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.

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