New component for California Offshore Race Week

The fifth edition of the California Offshore Race Week will once again connect three distances races into a full offshore race week series, but in 2019 will also provide an additional option for the faster boats.

“To me, it’s the perfect series of races to kick off summer,” shared Simon Phillips, owner of the Farr 40 Astra. “Condensed into a tight window to accommodate our busy schedules – we get the chance to experience all of the challenges of too much and too little wind while racing along the picturesque California coast.”

Working together are Encinal Yacht Club, Monterey Peninsula Yacht Club, Santa Barbara Yacht Club, and San Diego Yacht Club, with the 2019 CA Offshore Race Week also adding a new component for the fastest mono and multihull boats looking to stretch their legs: the CA 500 race from San Francisco to San Diego.

The CA 500 will be open to monohulls with an ORR rating of 1.06 and higher and multihulls of 45′ LOA and an ORR-MH rating of 1.4 and higher.

2019 Schedule
SPINNAKER CUP (San Francisco to Monterey; 88nm) – May 25-26
Presented by Encinal Yacht Club & Monterey Peninsula Yacht Club

COASTAL CUP (Monterey to Santa Barbara; 204nm) – May 27-28
Presented by Encinal Yacht Club & Santa Barbara Yacht Club

SOCAL 300 (Santa Barbara to San Diego; 245nm) – May 30-June 1
Presented by Santa Barbara Yacht Club & San Diego Yacht Club

CA 500 (San Francisco to San Diego; 500nm) – May 30-June 1
Presented by San Diego Yacht Club

ABOUT THE CA 500:
The CA 500 course starting line will be between St Francis Yacht Club outer mark “A” and a yellow placard on the StFYC Race Deck. After starting, boats shall exit San Francisco Bay and leave Farallon Light to port, leave weather buoy ODAS 46047 to port, leave San Diego channel entrance buoy “SD 1” to port and finish by passing between San Diego channel buoys “SD 5” and SD6”. The approximate rhumbline course length is 500 nautical miles.

CA 500 scoring will use ORR and ORR-MH handicaps with awards for best corrected time in class, and first to finish in class.

“Manouch Moshayedi [Rio100 owner] and I are also proud to introduce the California 500 – a race designed for large, fast boats with deep drafts that cannot access shallow harbors, such as Monterey and Santa Barbara,” said Manny Gomez, chairman of the SoCal 300 and CA 500.

“Our intention is to host this race from San Francisco to San Diego biennially on Transpac Race years, and for the event to ‘merge’ with the SoCal 300 as the fleets make their way down the coast. All yachts will finish just outside the San Diego Bay, with a party the evening of June 1st.

“Since 2019 is the 50th running of the Transpac Race with a spectacular turnout, we look forward to welcoming boats from all over the globe into the CA Offshore Race Week!”

Details: www.offshoreraceweek.com