San Diego Yacht Club’s signature spring event, the Yachting Cup regatta, returns on May 5-7 for the 45th year. More than 80 entries are expected for this year’s regatta from numerous yacht clubs around Southern California, as well as international yacht clubs from Canada, Uruguay, and Bermuda.
The Yachting Cup will feature ocean buoy racing on Friday for the Pac52 and West Coast 70 classes. These scores from Friday will count towards their overall Yachting Cup class standings. Also taking place on Friday afternoon is the Ton Cup, a random leg race inside San Diego Bay. Racing continues on Saturday and Sunday with two venues out on the Pacific Ocean and one in San Diego Bay. Each day will feature post-race activities and parties back at SDYC after racing.
This will be the first event for the Pac52 Class, which includes Victor Wild’s Fox who won the Friday Ton Cup race in the 2016 Yachting Cup. Tom Holthus will race the Yachting Cup on his brand new Pac52, BadPak. Though Holthus has raced in several past Yachting Cups, this will be his first race on BadPak.
“We are very excited to be racing in the Yachting Cup as the inaugural event for both the BadPak and the Pac52 Class. We have a lot of knowledge and skill in the crew and are hopeful the learning curve will not be too steep for our first race. The four new Pac52 boats should provide great entertainment for spectator boats viewing on any of the three days of racing,” Holthus said. So far some of the largest classes entered are the Farr 40s, J/105s and J/70s. The J/120 class will also be well represented with 2010 Yachting Cup winner Chuck Nichols’ boat, CC Rider, on the entry list. Among other accomplishments, Nichols has won the J/120 North American Championship three times and has been the runner-up twice on CC Rider, but Yachting Cup remains one of his favorite races.
“The Yachting Cup is one of the premiere events that we try to sail every year. Entries are always high in our class and the competition is fierce. It gets tougher to win it every year. SDYC does a great job both on land and on the water, so racers can be assured of fun parties and fair racing,” Nichols said. Early entries for the 2017 race include all of the past overall winners since 2010, including the most recent winner, David Boatner, who won the 2016 Yachting Cup on his J/35 RIVAL. The entry list also includes several class winners from previous Yachting Cups, raising the stakes for competitors throughout the weekend.
Yachting Cup is a great opportunity for handicap fleet racing. Handicap racing is significant because it provides an opportunity for diverse boats to race, ranging from recreational weekend sailors to those with the most updated designs and seasoned crews.
The Organizing Authority is inviting the participants of the Newport to Ensenada Race to plan on stopping in San Diego on their return trip north to sail in the Yachting Cup.
Skippers can continue to register their boats until 5 p.m. on Tuesday, May 2 at yachtingcup.com.
The awards ceremony will be held at San Diego Yacht Club after the completion of races on Sunday, May 7 where prizes will be awarded by class.