Sailboats a big theme of holiday decorations
Red sails in the sunset … and white and blue, too.
Brightly colored sails spin in the breeze outside the home of 92-year old Jim Mangiaracina as Independence Day approached last week in Woodland Hills.
The twirling sails sit atop metal pipes on PVC masts attached to a rotating base made by the lifelong amateur sailor.
He calls the yard decorations regatta and started making them around 20 years ago.
Mangiaracina has lived here for 60 years. He retired in 1992 from Litton Industries, where he worked as an instrument technician for 30 years.
“I made gyroscopes for planes and rockets; they would guide them,” he said of his former career in aerospace.
He spent time in the Army in Korea during the Korean War. “I am a Korean veteran; I am very proud of that. I was in the Army for two years in Korea,” he said of his time in uniform.
The sail-inspired yard decorations — which he says he invented — are a testament to his love of sailing.
The licensed captain once had a sailing boat that he and a partner bought from the late Rat Pack member Dean Martin.
They kept the sailboat in Marina del Rey, and he spent time sailing from Mexico to Santa Barbara on it over the years.
“I think he was going through a divorce and had to sell; he only sailed on it a few times,” he said of the 40-foot ketch rig acquired from Martin.
He taught his twin boys how to sail on it and boasts that they are now the best sailors in Lake Tahoe.
Mangiaracina’s Regatta started as a decoration for a recreational vehicle, mounted during camping trips.
“I put them on my camper when we camped on the beach; people saw them and wanted to buy them.”
So he made them, and they sold. He makes clear that he didn’t want a business; he just liked doing it.
“At Christmas, I put Santa Claus on them,” he said. “At Easter, I put Easter Bunnies on them.” Today’s set? “These are in honor of the Fourth of July,”.
He calls the yard decorations regatta and started making them around 20 years ago.