The Yachting Cup, San Diego’s premier inshore regatta of the season, kicked off today with a big boat show on a wide open Pacific Ocean course. The high-performance Pac52 and Farr40 classes lead off today, and are also using this regatta as a part of their class series. Tomorrow, these two classes will be joined by the four others on the Far Ocean course, and five more classes filling the Near Ocean course. Both courses are located just south of Zuniga Jetty in the Coronado Roads and compete through Sunday.
It was close all day for the boats in today’s three races. Wolfgang Schaefer’s Struntje Lightis finishing day one in first place for the Farr40 class, followed by Rick Goebel’s Insanity in second and Mick Shlens’ Blade II in third.
Steve Natvig, the tactician on Blade II, commented on today’s racing. “We did alright. We had two threes and a second. Our team is sailing pretty well it seems like and we’re working on trying to get first place finishes tomorrow. Hopefully we have another good day of teamwork and sailing around the buoys as fast as we can.”
Ironically, the Pac52 class finished their races in a three-way tie, giving them a clean slate for day two. Race three ended with Tom Holthus’ BadPak in first, Austin and Gwen Fragomen’s Interlodge VI in second, and Manouch Moshayedi’s Rio in third.
“We all ended up with the same score, so we can start all over again tomorrow. In the last race, we had a nice lead. We were coming into the gates and ran into a group of Farr40s, had to abort our turn and wound up going in a different direction. As a result, we let BadPak back in the race and they took advantage of it,” said Austin Fragomen ofInterlodge VI.
Everyone coming from out of town were lucky enough to experience San Diego’s fine conditions. The breeze stuck around 8-10 knots all day with clear, sunny skies and high 60-degree temperatures. This “chamber of commerce” day made for an extra fun Ton Cup, the traditional race to start off the Yachting Cup weekend.
The Ton Cup consisted of one long race around the bay and along the beautiful city front in boats ranging from the small one design J/70 to the offshore classic Santa Cruz 52. The race finished with Skip Ely’s Elyxir taking first for the PHRF-A division, David Boatner’s Rival in first for the PHRF-B division and Tom Fisher’s Viggen in first for the PHRF-C division.
Fisher speaks about his afternoon on the Bay. “We did well. It was a beautiful afternoon, especially to get off work early. There was a great breeze and it was sunny and warm. The tide was coming in, making the last leg a bit tricky. Coming in with the puffy and shifty conditions made it a tough one, but it was overall a good day.”
After the races, the sailors joined together for Ton Cup Awards and a social featuring a roast beef carving station and Bay City brews. Tomorrow, the rest of the classes will join the Pac52s and Farr40s for a skippers meeting at 0930, where they will began their first day of the 2019 Yachting Cup. Following Saturday’s races, competitors can enjoy a regatta party with live music by StylusOverhang.
Find more information about the regatta and follow the result at www.yachtingcup.com.
Thank you to our sponsors: Helly Hansen, Bay City Brewing Co., Downwind Marine Sailing Supply, North Sails, SD Boatworks, and Mount Gay Rum.