The 2021 CA 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.
Thirteen teams were set to compete in the full CORW series, the largest fleet to do so in the five year history of the series. After a competitive Spinnaker Cup, where all 36 starters finished the 88nm race in under 18 hours, the Pac 52 Callisto held the best corrected time of 08:05:01, and was the first to finish.
Spinnaker Cup Results | Race Tracker
Kate and Jim Murray purchased Callisto the Pac 52 (previously Invisible Hand) in 2019 with the intent of racing in the Great Lakes for the 2020 season from their base in Chicago, and with the Chicago-Mac Race cancelled they nonetheless raced to the island from the east side in the Bayview Mac Race.
The conditions looked very light for the 2nd leg of the series, the 205nm race from Monterey to Santa Barbara. Only 14 of the 23 entered boats even attempted to start. For comparison, in 2019, the Coastal Cup first to finish was just under 15 hours, and the slowest boat sailed the course in 27 hours. In 2021? First to finish was Doug Baker’s Kernan 68 Peligroso with an elapsed time of 31:20:37, while Dave MacEwen’s Rogers 46 Lucky Duck won the race overall on corrected time. Seven of the 14 starters retired. Last to finish was Destin (Romeo Uriarte, Landmark 43) with an elapsed time of 46:56:28. And an honorable mention to Wildcard (Nicholas Grebe, Santa Cruz 37) who just missed the time limit to finish by 45 minutes.
Coastal Cup Results | Race Tracker
All four boats in the Class A of the CORW series finished, putting Lucky Duck in the series lead with one race to go. MacEwen had won the overall series in his Santa Cruz 52 version of Lucky Duck, and looked to do the same in Rogers 46.
Unfortunately, the expectations for the SoCal 300 this year didn’t look any better with light winds expected all over the 256nm course from Santa Barbara, through the channel islands, around Catalina and San Clemente to the ODAS waypoint turning mark, and across to San Diego.
Thirty of 33 entries started and 19 ended up retiring with just 11 finishers. Some boats turned north at the ODAS turning mark and headed north back to LA/Newport, while others motored the 100+ miles east to San Diego. Those so inclined to battle on spent more time on the course than in any year past. First to finish and Class A winner for the SoCal 300 was Chris Sheehan’s Pac42 Warrior Won.
In the 2019 SoCal 300, first to finish Maverick (Infiniti 46r) sailed the course in 26.5 hours, while the last to finish spent 51.4 hours on the course. In 2021, Warrior Won sailed for just over two days (2:00:19:05) as first to finish. And the winner of the SoCal 300, Mark Ashmore’s Cal 40 Nalu V sailed a full day longer (3:01:45:09) and corrected ahead of all other finishers, with Richard Yabsley’s Hobie 33 Captain Sluggo 2nd overall.
SoCal 300 Results | Race Tracker
With a full week of sailing down the coast, the 2021 CA Offshore Race Week series winner was Jim and Kate Murray’s Pac52 Callisto, just edging out their Class A competition (Peligroso 2nd, Lucky Duck 3rd).
Action shot during the SoCal 300
Jim Murray shared his thoughts on his team, boat and experience during the CORW:
“Callisto sailed CORW with a crew of 12-13 throughout the series. Our crew uses a “Pro-Am” model, combining veteran sailors who are nonetheless new to the TP52 platform with experienced ocean sailors. We’re based out of Lake Bluff, Illinois, and Chicago Yacht Club, but have crew from the Pacific Northwest, East Coast, Australia, and New Zealand as well as the Great Lakes.
Callisto, like Warrior Won, is a “Pac52” variant of TP52. More freeboard, a stiffer rig, plus enhanced berthing and galley spaces make the boat well-suited to offshore events like CORW. In heavy air reaching during the Spinnaker Cup or light air VMG running like the SoCal 300, she is responsive and can accelerate (or turn) on a dime.
The highlight was undoubtedly reaching along the coast north of Monterey, where a fresh thermal breeze close to the shore gave us 27+ knots of TWS and allowed us to hit mid-20s boatspeed.
We never seriously considered retiring from the SoCal 300. Most of the crew are veterans of the Chicago Mackinac Race. The SoCal saw the same kind of drifting conditions that often occur during the “Mac”…without the biting flies! We were just excited to be out there as a team, logging hours on the boat and getting in practice hours ahead of the Transpac in July.
This was a great week of sailing coming after three days of breezy practice on San Francisco Bay. It combined a bit of everything. A big breeze sprint, steady breezes and gorgeous scenery down the coast (the reach through the Channel Islands was particularly stunning) and a bit of Lake Michigan-like drifting further south. The parties along the way were a great break post quarantine. We look forward to returning...hopefully when the Pacific High is cranking!”
Encinal Yacht Club, Monterey Peninsula Yacht Club, Santa Barbara Yacht Club and San Diego Yacht Club look forward to bringing the series back in spring 2022.
