Southland Sailing : 39 Yachts Set for Start of Race to Cabo
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Thirty-nine International Offshore Rule (IOR) yachts are scheduled to answer the starting signal today at 1 p.m. in Newport Harbor Yacht Club’s 790-mile race to Cabo San Lucas.
The race is the only one of three to the Baja California resort that does not include Performance Handicap Racing Fleet ratings. For that reason, it is used by several yachts as a tuneup for the 2,225-mile Los Angeles-to-Honolulu race, scheduled to begin July 2. Both races are held in odd-numbered years.
And like the Transpac, the Cabo race usually attracts a strong field of ultra-light downwind boats, all looking for line honors--first to finish.
The fast boats in this year’s Cabo race include Prima, a Nelson-Marek 68 under charter to Rod Muir of Australia; Drumbeat, an NM-68 sailed by Don Ayres of Newport Harbor Yacht Club; Kathmandu, a Santa Cruz-70 sailed by Reggie Cole of the San Diego Yacht Club; Swiftsure III, an NM-68 sailed by Kenneth Ott of SDYC; Ragtime, a Spencer-62 sailed by Pat Farrah of ,Long Beach Yacht Club; Tigris, a Swan-76 sailed by Jim Warmington of NHYC, and Blondie, an SC-70 entered by Bob McNulty of Los Angeles YC.
Capable of beating the ultra-lights under the right wind and sea conditions is John Scripps’ 79-foot ketch Miramar, a veteran of many offshore races.
Handicap honors will be up for grabs among half a dozen Santa Cruz-50s, designed by Bill Lee of Santa Cruz, and a pair of Express-37s from the design board of Carl Shumacher of San Francisco.
After the Cabo race, most of the yachts will compete March 20 in a day race around the buoys off Cabo for the Governor’s Cup, sponsored by Alberto Alvarada Aramburo, governor of Lower Baja California.
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