Pac52 Class to debut Yachting Cup

San Diego Yacht Club’s signature spring event, the 2017 Yachting Cup, returns May 5-7. Its 45th running, with more than 80 entries – hailing from Southern California, Canada, Uruguay and Bermuda – are expected for this year’s regatta.

The Yachting Cup will feature ocean buoy racing on May 5 for the Pac52 and West Coast 70 classes. These scores will count towards their overall Yachting Cup class standings.

Also taking place on Friday afternoon is the Ton Cup, a random leg race inside San Diego Bay. Racing continues on Saturday and Sunday with two venues out on the Pacific Ocean and one in San Diego Bay.

Each day will feature post-race activities and parties back at San Diego YC after racing.

This will be the first event for the Pac52 Class, which includes Victor Wild’s Fox who won the Friday Ton Cup race in the 2016 Yachting Cup. Tom Holthus will race the Yachting Cup on his brand new Pac52, BadPak. Though Holthus has raced in several past Yachting Cups, this will be his first race on BadPak.

“We are very excited to be racing in Yachting Cup as the inaugural event for both the BadPak and the Pac52 Class,” Holthus said. “We have a lot of knowledge and skill in the crew and are hopeful the learning curve will not be too steep for our first race. The four new Pac52 boats should provide great entertainment for spectator boats viewing on any of the three days of racing.”

So far some of the largest classes entered are the Farr 40s, J/105s and J/70s. The J/120 class will also be well represented with 2010 Yachting Cup winner Chuck Nichols’ boat CC Rider on the entry list. Among other accomplishments, Nichols has won the J/120 North American Championship three times and has been the runner-up twice on CC Rider, but Yachting Cup remains one of his favorite races to participate in.

All of the past overall winners since 2010, including the most recent winner, David Boatner, who won the 2016 Yachting Cup on his J/35 Rival, highlight early entries for the 2017 race. The entry list also includes several class winners from previous Yachting Cups.

The organizing authority is inviting the participants of the Newport-to-Ensenada Race to plan on stopping in San Diego on their return trip north to sail in the Yachting Cup.

Skippers can continue to register their boats until 5:00 p.m. on May 2 at yachtingcup.com.

The awards ceremony will be held at San Diego YC after the completion of races on May 7 where prizes will be awarded by class.