol is trying to crack down on boats that exceed speed limits.  (Lori Shepler / Los Angeles Times)

Sailboats race in Newport Harbor.  (Lori Shepler / Los Angeles Times)

Dennis Rosene, owner and skipper of the Radical Departure, races in the Thursday-night “beer can” competitions in Newport Harbor. The races -- as legend has it, named for the bobbing pop-tops that marked the course -- are a rite of summer that helps define the culture of Newport Beach.  (Lori Shepler / Los Angeles Times)

Crew member Andy Lewis and others hoist the mainsail before a “beer can.” The Orange County sheriff’s Harbor Patrol is trying to crack down on speed in Newport Harbor and is clashing with the sailboat racers on the issue.  (Lori Shepler / Los Angeles Times)

Radical Departure skipper Dennis Rosene, 67, watches as another sailboat comes very close to his during a recent race. Bigger, faster boats in a more congested Newport Harbor have spurred the Orange County Sheriff’s Department to keep a closer eye on safety and even prompted city leaders to draw up an etiquette code for the beer-can racers.  (Lori Shepler / Los Angeles Times)

It’s all about the boat race. The beer can, sailed over a 4.1-mile course from Balboa Island to Lido Village, is part of the city’s identity, said Peter Bretschger, a director of the Balboa Yacht Club, which sponsors the weekly event. “If you look at the symbol of the city of Newport Beach, it’s a sailboat race.”  (Lori Shepler / Los Angeles Times)

Radical Departure crew members celebrate their second-place finish in a recent beer-can race.  (Lori Shepler / Los Angeles Times)

Sails are folded up at the conclusion of a recent beer can. Although the races have been a part of this bustling scene for half a century, the sheriff’s Harbor Patrol only recently voiced concern about safety in the crowded waters, asking whether large sailboats slicing through the narrow channel pose a danger to paddlers and pleasure cruisers.  (Lori Shepler / Los Angeles Times)