New Course for Newport to Ensenada Race

Published on December 9th, 2015

The Newport to Ensenada Race, taking sailors along the 125nm course from Newport Beach, CA to Ensenada, Mexico since 1948, has introduced a shorter course for Cruising and smaller PHRF racers. The 62nm course will start from San Diego Harbor and merge into the main body of racers coming down from Newport. Both starts will be on April 22, 2016.

Organized by Newport Ocean Sailing Association (NOSA), the Newport to Ensenada Race is considered one of the largest international yacht races in the world.

“We’re looking forward to creating as inclusive an environment as we can,” according to NOSA Commodore David Shockley, “to allow more boats to participate and enjoy the excitement, competition and comradery of overnight coastal racing to beautiful Ensenada, Mexico.

NOSA has partnered with Southwestern Yacht Club to host pre-race events in the San Diego area. The class rating break for the short course will be a SD PHRF rating of 50 or higher.

NOSA introduced in 2015 a longer 150nm course around San Clemente Island as a qualifying event for the 2015 Transpac Race.

The 2015 race had 225 entrants with the 60 foot “Mighty Merloe” trimaran finishing in just over 6 hours. The top 5 lead pack of Maxi yachts all finished within 3 minutes of each other for one of the closest First-to-Finish monohull wins.

Offering three course in 2016, the goal is to assemble an even larger fleet of 300+ racing boats including the Maxi fleet, multiple PHRF, one design and cruising classes along with the ORCA or multi-hull racers.

All entries prior to December 31, 2015 will receive a discounted early entry fee.

Event website – Race documents – Entry information