CALIFORNIA OFFSHORE RACE WEEK NEWS

The final leg of the 2026 California Offshore Race Week proved to be a test of patience, persistence, and tactical decision-making as 25 boats set out from Santa Barbara for the SoCal 300. The SoCal 300 currently spans approximately 234 nautical miles, carrying competitors from the waters off Santa Barbara, through the Channel Islands, and south to San Diego.

The race began Thursday, May 28, near Point Castillo and Santa Barbara Yacht Club, with competitors crossing the start line under light conditions. Boats were tasked with navigating across the commercial shipping lanes for LA and between Santa Rosa and Santa Cruz Islands before continuing south, leaving the ODAS 46047 weather buoy to port and ultimately finishing off San Diego. SDYC’s Waterfront Director Jeff Johnson reflects on the origins of the SoCal 300 course stating “The SoCal course was a bit of a resurrection of the older ‘Bishop Rock Race’ SDYC ran during the early 2000’s. It was added to the lineup of events for boats racing down the coast in the Spinnaker Cup and Coastal Cup. Adding the third event to connect sailors to San Diego as the final leg was a great way to provide an event for sailors to showcase the iconic California Coast.”

Sharon Green, Ultimate Sailing has limited spots available for custom photography packages for all 3 races of the SoCal 300. Capture your adventure and showcase your boat from a variety of perspectives. Contact sail@ultimatesailing.com, 805-452-8853 for more details.

We are very pleased to announce the renewal of our cooperation with Quantum Sails for this year’s event.

Through this continued partnership, Quantum Sails, together with SailFlow, will once again support the competitors by providing high‑quality weather briefings and forecasting tools throughout the regatta. Accurate and accessible weather information is a key element of safe and competitive offshore sailing, and this collaboration helps ensure that sailors are well prepared for the conditions they will face on the racecourse.

SailFlow’s weather data and visual forecasting tools, combined with Quantum’s deep understanding of performance sailing, create a valuable resource for teams as they plan strategy and make critical decisions before and during racing.

In addition to their on‑the‑water support, we are also delighted that Quantum Sails will contribute to the Farewell Party, helping us bring the event to a memorable close. The Farewell Party is an important opportunity to bring sailors, organizers, volunteers, and partners together to celebrate the week and reflect on the racing.

We would like to thank Quantum Sails and SailFlow for their continued commitment to the event and for their support of the sailing community. We greatly value this partnership and look forward to another successful collaboration.

The Notice of Race is published and registration is open for the 12th annual CA Offshore Race Week, featuring three distance races going down the west coast. Register for any one or all three and experience some of the best ports on the California coast.

The 2024 CA Offshore Race Week featured 90 boats and over 400 sailors racing throughout the three events of the series which is in its 8th year, annually occurring around Memorial Day Weekend. 

John Brynjolfsson (TP52, Saga) described the race experience best saying, “Few experiences can rival the thrill of sailing with Saga's seasoned crew under the iconic Golden Gate Bridge, alongside a fleet of fellow sailors embarking on a week-long, 500-mile odyssey. This historic week comprised the storied Spinnaker Cup from StFYC to MPYC, the Coastal Cup from MPYC to SBYC, and the SoCal 300 from SBYC to SDYC. As the fog lifted outside San Francisco, and the flood tide lay behind us, the fleet converged down the coast on Monterey, our first port of call. A welcome break and authentic eateries awaited our courageous crew. 

The 2024 California Offshore Race Week (CORW) is here and the excitement is buzzing. The series includes three separate races down the coast from San Francisco to San Diego. The first leg starts off with the Spinnaker Cup, San Francisco to Monterey (84 nm), then the Coastal Cup from Monterey to Santa Barbara (205 nm), and finally the SoCal 300 from Santa Barbara to San Diego (255 nm).

In 2023, the CORW saw the smallest boat in the fleet, Marc-Andrea Klimaschewski's Dogpatch 26 Moonshine, achieve an impressive overall victory. Klimaschewski and his crew, representing the Pacific Northwest, navigated challenging conditions and enjoyed the thrill of the SoCal 300 segment. The event also highlighted notable performances from other competitors, including the Express 37s dominating the Spinnaker Cup and the MOD 70s in the CA 500 race.

