Patrick & Mark Nichols' Rogers 46 Natural Nine wins the 2026 Islands Race
by Karina Sandhu, SDYC 10 Feb 18:10 PST
February 6-7, 2026
2026 Islands Race © Bruce Crary / Bronny Daniels
Newport Harbor Yacht Club and San Diego Yacht Club's 16th Offshore Race Around the Islands kicked off Friday, February 6, with 26 boats heading south from Newport Beach to San Diego. Established in 2010, the Islands Race has become a staple of the Southern California offshore calendar, drawing a competitive mix of seasoned offshore racers from across the United States.
This year's fleet spanned boats in 6 classes ranging from 27 to 68 feet and represented a variety of designs and performance profiles. While traditionally routed around the Channel Islands, including Catalina and San Clemente, the 2026 course was shortened to an approximately 107-nautical-mile race rounding Catalina Island only due to anticipated light wind conditions. The adjustment was made to keep the fleet moving and ensure a timely finish - a practical call for skippers and crews balancing offshore ambitions with a Super Bowl Sunday finish window. This course was last used in the 2019 Islands Race.
Fortunately at the start there was a little more breeze than initially predicted, which was a relief to both the race committee and competitors. Newport Harbor's PRO Charlie Welsh discussed the race start stating "We had a great day out there, much better than what the forecast predicted. We had five great starts, and four OCS across all starts. That's a bummer on a long distance race, but they fixed it and made the most of it. We appreciate all the competitors that made it out for the event."
To track the fleet throughout the race, YB trackers - a satellite device widely used in offshore racing - were required aboard every vessel. YB trackers transmit position, speed, and heading data via satellite, allowing race organizers, shore teams, and fans to follow the fleet in real time, even well beyond cellular range.
As the fleet worked its way towards Catalina Island, competitors worked with varying winds that shifted between 4 and 10 knots, alongside traffic management and the tactical challenges of coastal offshore racing. SDYC Waterfront Director Jeff Johnson commented on race conditions for this event. "The Islands course was conceived to be a warm up for the two classic West Coast offshore races to Mexico: The Cabo Race hosted by Islands co-host NHYC and SDYC's own Puerto Vallarta Race. Leg one for Islands is a 20nm sprint WSW to Catalina's west end. It's usually a fetch and almost immediately crosses the LA Harbor Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS) that is equivalent to a major maritime highway. With a more westerly wind, the expectation is to zip across the Catalina channel and be around the West End in just a couple hours. This year, the event was dominated by a light southerly breeze. But after the start, mother nature offered more breeze than expected and most of the fleet was around the West end by 17:30.
Leg Two for the Islands is supposed to be the fun part - a 45nm sail south to San Clemente in an evening/night offshore WNW wind, trimming kites and steering the waves that are hallmark offshore conditions. That would be followed by Leg Three featuring a 70+ nm fetch/run/beat to the finish sailing out of an offshore trade breeze, through a convergence zone and into a developing thermal. Lots of crew work and sail changes... perfect practice for longer offshore races with these required maneuvers.
Instead, between midnight and 0700, this year's competitors sailed through the shortened course slot between Catalina and San Clemente on an 80nm beat/fetch to the south and the standard finish line off Point Loma in a freshening SSW wind. The best part of that odd wind direction is boats didn't have to negotiate a wind shadow south of Catalina that would have laid across their rhumbline course had the wind been from the traditional WNW. As a result many in the fleet were VMG sailing in the high single digits to the finish. Some of the Class D and F boats were caught in the dawn transition but finished up in a more familiar west wind."
Natural Nine, skippered and co-owned by Patrick and Mark Nichols, took first overall in the 2026 Islands Race and first in the ORR-C class. When asked about his win and what he and his crew did to prepare, Patrick stated "We came in looking to dial in the boat and have fun. Plus, this is a preparation race for the PV Race at the end of the month. Going into this race, the forecast was really tough. We came in trying to maximize all of the options that we had - put up some new sails, work on our crew work - and it just worked out. Mark followed up stating "What surprised me was the wind being kind of on the nose. There was a lot of upwind work, which we weren't expecting, but it was really fun. Every time we came up, I was like 'great.'" When asked about the upcoming Puerto Vallarta Race, both Patrick and Mark stated "We are ready to rock. While we're here to have fun, we also came to compete."
Another boat preparing for the PV Race is Patriot IX who took 3rd in the ORR-C class. The Class 40 sailboat was donated to the U.S. Patriots Sailing Program - a program for veterans, military and first responders. The team was proud of their 3rd place finish according to SDYC skipper Andy Moulds who also mentioned that this was the first time the group had sailed together as a team. When asked why he thought the team was able to work so well without any prior experience sailing together, Moulds stated "They're all highly trained military people. We had three submariners on the boat. We had an intelligence officer. While I'm not in the military, I was kind of brought in as a volunteer to be the skipper and captain of the boat. With our backgrounds and professional experiences, I guess we just understood how to work together. Plus, everyone had enough sailing experience, so they knew what to do. We did, however, have to talk through each step in the race because the boat was new to most of us, so nothing happened really quick on the boat. But it happened when we needed it to, which is what counts."
As noted, the Islands Race serves as a valuable tune-up for boats preparing for longer offshore campaigns, most notably the biennial Puerto Vallarta Race, which begins February 26. Many teams in this year's Islands Race fleet will continue on to PV, using the coastal sprint south as an opportunity to test systems, refine watch rotations, and settle into offshore mode. Among the standout entries competing in both events are Amazing Grace, a Custom Farr 57; Arcturus, a Cookson 50; Favonius 2 and Meanie, both TP52s; Good Call, a Swan 60; Javelin, a J/125; Natural Nine, a Rogers 46; Patriot IX, a Class 40 and Zero Gravity 51, a Reichel/Pugh 51.
Event Chair Wayne Terry reflected on the Islands Race's continued success and the upcoming PV Race, stating, "The Islands Race has been a great partnership with Newport Harbor Yacht Club over the years. Kudos to the sailing office teams for their planning and oversight of this event. While conditions vary year-to-year - with both this year's and the 2025 edition sailed in light air - it serves as a good prep for the Puerto Vallarta Race. It gets PV boats from the north to SDYC and is also just a fun and challenging race."
Thanks to Helly Hansen for sponsoring this event and supporting SDYC's offshore racing events.
Full results available here.