Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Fast San Diego - Puerto Vallarta Race

J/145 Bad Pak- sailing upwind- Puerto Vallarta Race

(San Diego, CA/ PV, Mexico)- This past weekend saw the San Diego Yacht Club’s Puerto Vallarta Race fleet head south, clear the Baja peninsula and cross the Sea of Cortez to a finish line at Punta Mita, just west of Puerto Vallarta.  In the past, winners of this fabled 600 nautical mile race include Jim Madden's J/125 STARK RAVING MAD, hailing from San Diego YC (this year's winner of PHRF A in Key West Race Week).

It was a very fast, record breaking race this year. Many boats reported speeds in excess of 20+ knots sustained power reaching under asym sails.  For those who made early decisions to break out west after Division 1 boats had passed Ensenada proved to be a strong move as other boats caught one of the few flat points of the race near the shore.

Amongst the J's participating, the J/145 BAD PAK (2009 Transpac Winner) sailed well to garner a 3rd in Division III and 8th overall.  Just off the pace by virtue of running into one of the flatter spots near shore was Stephen and Cyndy Everett's J/160 SALACIA, getting 5th in Division III and 10th overall.  Steve and Cyndy just picked up SALACIA and were using the PV Race to bring along an Aussie and American crew, then continue on their delivery across the Pacific to Sydney, Australia! There was a nice interview after the race with Jeff Brown, principal of JK3 Yachting, who sailed aboard SALACIA- see it on YouTube.com.  Photo credit: Bob Bentancourt    For more Puerto Vallarta race info.