Sailonline is delighted to announce that we will again be partnering with the Encinal, St Francis, Monterey Peninsula , Santa Barbara and San Diego yacht clubs, and this year online-host two of their prestigious California Offshore Race Week, the CA 500 and the SoCal 300.

SAILONLINE RACE INFO >>

Dave MacEwen and Jeff Thorpe will offer a briefing on Spinnaker Cup preparations, tactics, weather routing and safety requirements at MPYC on April 9 starting at 530pm. This briefing is highly recommended for all skippers and crew who are planning to race in the upcoming 2024 Spinnaker Cup, or simply dreaming of doing the race someday. It would also be of interest to other racers and non-racers alike, including Spinnaker Cup volunteers. 

The smallest boat takes the Series again. The 2023 California Offshore Race Week has concluded with Marc-Andrea Klimaschewski's Dogpatch 26 Moonshine, the smallest boat in the fleet, earning the title of overall CORW winner. For the second year in a row, the little boat makes a big splash.

Klimaschewski said "All of us are very happy about the great result and we are proud to be representing the Pacific Northwest and following in the footsteps of our good friends on Pell Mell who won the series last year in another small, wooden boat. Being a small boat, we always try minimizing our distance sailed. We also push the boat as hard as we can, the sails and loads are very manageable so if we overdo it on the gas pedal, that's usually an easy fix." 

Register to join the Zoom Meeting presented by Quantum Sails. Join Jeff Thorpe from Quantum Sails, with Mike Godsey and Shea Gibson from Sailflow Weather, for in-depth forecasts, local knowledge, and expert tips. Ask questions and prepare for your race!

May 26, 2023 17:00

May 28, 2023 17:00

May 31, 2023 17:00

This link is for all three occurrences prior to each series race - register once and you’re in for all three.
REGISTER HERE >>

All it took was a year of elbow grease and a little bit of TLC for Alex Simanis to get his newly restored Pt Bonita 27, Pell Mell, back into the water… and titled a winner. The smallest boat on the course for the duration of the 2022 California Offshore Race Week has proved that it is heart and skill that gets you first overall, not size. Simanis’ Pell Mell is the official winner of not just the SoCal 300, but the overall series winner of CORW. 

Simanis commented, “The Spinnaker Cup was epic. We stuck with our plan of staying out and waiting for the new breeze to come - and it worked out well. The last 50 miles we did in about 6 hours and we came into Monterey on a nice angle and 25+ knots of breeze. For the SoCal 300, it was a beautiful jib reach to the islands. We thought it was going to be game on, but it was really light. We got stuck in the island and had to battle back and forth to find a lane. A bunch of the fleet moved more to the west and we ended up sneaking towards more of the east breeze that filled in. We were able to catch up to the 1D35 and J/111 and the bigger boats for the run. Our boat is pretty quick on the run, so nobody got away from us.”

On Saturday May 28th, 30 boats departed San Francisco on the 1st leg of the California Offshore Race Week, The Spinnaker Cup, 86 miles of downhill fun, from San Francisco to Monterey. In the midst and in the mist, an improbable contestant, that had been ignored, more than it had been sailed recently and much less raced. Originally built in the mid 80's by Dave Sutter, the Point Bonita 27' Pell Mell was designed to be more of a cruiser, with inspiration from the Dogpatch 26, without the hard chines below the waterline. Her ample room below decks makes things more comfortable for a midget distance racing ride.

Long sleeve wicking shirts, hats, vests and gaiters featuring the CA Offshore Race Week designs and logos are available through the Pirate's Lair online store.

The offshore racing season continues this summer with the West Coast favorite California Offshore Race Week. The week-long journey down the California coast is broken into three separate races and is hosted by Encinal Yacht Club, Monterey Peninsula Yacht Club, Santa Barbara Yacht Club and San Diego Yacht Club. Skippers and crews are encouraged to add the entirety of the CORW to their bucket list, but have the option to opt into any of the individual legs.

Encinal Yacht Club, Monterey Peninsula Yacht Club, Santa Barbara Yacht Club and San Diego Yacht Club are proud to present the 2022 CA Offshore Race Week, and invite boats to register. The race series consists of three coastal regattas of increasing length (San Francisco to Monterey: 88nm, Monterey to Santa Barbara;: 205nm, and Santa Barbara to San Diego: 250nm). New in 2022, early entry discount during the month of February! Sign up early and encourage others to join you.

