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 and 1 ORR-EZ class. Also joining the mix is the lone multihull, Gunboat 62 Chim Chim who has enjoyed this series in multiple years past.
Race fans can follow the action via the live race tracker at http://yb.tl/corw2021.
CLASS BREAKS
Oaxaca will battle Horizon and City Lights in all 3 races of the series in the Santa Cruz 50/52 class. Michael Moradzadeh shares his thoughts on his return to the series. “The crew of Oaxaca is very pleased to be returning to CORW. We were fortunate enough to do well in the 2019 edition [Class B Winner, 3rd Overall], and hope for a respectable result in 2021. Like many teams, our practice and prep time was severely curtailed by the exigencies and uncertainties of COVID. With the exception of a replaced A2 blown up at the finish of the 2019 TransPac, we have the same sails, gear, and configuration. Much of the crew is the same as well. For the 2021 race, we'll be exercising extra care in our maneuvers as we reacquaint ourselves with the boat and each other. Looking forward to the same warm welcomes along the way, though!”
After a major refit in Port Townsend, Washington, the all-Alaskan team sailing the Stevens 47 Mikmaks has spent the past few days delivering the boat from Washington to San Francisco to compete in the Spinnaker Cup and Coastal Cup. The team will use these coastal races as a tune up and training for their bucket list adventure of racing to Hawaii in Transpac this summer.
David Ryan, Beneteau First 45R Athena brings his team to race in the series for the first time. “CORW21 is the first offshore race for skipper and boat, and our qualifying voyage for the 2021 Transpac. A couple days to go before Spinnaker Cup and the excitement is really building, scanning through all the ’to-do’ lists to see what’s left! Over the last year we have replaced most of Athena's rigging, working with the great Gilles Combrisson, and beefed up our comms capability and safety equipment, as well as adding significantly to the sail quiver, working with the legendary Sylvain Barrielle. We have a great crew, including my 17-year old daughter, Rayne (pit, trim, helm, quartermaster) and four CORW/Transpac/Pacific Cup veterans. Can’t think of a better way of preparing for Transpac -- just hope we don’t break anything on the way south!”
Don Jesberg, recovering from an elbow injury will sail with a crew of 6 on the Cal 40 Viva in the all 3 races. Later this summer they will sail with 5 for Transpac. Reason being that with COVID restrictions, it seemed prudent to have an extra crew on hand in case any last minute changes occurred. Viva won each leg of 2019 series, and is looking to do the same matched up against their 2019 rivals aboard the Cal 40 Azure. Don described the Offshore Race Week as part delivery getting the boat to Southern California, part tune up for the crew prepping for Transpac, and part competition against a variety of boats from all parts of California in which they look to perform competitively.
Bob Pethick will race his Rogers 46 Bretwalda3 in the SoCal 300. "We are as excited as ever to be racing the SoCal 300 again this year, particularly given all we have been through over the last 15 months. I wish I could participate in the full CORW circuit as all of the segments offer unique sailing conditions and venues. Our challenge has been getting enough time to do all of them. The SoCal 300 always presents the most ardent offshore sailors on the west cost with an opportunity to test their readiness for sailing in big breeze, and to meet the Transpac offshore experience requirement. In our class we again have some boats. One of them will be Dave MacEwen with his new Lucky Duck which is a Rogers 46 like our boat. We are happy to see our old friend from Detroit Bill McKinley will be sailing with his new Ker 46 Denali 3 which I am told is FAST."
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
The 2021 CA Offshore Race Week is co-hosted by Encinal Yacht Club, Monterey Peninsula Yacht Club, Santa Barbara Yacht Club and San Diego Yacht Club. All host clubs look forward to welcoming sailors back after a long hiatus and to present another competitive coastal race series.
