A lot of sailors would suggest that it’s ‘when’ you start that matters, the earlier the better. Others would insist that it’s the weather on your start day that matters most, the windier the better. Both are logical and have been true separately and combined. But what if NEITHER mattered?

Not many (any?) spectators on Shelter Island watching the Saturday starters for the the 2024 San Diego to Puerto Vallarta International Yacht Race would have speculated that seven of the boats floating in the windless bay that afternoon would fill the top seven overall finishing positions! They were already 48 hours behind the two Thursday starters blasting down the course in a fresh westerly wind. But after a week of many sail changes, cursing grib files, running weather models, and pressing the boat when the ‘park up’ (sitting ‘parked’ in becalmed windless conditions) was over, that is exactly what the results reflect.

Looking ahead to Wednesday night’s racing, it appears as if the wind will hold up overnight and allow the fleet to press to finish: the way it should be. There is traditionally a day or two of light winds in this race. This year, they came at the beginning of the race. Fortunately, ideal downwind race conditions have turned the race around for the 20 boats still on the course.

Pyewacket looms as the projected corrected-time leader despite the majority of the fleet sailing out ahead of them, leaving little room for error for those vying for the title. Two weeks ago, BadPak sailed an impeccable Islands Race, winning with Pyewacket 2nd overall. This week, Pyewacket looks to pay it back and will have the final 200 miles to set the pace. Also in contention is Rio100 with their Wednesday morning finish establishing the time to beat. Vitesse and Peligroso also rank in the top 5 and will have a chance at the overall win.

Rio100 used a strong last 24 hours to be first to finish in the 2024 PV Race, crossing the line at 07:36:25 Wednesday morning for an elapsed time of 3 days, 19 hours, 16 minutes, 25 seconds. In addition to their first to finish result, Rio100 has set the corrected time to beat. Based on predictions from recent progress on the course this time has a chance to be competitive against the rest of the fleet who still have a day of racing + to go. Rio100 has raced to PV 3 previous times, in 2016 (16th overall), 2018 (9th overall), and 2022 (9th overall). Could this be the year where the accolades include corrected time success in addition to elapsed time elite preformance?

Daily 0800 Projected Standings

Projected contenders this morning include Lucky Duck, Peligroso, BadPak and Pyewacket with estimated corrected times right around Rio's mark. BadPak and Peligroso remain within a few miles of each other and will likely eat up the miles between them and Lucky Duck 40+ miles ahead on the last leg of the race. While Pyewacket will sail in different conditions 60+ miles behind the other top contenders leaving lots of room for gains or losses along the way meaning this race is up for grabs and should have an exciting finish.

Competitors in the 2024 San Diego to Puerto Vallarta International Yacht Race are approaching a classic tactical waypoint while negotiating the Baja Peninsula. Boats will gamble on sailing fewer miles by hugging the Baja coast or bearing away to the south, hoping to avoid getting stuck in the lee of Cabo San Lucas and the surrounding Baja headlands. 

Rio100 finally powered up, showing teens on the speedo at sunrise on Tuesday morning. And as the first to reach the Cabo milestone at 1000 PST, Rio100 consistently sailed 18-20 kts throughout the day Tuesday, swinging just 14 miles offshore from Cabo and then gybing south nearly 60 miles. With the speed boost, Rio put 70 miles on their nearest competitor Blackwing, who passed 26 miles off of Cabo 7 hours later on Tuesday afternoon.

Most boats on the course are about 24 hours behind last year’s record-setting pace. Compared with their 2022 position at this same elapsed time, Rio 100 and BadPak are roughly 200 miles short. Such Fast, a Thursday starter, is about 140 miles short of last year’s Monday morning location.

The 2024 edition of the San Diego to Puerto Vallarta International Yacht Race features a staggered start so the smaller boats can sail their best race and hopefully finish within a day or two of the larger, presumably faster boats.

With the Thursday starters from division ORR 6 sailing about 140nm on their initial 24 hours down the course, Friday saw divisions ORR 5 and ORR 4 start in what amounted to a ‘fair’ breeze. While the forecasts called for mostly calm with some models even suggesting a southeast wind (which would mean upwind sailing) a modest 5-8 kts from the west showed up in the harbor to move both fleets smartly out of San Diego harbor and into a building westerly for the rest of their run for the day. 

The biennial San Diego to Puerto Vallarta International Yacht Race started in 1953, and returns for the 37th running February 22 - March 1, 2024. Sailors have been racing to the Mexican mainland for decades in San Diego Yacht Club’s signature offshore race for the on-water adventure and competition, and the tropical winter weather awaiting them in PV. Twenty two boats are set to compete in this year’s 1000nm race from the start line in San Diego Bay to the entrance of Banderas Bay in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

The race officially begins Thursday, February 22 with Class 6 boats Blackwing (Grand Soleil 44 Race) and Such Fast (1D35) squaring off as the first two starters of the race. These two will get a 24 hour and 48 hour head start over the rest of the fleet starting on Friday and Saturday. In 2022, the Thursday starters remained ahead of the later starters for the first three days of racing before the bigger and faster boats caught them at just past the halfway mark of the race. David Garman is racing his 1D35 Such Fast out of Seattle in his third straight PV Race, eager to escape the winter weather for warmer San Diego and tropical conditions in PV. Garman’s adventure won’t stop after the PV Race. He’ll be competing in MEXORC in Banderas Bay before solo sailing his boat up the Gulf of California for a few weeks.

