Port of Los Angeles Harbor Cup - Day 1
by Los Angeles Yacht Club 7 Mar 2025 20:55 PST
March 7-9, 2025
Port of Los Angeles Harbor Cup - Day 1 © Bronny Daniels / Joysailing.com
Day One of racing in the Los Angeles Yacht Club is complete with the of the University of Hawaii in first. The Rainbows are eight-time victors.
The day was not full of rainbows for all the teams as there was a minor collision, a twisted spinnaker and an over early, and three protests were heard.
Arizona State and University of Victoria are both first time competitors at Harbor Cup. The Arizona team, who was quick to let be known they are the top ranked team in Arizona. (and the only team in Arizona). According to team members after the races Friday, they were unable to fly their spinnaker successfully in the first race because of several spinnaker twists.
The Keel haulers of Cal Maritime didn't realize they were over early in the first race- and did not receive a finish- costing them to finish the day in seventh place.
The Cal Poly Sailing team boat suffered minor damage hitting the committee boat involving Cal Poly and another boat coming around the race committee boat. The scoring impact of the collision is being results of protest committee.
LAYC is proud to be hosting the 17th running of The Port of Los Angeles/Cal Maritime Harbor Cup Regatta, one of the preeminent intercollegiate sailing events in the nation," Tom Trujillo, Harbor Cup Race Chairman and Principal Race Officer said.
This event brings 10 sailing teams from leading universities and institutions to Los Angeles to compete in ocean-going Catalina 37 keelboats. Many collegiate sailing programs feature smaller dinghies, so one of our main successes is to expose these teams to competitive offshore sailing on large format sailboats."
This year's lineup includes defending champions, Maine Maritime Academy- here for their 14th time. University of Southern California also in their 14th year participating - hoping to best their second place finish last year.
Both California State University Maritime Academy and U.S. Naval Academy have participated all 17 years.
University of Hawaii and other past winners College of Charleston, and also in the mix are California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo, and the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, and making their Harbor Cup debut: Arizona State and University of Victoria.
Participating teams are selected from a large field of hopeful applicants. Since its founding in 2008 the POLA Harbor Cup has hosted 154 varsity sailing squads from 30 different universities and institutions: over 1,320 varsity athletes and coaches. "We truly enjoy the energy that 80-plus students bring to Los Angeles and to our yacht club each year," added Trujillo. After arrival at LAYC the students and their coaches are fully hosted by LAYC members, with all housing and meals provided.
In addition, the three-day event includes a Saturday evening dinner program at LAYC featuring Kimball Livingston is an international sailor, author, screenwriter and commentator who built a career of doing, then talking about the doing, in print and in person.
The POLA Harbor Cup regatta racing continues Saturday and Sunday, as the co-ed teams enjoy a series of 10 races in the challenging waters off Pt. Fermin. Sailing in the Long Beach Sailing Foundation fleet of 37-foot Catalina sailboats, these identically matched and maintained vessels will guarantee the focus is on each crew's skills and strategies to win the title.
The event is organized annually by the Port of Los Angeles, Los Angeles Yacht Club and California State University Maritime Academy.