Puerto Vallarta Race at San Diego Yacht Club
by San Diego Yacht Club 3 Mar 2018 05:20 AEDT
1-9 March 2018
Puerto Vallarta Race © Bob Betancourt
The Vallarta Race 2018 is officially underway with the first three boats getting their start on Thursday for the 1,000nm race. The rest of the teams can be found enjoying beer and tacos along with Mariachis provided by partner Bay City Brewing and Mexico Tourism at the San Diego Yacht Club for the Kick Off Race Party Thursday night as they gear up for their starts on Friday and Saturday.
Returning crowd favourite Mighty Merloe will be trying to break the course record of two days, eight hours, and 55 minutes. Crew member Will Suto shared some excitement for this year's race, "I'm looking forward to sailing under the full moon, making the transition from the Pacific to the Sea of Cortez, and swapping stories in Puerto Vallarta. Mighty Merloe had a refit in the fall, so we're looking forward to unleashing her in the open ocean. We have most of our Transpac crew returning, with the addition of accomplished trimmer Thierry Fouchier and ORMA 60 legend Nat Iyengar."
Multihull course record: two days, eight hours, 55 minutes (Orion, 2012)
Mighty Merloe, starting at 12:20 PM on Saturday, will need to finish by 9:15 PM (PST) on Monday to break the course record set by Tom Siebel and the Mod 70 Orion in 2012.
In Division 3, Alex Camet from Peligroso said, "The PV Race is one of our favourite races! We have both Mexican and American sailors onboard and it's really exciting for us to leave from San Diego and arrive in Puerto Vallarta. Our program is designed to give young Mexican sailors offshore experience so that they can take those lessons and apply them to work and daily lives."
Steve Meheen, the new owner of the Botin 80 Cabrón (previously Beau Geste) was disappointed to have to cancel his entry at the last minute this week. After weeks of trying to get the boat delivered from Australia in time to race to PV, the timing just didn't work out. We'll see Cabrón racing later this summer in the SoCal 300, part of the CA Offshore Race Week, the Ensenada Race, and the Pacific Cup. With the loss of Cabrón from the roster, Division 1 and 2 were combined to make a five boat fleet.
Monohull course record: three days, five hours, 41 minutes (Rio100, 2016)
Manouch Moshayedi's Rio100 is back to conquer the Vallarta Race course again. In 2016, Rio100 set the monohull course record at three days, five hours, 41 minutes. Starting at 12:10 PM on Saturday, they will need to finish by Tuesday at 5:51 PM (PST) to eclipse their 2016 mark.
In Division 5, the Santa Cruz 50/52 will be racing in a tight rating band against each other as they often do on the west coast. In 2017, Horizon bested Triumph and Hana Ho in the Transpac Race, while Lucky Duck and Horizon battled back and forth throughout the CA Offshore Race Week, with Horizon ahead in division, but Lucky Duck coming in 2nd overall in the series and ahead of Horizon. Owners Dave MacEwen (Lucky Duck) and John Shulze (Horizon) have been enjoying highly competitive battles for several years, and look forward to another Santa Cruz 50/52 class match up.