Long Beach to Cabo San Lucas International Yacht Race opportunity
by Rick Roberts on 23 Mar 2010
Peter Tong and his crew on OEX Rick Roberts
An opportunity to race in a major inshore buoy regatta followed by an offshore race to Cabo San Lucas 12 days later is being offered by Long Beach Yacht Club this fall.
The second annual Campbell Cup is scheduled the weekend of Oct. 23-24, then LBYC will start its race to Cabo San Lucas, Nov. 5.
With the races separated by only one weekend, the plan is to offer local moorings to boats entered in both events. This would allow time to re-configure their boats from buoy racing to offshore racing, provision the boat and then race to Cabo San Lucas.
The Campbell Cup, first sailed in 2009, is named for legendary sailor Mike Campbell, and draws the same ocean racing sleds that compete in the Cabo race.
Peter Tong, who broke the elapsed time record in the 2008 Cabo race on his Santa Cruz 70, OEX, plans to be in both events. OEX sailed the 804-nautical mile course in 2 days 22 hours 50 minutes 9 seconds to eclipse the 23-year old record set by another SC70, Blondie, by nearly 5 hours.
'I think we’ve been looking for a venue in the fall for quite some time,' Tong said. 'With the Campbell Cup and then the offshore Cabo race, Long Beach Yacht Club now has a stake in it. I think a lot of sled owners will participate in both. I know I’m looking forward to it.
'In the last race it really blew. It was perfect with the right amount of wind and the right amount of speed. You never know how much is too much until you’re out there.
'I think it’s terrific having both races close together with time in between to get the boat ready for the offshore race.'
Ed McDowell’s SC70, Grand Illusion, skippered by Patrick O’Brien, finished about an hour behind OEX in the 2008 race and took first-place honors on overall corrected handicap time.
'We’re definitely going to Campbell Cup,' O’Brien said, 'and having the Cabo race about 10 days later will keep the interest up. November is usually a quiet time of year for us, so it should be fun.
'In 2008 the weather was quite lively. The wind came up and it was a fun race. All of the boats finished within an hour or so of each other and we ended up having a great dock party.'
Entered classes will be scored on PHRF, IRC and ORR ratings and separated into two divisions. Division I will start on Friday, Nov. 5, and Division II will start on Saturday, Nov. 6.
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