Spinnaker Cup Race Preview
(Belvedere, CA)- Back in 2015, Encinal Yacht Club, San Francisco Yacht Club, Monterey Peninsula Yacht Club, Santa Barbara Yacht Club and San Diego Yacht Club joined forces and races to provide sailors with an exceptional Offshore Race Week that will take offshore boats from San Francisco down to San Diego with stops in Monterey and Santa Barbara. It brings the historic Spinnaker Cup and a revamped Coastal Cup together and joining in with the second running of the SoCal 300, racers have options of completing the entire week long event, or they can join in for any of the individual races on their own. The schedule is set up to keep the racing fast and fun and also allow enough shore time for family and friends to meet the racers at stops along the way for a wonderful week long tour of the California Coast.

California Offshore Race Week starts on Saturday, May 27 in San Francisco Bay and sends the racers out under the iconic Golden Gate Bridge. From there the fleet will make their way 88nm to the port city of Monterey for a day long layover to get rested and ready for the sled ride to Santa Barbara. Picking up on Monday, May 29, the Coastal Cup starts in Monterey Bay and runs 200nm around Point Conception and into Santa Barbara. A multi-day layover in Santa Barbara will allow racers to experience the local scene and all that this beautiful city has to offer. Santa Barbara Yacht Club will be hosting shore side parties and all the racers are invited to a ‘just for fun’ in-port race on Wednesday afternoon, which will see the offshore crews link up with the local Beercan racers who will also be on the water that day. The final leg starts on Thursday, June 1 with the SoCal 300 sending the fleet through the Channel Islands on their way to San Diego, a total trip of 254nm. The awards ceremony will be held on Saturday, June 3 at San Diego Yacht Club.

The Spinnaker Cup Race has thirty-nine entries, nine of which are J/teams (nearly 25% of the fleet!).  The smallest boat in the race will be Chris Cartwright’s J/88 VENTUS, fresh off his experience of winning class and nearly the overall trophy in the 2016 Singlehanded Transpac Race!  He will be joined by a number of offshore speedsters, including the classic J/36 DAWN’S EARLY LIGHT skippered by Kevin Mills, the J/105 JAVELIN helmed by Robert Goosey, the J/109 JUNKYARD DOG sailed by Jim Goldberg, two J/111s (Howard Turner’s SYMMETRY and Reuben Rocci’s SWIFT NESS), and three J/120s (Ludovic Milin’s SAETTA, Tracy Rogers’ HOKULANI, and Barry Lewis’ CHANCE).  Sailing photo credits- ROLEX/ Daniel Forster.  For more California Offshore Race Week and Spinnaker Cup sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.