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Newport to Ensenada race gets underway with light winds

April 29, 2023

When the Newport to Ensenada International Yacht Race launched in 1948, it was called the “Just for Fun” race.

“It still is just for fun,” said Newport Ocean Sailing Association Commodore Mary Bacon as the 75th sailing of the famed race got underway Friday. “I don’t know of another race that is as fun as this, especially being an international race. There’s something for everybody.”

Sailboats leave the start line of the 75th Newport to Ensenada International Yacht Race just offshore from the Balboa Pier in Newport Beach on Friday, April 28, 2023. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Sailing fans watch from the Balboa Pier in Newport Beach as the sailboats gather offshore for the start of the 75th Newport to Ensenada International Yacht Race on Friday, April 28, 2023. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)

The crew of XLR8 waves to sailing fans gathered on the Balboa Pier in Newport Beach just prior to the start of the 75th Newport to Ensenada International Yacht Race on Friday, April 28, 2023. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Sailboats gather just offshore from the Balboa Pier in Newport Beach for the start of the 75th Newport to Ensenada International Yacht Race on Friday, April 28, 2023. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Sailboats near the start line of the 75th Newport to Ensenada International Yacht Race just offshore from the Balboa Pier in Newport Beach on Friday, April 28, 2023. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)

A woman takes photos from the Balboa Pier in Newport Beach as the sailboats gather offshore for the start of the 75th Newport to Ensenada International Yacht Race on Friday, April 28, 2023. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Sailboats head offshore from the Balboa Pier in Newport Beach after leaving the start line of the 75th Newport to Ensenada International Yacht Race on Friday, April 28, 2023. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Sailboats wait for the start of the 75th Newport to Ensenada International Yacht Race just offshore from the Balboa Pier in Newport Beach on Friday, April 28, 2023. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Malilia waits for the start of the 75th Newport to Ensenada International Yacht Race on Friday, April 28, 2023 near the Balboa Pier in Newport Beach. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)

The crew of El Guapo waves to sailing fans gathered on the Balboa Pier in Newport Beach just prior to the start of the 75th Newport to Ensenada International Yacht Race on Friday, April 28, 2023. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)

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This year’s 125-mile race has about 140 boats racing ranging from small 30-foot recreational cruisers to 80-foot multi-million-dollar yachts and they are sailing either of two courses – one that goes to San Diego and around the Coronado Islands, and the other to Ensenada, Mexico. A mini race to Dana Point was eliminated this year.

Spectators lined the Balboa Pier in Newport Beach at 11 a.m. Friday to watch the start of the race, marveling at the boats getting set to sail south toward their destination. With light winds to start the race in and in the forecast through Saturday, it’s not expected to be a record-breaking year.

Many of the boats hail from Southern California harbors, but nine different states are represented and there are even crews from Canada and Mexico that joined this year’s race.

Boaters spent the past week getting their vessels ready and loading up food and drinks for the overnight journey, said Bacon.

“Let the circus begin,” she said.

It’s the camaraderie that makes it special, the excitement and the passion for being out on the water during such an iconic race, Bacon said.

The Newport Ocean Sailing Association was founded in August 1947, “a post-World War II dream of recognizing local sailors” and opening up boating to Mexico, with Ensenada selected as the destination of NOSA’s first long-distance ocean race.

The event started before many of the nearby harbors existed, just as yacht clubs were starting to form and as the sport of sailing was growing along the coast.

The race is a draw for serious competitors who aim to break records and casual cruisers joining for the party element, lured by the margaritas and beers that flow at the finish line.

While the Newport to Ensenada International Yacht Race has a festive vibe, it’s also a serious contest to win bragging right among boaters.

“It’s always a new adventure, based on the friends and family you’re with – and certainly based on the weather,” Bacon said.

This year’s mild conditions paled in comparison to last year’s record-breaking, whipping winds that were clocked at upward 30 knots. “They were flying,” Bacon said.

NOSA Staff Commodore Bills Gibbs and crew last year took home the best time with Wahoo, his Schionning 1400 catamaran.

In 2021, it was Jerry Fiat’s Farrier 32 SRX Taniwha that was the big winner.

Taniwha sat out last year’s race, but Long Beach sailor Peter Sangmeister, 21, had a game plan for the trimaran this year – to dart out quickly from the start line and go way offshore to find wind.

“We’re looking to finish first in line,” he said. “It’s one of the fastest boats in Southern California and we’re hoping we’ve put together a team of some pretty good people.”

The trimaran is 32 feet, not big, “but it’s very fast.”

Sangmeister comes from a long line of sailors and is a third generation Newport-to-Ensenada racer. His grandfather Peter Tong, 82, has done the event a handful of times and his father, John, 60, will be on a different boat, Rock N Roll, competing in a separate category.

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Sangmeister did the race in 2016 with his father, but they didn’t quite make it to the finish line. The boat broke just as they reached the boarder and they had to turn around, he said.

One of the exciting parts of the race is the number of boats. The shorter race course makes it more accessible than the longer Newport Harbor to Cabo San Lucas race or the Transpacific Yacht Race, which goes from Los Angeles to Hawaii.

“This is a more mellow race, which I think is a big attraction,” Sangmeister said Friday. “But it is an international race, one of the shortest you can do in the world. I’m praying for a bit more wind and I think everyone will have a bit more fun.”

To track the boats in real time, go to nosa.org

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Orange County Register