2021 Long Beach Race Week cancelled

The 2021 Ullman Sails Long Beach Race Week (LBRW), planned for June 25-27, has been canceled. City-wide pandemic restrictions (Long Beach, CA) prompted the decision, according to event Co-Chair Steve Mueller, including constraints on dock space and parking lot permits which would limit participation of several classes of boats.

“If we are forced to eliminate a lot of our competitive classes, and can’t have our traditional parties, it just won’t be Long Beach Race Week!” Mueller added. “As we cannot run it in the fashion it deserves, and history demands, we regrettably have decided to cancel.”

Organized by Alamitos Bay Yacht Club and Long Beach Yacht Club, LBRW has a reputation for combining top notch, expertly run competition alongside lively, nightly parties which rotate between hosts LBYC and ABYC. Rivalries and racing aside, “fun” is the key ingredient in the 40-year success of LBRW, as it turns Alamitos Bay into a gathering place for old and new friends alike.

Each year the regatta draws more than 100 teams from the West Coast of the US, Canada, Mexico, and beyond. Three days of windward/leeward and random leg races, in both one-design and PHRF fleets, tap race management pros from ABYC, LBYC and other area yacht clubs, to run courses known for excitement and professionalism. And Long Beach’ “classic conditions” guarantee a challenging breeze and venue for premier racing.

LBRW 2020 was canceled in April 2020 as the pandemic was ramping up, with high hopes of returning in 2021. Last run in 2019, the regatta saw winds grazing 20 knots and testing conditions.

In the 2019 edition, Bruce Golison’s J/70 Midlife Crisis won the Satariano Boat of the Week trophy, while PHRF Boat of the Week went to Gator, skippered by Long Beach sailor Todd Wheatley, who has since passed. The Ely family and Elyxir received the Kent Golison Family Trophy for the second year in a row, and Aussie Airwaves won the Travel Trophy for venturing the furthest to compete.

LBRW is frequently a platform for national and regional championships including the Schock 35 Pacific Coast Championship, which was won by Code Blue, and the battle for the Catalina 37 National Championship is a mainstay of LBRW.

In 2019 LBYC’s Team DH3 recaptured the Catalina 37 title for the fifth time in nine years, while ABYC triumphed in the Yacht Club Challenge. But competitors will have to wait another year to defend their titles, or knock their rivals off the podium, as LBRW 2022 is slated to return June 24 to 26, 2022.

Event details: https://www.lbrw.org/

Editor’s note: Not an easy decision, but if signature regattas are just about racing, they risk losing their relevance. The sport is at its best when a day of racing is followed by large social gatherings, and if that’s not an option, focus on simple local events until we’re unleashed for, and to quote the Snipe Class, “Serious Sailing, Serious Fun.”

Source: LBYC, Scuttlebutt