2025 Yachting Cup at San Diego Yacht Club - Day 1
by San Diego Yacht Club 4 May 14:26 NZST
May 2-4, 2025
2025 Yachting Cup © Colin Grey
Just because it's forecast, doesn't mean it's going to happen...
After all the concern about inclement weather and alternate plans... Day 1 of San Diego Yacht Club's Yachting Cup defied the forecasts. "Today's fleets struggled getting off the startling line in the super light winds. Races one and two were below 5 knots at the start with puffs to 6. Seas were flat. That forecast was not made," Near Course Race Officer Jeff Johnson observed. Patches of blue sky eventually came through in the afternoon, while the clouds and breeze remained fairly stable at 210 to 220.
The light conditions included a postponement for the ORR class to swap the selected mid-distance course for a shorter one with different angles. With winds generally in the 5 to 7 knot range all day, the Race Committee sent the fleet of 5 on a 20-mile random-leg race. The distance race was a pivot in the regatta format, as the ORR class turned out larger boats who were more keen on the navigation and sail trim on longer legs than on mixing it up with smaller boats on a windward/leeward course. The 20-mile course took between 2 hours 10 minutes and 2 hours 51 minutes for the differently rated boats, while the corrected times had a 13 minute spread from first to fifth.
Tom Furlong is the newest member of San Diego Yacht Club and entered his RP 52 Vitesse in this year's Yachting Cup. Vitesse, primarily an offshore racer, will be racing in the SoCal 300 and Transpac this summer. This weekend was similar to their recent practice days but with the benefit of measuring their actions against some of the boats they'll be racing this summer.
Furlong described his team's day on the water. "The first leg, a nice long reach leg, was in a good 7-8 knot breeze. I think it filled in behind us a little as it seemed like the other boats were starting to catch up with us. But it was a good angle and the reaching stuff is what a lot of the offshore boats try to exercise. So we made it to the bottom mark, and a pretty tight rounding to another reach on the way back. And that was basically our furled reaching sail with the sail of the day. It was not as heavy of breeze as we've had the last couple of days when we've been out sailing, but that kind of condition is something you really need to pay attention to, and it's very helpful trying to go fast."
The Beneteau 36.7 class finished the first day with different winners in each of the three races. Chick Pyle's Kea currently holds the lead, but the top three boats are within a point of each other heading into day 2. The J/105 was a mirror image of the Beneteau 36.7 class, with three races and three different winners. Bennet Greenwald and Dave Vieregg's Perseverance stands atop the class.
Dave Vieregg has been racing J/105s for a long time and is chairman for this year's Lipton Cup & Masters regattas in the fall, which use local J/105s. "Today started with a very light first race with many lead changes. We needed to stay pressed and full. The second race favored the middle of the course which seemed to pay off with wind pulsing 6-8 knots. In the third race the wind built and getting to a side paid off. It was very challenging, hard to get it right in the different conditions on each side. Being in the puffs meant the most. Very tight racing!"
The smallest boat on the race course this weekend is Bill Betzer's Moore 24 Valkyrie, measuring just a bit shorter than the J/24s that are racing in the bay. Valkyrie's competitive challenge was to stay close to the larger boats in their ORC-2 class. They certainly held their own as the only boat on the day to win all 3 races
Augie Sturm on Valkyrie said, "Growing up I was always told boat speed is 60 percent of a boat race. Today, keeping the boat rumbling in the light wavy conditions was the key to our success even if we are always chasing the pack. Tomorrow, the most important thing will be staying off the keel and finding the wind."
The J/111 class ended today in a tie. Peter Wagner's Skeleton Key made up for their third place finish in Race 1 with two race wins to finish the day, while Marty Vogel's Madmen team finished in the top two all day to remain in the first place tie.
John Staff and his team aboard J/111 Obsidian raced hard in a six-boat fleet on the far ocean course today. He said they are looking forward to tomorrow, adding "We left San Diego Yacht Club's dock in a light rain, which thankfully ended before the first start. The conditions on the course were very soft for the first two races with the wind oscillating in a way that was difficult to understand. For the third race, the wind filled in a bit and we enjoyed 9 knots of breeze. We are looking forward to tomorrow's sailing, especially since the forecast seems like it will be pretty windy!"
The J/111 class was also well represented at Friday's Ton Cup, racing in SDYC's fleet of J/22s. Obsidian owner John Staff and his team won the event against many experienced J/22 sailors. "The Ton Cup was a wonderful event. Our crew consisted of Michelle Shanks and I from California Yacht Club, who are visiting San Diego Yacht Club for the Yachting Cup. We were very lucky to have as our third crew SDYC member Gary Mitchell, who lives in Point Loma and was a fantastic asset in our day of racing. We loved how powerful the J/22s felt in the gusts, and how simple they were to sail. The format was fantastic with 20 races. 16 teams rotated through eight identical J/22s, exchanging boats off a dock right next to the start/finish line. The conditions in La Playa were just perfect, with sun and good breeze. In the end, we were very pleasantly surprised by our win. San Diego Yacht Club, who could not have been better organized or more gracious, ended the day with a generous party after racing on their lawn. All in all a great and memorable day."
Even though today's forecasts didn't quite pan out, the weather models for tomorrow seem to have consolidated with a wet frontal passage tonight, followed by scattered showers and mid-teen winds on Sunday from the west. It will be bumpy, but a great competitive day of sailing.
Saturday night brings Yachting Cup sailors back to SDYC for a party featuring tequila tastings from Baila Tequila, carving stations and live music by Gin N Jukes.
Follow along with the racing action at www.yachtingcup.com for results and photos throughout the weekend.
Full results available here.