RATING & BERTHING REQUEST INFORMATION
Please review the information about how to get a new or renewed rating certificate for 2022, and who to contact at each port for berthing.

With a crew of either, the Santa Cruz 50 Horizon was competing in the 2021 Coastal Cup between Monterey and Santa Barbara. The race started on May 31, 2021. Before departure, the crew participated in their usual pre-underway discussion of duties in the event of an emergency.

During the 204-mile race, Horizon lost a large lead over competitors with Oaxaca extending a ten-mile lead. Late in the afternoon, Horizon gybed towards the beach while Oaxaca headed out to sea. As the two boats converged on Point Conception, it appeared Horizon had taken the lead while holding a speed advantage. The call was made to gybe back into the breeze to maintain the advantage.

The 2021 California Offshore Race Week was the first opportunity for many teams to stretch their legs in over a year and sail in one or more distance races down the California Coast. A variety of conditions were seen throughout the week, starting with great breeze sending boats under the Golden Gate bridge towards Monterey, to still waters during the Coastal Cup and SoCal 300 that caused several teams to retire, or fight through the light conditions to an extended version of the race.

Check out the gallery of photos courtesy of Sharon Green and Ultimate Sailing from the SoCal 300 start line in Santa Barbara, and the aerial photos as the fleet passed through the Channel Islands.

ULTIMATE SAILING SOCAL 300 GALLERY

The 2021 CA Offshore Race Week kicks off on Saturday, May 29 with the 88 mile Spinnaker Cup, from San Francisco Bay to just off the pier in Monterey. 36 boats are entered in 6 PHRF classes ranging in size from the Botin 65 Artemis to the Antrim 27C ‘io. The series continues with the Coastal Cup from Monterey to Santa Barbara, a 204 miles course. This year’s Coastal Cup boasts a recent record of 24 entries in 4 ORR and one ORR-EZ classes. The final race in the series is the SoCal 300 from Santa Barbara to San Diego. The leg scoring used in previous editions of the SoCal 300 is gone, and the race will be scored as a standard start to finish single race this year. A great turn out of 37 boats in 4 strong ORR classes, 1 ORR-EZ class, and Chim Chim sailing in the multihull class.

The Offshore Race Week series started in 2016, and now it has a new perpetual trophy, donated by Denise Kramer of Sailboat Artwork. Denise has donated a custom painting of a Cal 40, Santa Cruz 50 and J/125, some of the staples of this coastal race series. Past winners honored on the trophy are Santa Cruz 50 Horizon, Santa Cruz 70 Catapult, Santa Cruz 52 Lucky Duck, and J/125 Velvet Hammer. The beautiful trophy will be on display at San Diego Yacht Club where the annual CORW series trophies are awarded after the SoCal 300. Denise was part of the Velvet Hammer crew that won the series in 2019. @sailboatartwork

San Diego Yacht Club and Santa Barbara Yacht Club are proud to co-host their signature offshore race of the summer, the SoCal 300, the Southern California leg of the California Offshore Race Week. The California Offshore Race Week has been a premier offshore California regatta series since 2015 and is made up of three different races:

• Spinnaker Cup (San Francisco to Monterey): May 29-30
• Coastal Cup (Monterey to Santa Barbara): May 31 - June 1
• SoCal 300 (Santa Barbara to San Diego): June 3-5

The 2021 California Offshore Race Week will be the 5th edition of this great series that combines these three offshore sailing events.

NOR Amendment #1 is to clarify the status of required Safety at Sea certifications per NOR Addendum 1, 4.3.2

The California Offshore Race Week Organizers - San Diego Yacht Club, Santa Barbara Yacht Club, Monterey Peninsula Yacht Club & Encinal Yacht Club have made the difficult decision to cancel the 2020 California Offshore Race Week due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

As representatives of our Yacht Clubs, we believe in the practice of safety as a way of life offshore. Our position has always been that we can only conduct the race if conditions for competitors and local populations made it safe to do so. After continuing to seek guidance from numerous government and medical advisors, it has become evident there is no longer a timeline allowing our sailors and supporters to prepare for and participate in this offshore race safely.

HL Enloe's ORMA 60 Mighty Merloe took down another course record, setting the multihull course record with an elapsed time of 15:22:15 in the 240 mile SoCal 300 race. Manouch Moshayedi's Rio100 holds the monohull course record set in the first year of the SoCal 300, at 16:26:58.