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Newport to Ensenada Race

April 15 - 17, 2011

This 125.5 mile overnight race provides the perfect mix of fun and adventure as racers decide whether to head off-shore for stronger winds or to sail the rhumb line towards the finish. With over 50 trophy categories and numerous classes for monohulls, multihulls, and cruisers, the opportunity to "take home the silver" makes this race appealing to all levels of participants. Whether you are a first-time racer or an experienced pro, this one is for you.

The race is sandwiched between some really fun events – something that all sailors like. Enjoy the "Send-Off" Fiesta at the Bahia Corinthian Yacht Club the night before the race, a long-standing traditional that must be experienced to be believed. The post-race party atmosphere Saturday and Sunday at Race Headquarters, the Bahia Hotel in Ensenada, will definitely make you smile. Check out your score on the “big board” and then savor some local refreshment…after all, you deserve it. You just sailed the best race of your life.

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How important is the start of a 125.5-nautical mile sailboat race? For people watching Friday's 12 noon getaway of the 64th Newport to Ensenada International Yacht Race from a vantage point, getting off the line first will seem a pretty big deal.

The faster boats especially will be fighting one another and the clock over every mile. Last year Lorenzo Berho's Peligroso was the first monohull to finish but just missed the biggest prize, the President of USA trophy awarded to the boat posting the best corrected handicap time in the race.

Instead, that went to the bright yellow Taxi Dancer, a Reichel/Pugh 68 owned by Dick Compton, Jim Yabsley and Tom Parker of Santa Barbara. Peligroso finished about 11 minutes ahead of Taxi Dancer, but Peligroso owed Taxi Dancer 81 1/2 minutes and thus lost overall by 70 minutes.

Dennis Conner's Stars and Stripes also posed a threat. Taxi Dancer owed time to the dark blue Farr 60 but corrected out by less than 12 minutes behind Peligroso.

Sailing Weather Service's forecast for Friday sponsored by North Sails and Southern Spars is for a west-northwesterly wind up to nine knots---virtually the rhumb (direct) line to Todos Santos Bay all along the entire Southern California and Baja California coasts. Stronger breeze is expected offshore, but a lighter patch of wind of three to six knots will separate the sea breeze near the coast from the gradient wind farther offshore.

Friday will see the week's high temperature of 77F. At the time of this report there were 175 entries in 13 classes measuring up to 70 feet.

Berho, a Mexico City businessman in his first N2E race, settled for partial satisfaction last year.

'We are the first boat from Mexico to finish first in the Maxi class,' he said.

He acquired the boat after its original owner, Mike Campbell of Long Beach, died in 2008. Campbell named it Peligroso ('dangerous' in Spanish) which suited its new owner fine. In 2010 Peligroso trailed only the big multihulls, where H.L. Enloe's front running Loe Real suffered a similar clockback to Bill Gibbs's smaller Afterburner by 26 minutes.

Gibbs, the president of the Ocean Racing Catamaran Association, said, 'Ensenada has been an interesting race for us. In 11 attempts we have broken three times and been first to finish three times. This time we weren't first to finish but we won.'

Non-sailors can check out for themselves how serious sailing can be by viewing the 10-minute sequences of starts from the Balboa Pier, the beach and the bluffs above Corona Del Mar State Beach that the racers will pass on their way south into a full moonlit night.

In PHRF A class there also will be a competitive group of Farr 40s stretching out from their familiar around-the-buoys format to offshore racing, as they have often the last few years: David Voss's Piranha, Ray Godwin's Temptress, Dennis Rosene's Radical Departure and Zoltan Katinszky's White Knight.

'Hey, we've made the run to Cabo … twice,' Voss said. 'For a race boat it's a perfectly good overnight boat [with a] nice big central area down below.'

The 40s have agreed to race with masthead spinnakers rather than smaller fractional kites. They'll all rate minus-6.

'It's figuring to be a pretty quick race,' Voss said. 'Current modeling shows us getting in before sunrise [Saturday].'

The monohull elapsed time record for the race is 10 hours 37 minutes 50 seconds by Doug Baker's Magnitude 80 in 2009. The virtually untouchable multihull record is six hours 46 minutes 40 seconds by the late Steve Fossett on the 60-foot Stars and Stripes catamaran in 1998, the only boat ever to finish before sundown on the same day it started.

Cruising class boats may use their engines between 8:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m. during the race, but a vessel’s speed in knots may not exceed its hull speed while the engine is in gear propelling the boat.

No boats will be scored as finishing after 11:00 a.m. Sunday. The traditionally upbeat awards ceremony is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.

The race is sponsored by the City of Newport Beach, Pirates Lair, the Log, Mount Gay Rum, Vessel Assist, Sailing Spoken Here, West Marine, Marriott Newport Beach Hotel and Spa, Visit Newport Beach, Hornblower Cruises and Events, North Sails and Ruby's Diner.

Perfect Time to avoid Ensenada, IMHO!!!!

Originally Posted by bob r

Perfect Time to avoid Ensenada, IMHO!!!!

When they have special events in Ensenada I take the Truck Route no problem.

Originally Posted by bob r

Perfect Time to avoid Ensenada, IMHO!!!!

Au Contraire....Actually, it's the best time to be in the middle of Ensenada. Traditionally, this is one of the biggest fiestas thrown in the city right behind Carnaval. Always has been.
Years back, like in the 60s, the Ensenada Race was always held over Cinco De Mayo and the event was alternately referred to as The Ensenada Race or simply Cinco. It was huge and the party lasted for days and nights.
I'm convinced the event, Cinco in Ensenada, and it's exploding popularity at the time is largely the cause of Cinco De Mayo being celebrated as it is in the states today. In the old days, it meant nothing in the states as in Mexico today where it's almost a non-event.

Originally Posted by DENNIS

I'm convinced the event, Cinco in Ensenada, and it's exploding popularity at the time is largely the cause of Cinco De Mayo being celebrated as it is in the states today. In the old days, it meant nothing in the states as in Mexico today where it's almost a non-event.

You are the second person I have heard that from - the first being an old friend, who also happens to skipper a sailboat out of San Pedro.

Originally Posted by BajaGringo

You are the second person I have heard that from - the first being an old friend, who also happens to skipper a sailboat out of San Pedro.

Glad to hear I'm not alone in my deepest thoughts.

Actually Ron, this isn't the first time you heard it from me. I mentioned it on the Nomad board a year or two back [maybe longer] and you commented on it then.
Thanks.

So does that make you the third person now???

Originally Posted by BajaGringo

You are the second person I have heard that from - the first being an old friend, who also happens to skipper a sailboat out of San Pedro.

Wow I cannot remember yesterday

Originally Posted by bob r

Wow I cannot remember yesterday

What happened yesterday that you would need to remember?

Yesterday???

I am working on remembering what I did with my keys 30 minutes ago...