Cinco de Mayo comes early at Yachting Cup

San Diego, CA (May 2, 2015) – Though today’s winds lacked the strength of Friday’s first race, spirits and competition were stronger than ever. More than just one of the largest regattas in Southern California, Yachting Cup is a great place for sailors of all fleets and competition level to get together for the love of sailing and thrill of competition.

For SDYC Commodore John Laun, Yachting Cup is an event the club always looks forward to hosting. “Yachting Cup is our signature Spring event each year,” said Laun. “It’s always great fun and competition on both ocean and South Bay courses and lots of fun at the parties ashore.”

As far as racing days go, it’s hard to beat the one that James Wert had in their PHRF class on the Near Roads course. Wert and his crew aboard the Sydney 41 Twister finished first in all four of the day’s regattas. “Our goal today was just to sail the boat to its potential,” said Wert. With a total of four points courtesy of the throw-out score activated in the 5th race, it’s easy to assume that Wert and his team reached their goal.

If anyone knows how Wert feels today, it would be Chick Pyle, who also finished each of the day’s races in first. Pyle and his crew on Kea led the Beneteau 36.7 class around the course.

Although Rick Goebel was the sole J-105 participant on Friday, Dennis Case quickly caught up with him on the second day of racing. Case and Goebel are currently tied at 9 points, with the first spot on the scoreboard going to Case, who has an additional bullet over Goebel. The final Near Roads fleet was the J-70s, the largest fleet of the regatta. Tim Fuller and Vince Brun sailed BLISSS to first place, with a grand total of five points at the end of five races.

At the Far Roads venue, competitors completed three races for the day. In Division A, Andy Rasdal leads the fleet with a total of 6 points. It’s a one point spread in Division AA, where Victor Wild’s Bud pushed Dennis Pennell’s Blue Blazes out of first place. Neil Fraser and his crew on Mexican Divorce stole the lead for Division B by three points, with three first-places finishes in the day. Eric Axford and the caper crew just barely made it out in first for the J-120 division, with one point separating them from Rudolph Hasl.

Division D, Class J-109 and Class J-80 sailed in South Bay, which offers not only the beautiful downtown backdrop, but also lake sailing conditions. The three South Bay fleets completed four races on the second day.

In Class J-109, Thomas Brott also had a dream day, finishing first in all of the day’s races. He currently leads the class at 11 points. The largest fleet to race in South Bay was Division D, with six boats racing. By the end of day two, Michael and Kathy Roach of Poco Loco ahead of Quinton and Clapp of Gray Goose by one point. Skipper Curt Johnson finished first in the J-80 fleet for every race, leaving a ten point trail behind the next skipper, Debby Platt.

For Regatta Chair Julie Servais, this event is unique in that it is equal parts competition and camaraderie. “We have competitors come from all the way up the coast of California, so it’s really fun to get everyone out here.”

Servais was also in charge of post-racing activities, which on Friday included a special skipper’s and tacticians party in SDYC’s famous Frost Room. “It’s a rare thing for the skippers to be in the same room at the same time,” Servais said on the inspiration behind the party. “These guys always see each other’s names on entry lists or see them compete out on the water, but we wanted to create an intimate space for them to actually get to meet and talk to each other.”

Crews celebrated their first day of racing on the SDYC deck, complete with the musical styling of a local fiddler. Tonight, Yachting Cup participants and guests will take over the SDYC deck and restaurant, with a huge Cinco de Mayo themed bash.

The final day of racing is scheduled to begin at 11:30am on Sunday, May 3rd.

Event details – Complete results

Report by event media.