(Santa Cruz, CA)- On September 2nd, the 74th Windjammers Race took
place, the classic late-summer dash from San Francisco past Año Nuevo
down to the sunshine of Santa Cruz 90nm to the south; the event is one
of the oldest annual regattas on California's Pacific Coast.
The
Windjammer Regatta was first hosted by The Santa Cruz Yacht Club in the
early 1930's but enjoys deep roots going back to the Pacific Yacht
Club's Race To Santa Cruz in 1884. Racers can always expect exciting
downwind fun as they fly down the coast to the “Surfer’s City”. Finishes
are scored off the Santa Cruz Wharf throughout the day and into the
night.The big winner in this year’s race was Howard Turner’s J/111 SYMMETRY from Santa Cruz YC. After sailing to windward from the start line on the face of Alcatraz Island, out under the famous Golden Gate Bridge in typical westerlies on San Francisco Bay, the J/111 turned left and quickly went through a succession of
double-head
rig with jib and Code Zero to the A3 offshore reaching kite to the big
A2 runner towards the end of the race. Winds were reported to hit 30
kts at times with the J/111 flying down the enormous Pacific swells at
20-22 kts! In the end, Turner’s SYMMETRY corrected out at 10:35:36,
good enough for the class win in PHRF 2 and taking 2nd overall on
corrected, just behind one of those enormous SoCal sleds- the Santa Cruz
70 Buona Sera.SYMMETRY’s win marked the second time in a row that J/111s have won their class in this offshore classic; last year they won over the infamously fast all-carbon/foam/epoxy J/125s (finishing just 5 minutes elapsed time behind them)! For more Windjammers Race sailing information
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