Harbor Cup 2020 returns to San Pedro, March 6-8

SAN PEDRO—One of the most recognized college sailing invitational events returns to San Pedro, as Los Angeles Yacht Club and California State University Maritime Academy will host Harbor Cup 2020 at the Port of Los Angeles. Ten schools will be competing against each other, using Catalina 37s.

Only invited schools are permitted to compete in Harbor Cup 2020; the request to be invited had to be filed with Los Angeles YC and Cal Maritime by Dec. 1, 2019.

The teams invited to compete in Harbor Cup 2020 are: College of Charleston; United States Merchant Marine Academy; Eckerd College; United States Coast Guard Academy; United States Naval Academy; Cal Poly San Luis Obispo; University of Hawai’i, University California Santa Barbara; Cal Maritime; and, Pennsylvania State University.

College of Charleston was last year’s Harbor Cup winner, with Cal Maritime and Cork Institute of Technology finishing second and third. Also competing in last year’s Harbor Cup were UC Santa Barbara, U.S. Naval Academy, SUNY Maritime College, U.S. Coast Guard Academy, USC, U.S. Merchant Marine Academy and UCLA (listed in order of finish, fourth to tenth place).

Each team must have eight crewmembers, with at least two of them being women (consistent with international collegiate sailing rules).

“The event will be sailed in Catalina 37’s. Ten … boats will be provided,” according to the Notice of Race. “The following sails will be provided for each boat: Mainsail, Genoa, and Spinnaker. Boats will initially be allocated by draw, and then rotated at the end of each racing day thereafter. The Catalina 37s will only be provided to teams beginning after the skipper’s meeting on the first day of the regatta.”

Charters for the Catalina 37s, lodging and meals are provided for each team; there is no cost for teams to compete in Harbor Cup 2020.

A skipper’s meeting will be held at 10 a.m. at the Los Angeles YC dining room on March 6. Sailing instructions will be provided to each team at registration.

Teams will have time for a practice run between 10:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. on March 6. A warning signal for the first race will be given at 1:30 p.m.; dinner will occur after racing at 6:30 p.m.

The March 7 schedule is as follows: team practice from 9-11 a.m.; warning signal for first race at 11:30 a.m.; and, dinner, with Gary Jobson as guest speaker, at 6:30 p.m.

Racing on March 8 also begins at 11:30 a.m.; there will be no starts after 2:30 p.m. on the race’s final day. A trophy presentation will take place after all racing is completed.

“The racing area will be outside Los Angeles Harbor, with the starting area approximately one nautical mile SW of the Los Angeles Harbor Entrance. Courses will be windward-leeward as diagramed in the Sailing Instructions,” according to the Notice of Race. “Trophies for first through third place shall be awarded. The Port of Los Angeles Harbor Cup Perpetual Trophy shall be awarded to the first place team.”

Questions about Harbor Cup 2020 should be directed to Los Angeles YC (harborcupchair@layc.org), Erin Sprague of Cal Maritime (esprague@csum.edu) or Phillip Sanfield with the Port of Los Angeles (psanfield@portla.org).

Los Angeles YC is located at 285 Whaler’s Walk in San Pedro.