The San Diego Yacht Club (SDYC) is thrilled to announce the upcoming 37th edition of the Puerto Vallarta Race, a biennial international offshore yacht race, set to take place from February 22 to March 1, 2024. With a rich history dating back to 1953, the race has evolved into a premier event attracting the best offshore sailors, featuring a challenging 1,000 nautical mile course from San Diego, CA to the vibrant shores of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

US Sailing is working on the 2024 ORR Rating application system. For those racing earlier 2024 events like the SDYC Islands Race and Puerto Vallarta Race, you're welcome to use the currently available application form for renewals or new boat applications. The form will be the same next year, just a more streamlined process.

See the "Apply for 2023 ORR Certificate" button here https://www.ussailing.org/competition/offshore/orr/#applications.

If there are any boats racing in the PV Race needing insurance please contact Romeo Villarreal. Romeo has participated in the PV Race and other local offshore events and can assist with the changing dynamics of offshore race boat insurance.

Share the knowledge - invite your team - the more the afterguard, speed team and crew are involved - the better. You will learn about:

  • preparation
  • race strategy (PV, Baja & Islands Race)
  • pre-race weather study
  • sailing team communication
  • safety considerations
  • in-race optimal routing and tactics
  • satellite data techniques
  • and much more

For Reservations, contact: ventas@flamingohotels.com.mx

Prices include: Standard room, tax, breakfast buffet, Wifi in rooms and hotel grounds.

Bookings for this Room Block available until January 30, 2024. Prices per night:

SINGLE ROOM: $108
DOUBLE ROOM: $116
TRIPLE ROOM: $141
QUAD ROOM: $168
CHILD (6-12): $30
JUNIOR (13-17): $52

In December of 2021 I called Kjeld Hestehave and asked if he wanted to do the PV2022 Race.  Kjeld and I have a long history of racing together on Velos and his Etchells.  I knew he wanted to sell the boat and that there may not be many more opportunities for us to offshore racing together, and his love of doing them is unmatched.

Distance ocean races come in all different shapes and sizes. There’s a point where it goes from an event you can grit your teeth and battle through, to a length of time on the boat where you need to establish a flow for the on/off watch periods and cycle of racing day and night. The average time on the course in this year’s Puerto Vallarta Race was 5 days, 2 hours, which needs that flow to succeed.

Stan Fleming, J/125 Nereid, shared why the race to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico needs a different mentality than shorter races.

“What you’re trying to do is get to an equilibrium…a balance between performance and self care. Once you get into that equilibrium, you can sail as long as you want. In this race, at San Cedros on about the third day, for the evening then night watches, I got to do exactly the same thing regardless, and I lost that conventional vision of time. That’s kind of a good feeling when offshore. The Cabo Race is barely enough time to get in that flow. But this race was really a long distance race… you have to get into that equilibrium. That’s where experience is key, being able to manage yourself.”

Overall Winners of the 2022 Puerto Vallarta Race, hosted by San Diego Yacht Club are John Raymont and the crew of his Ker-51 Fast Exit II. John along with navigator Brad Wheeler gave us the story of setting the boat up for success and have they sailed the winning track in this year's 1000nm race to Puerto Vallarta.

Friday's recap will feature a brief of tactical and class specific choices made during the regatta... all the stuff you'll want to know to do well in the 2024 PV Race. But tonight in Puerto Vallarta there are a lot of crews celebrating camaraderie and the conclusion of a great experience. Some years are faster (better?) than others and this will rank as a really good one.

Like spectators peering over each other to get a glimpse of a racer approaching from far away, the Race Committee studied the YB tracker through the afternoon yesterday trying to anticipate when the first boat would cross the line. That honor went to Pyewacket 70! In fact, both Pyewacket 70 and Rio100 eclipsed the 2016 monohull course record (Rio100); Pyewacket 70 by an hour, Rio100 by 25 mins.

As the sun comes up Tuesday on the 2022 Puerto Vallarta race track, the YB tracker reveals some great stuff. If you believe the Windy.com weather overlay, you might notice a little river of green with white lines flowing south out of the Sea of Cortez. THAT IS MONEY! First, the more ‘northerly’ direction the wind, the better for sailors reaching to the east on a port gybe. Second, the green-ish tint indicates wind strength of 10-ish knots. The wind strength key is across the bottom of the screen. While it is not a vibrant green (high teens), it is not covered in the dreaded ‘blue bayou’ that indicates wind of 5 kts or less. The Tuesday 0800 roll calls are reporting a few lulls in the ‘green’ winds, but Race Committee expects that as the daily thermals mature, the winds will develop and help the fleet stay compressed and on a fast track to the finish.

As the competitors in the 2022 Vallarta race continue south in what is being reported as “great sailing conditions”, it is worth taking a moment to look at how this game has played out in the past. 

To start, Rio100 owns the elapsed time record set in 2016 at 3 ds, 5 hrs, 42 min, 43 sec. Both she and Pyewacket have been rolling through the fleet like they’re in a car chase. The trackers are currently projecting both of them to finish ahead of the record, with Pyewacket edging out Rio by about an hour, and knocking a little more than 4 hours off the Elapsed Time Record. In fact, there could be as many as five Class 1 boats and even Fast Exit in Class 2 breaking the tape in record time. Race Time 18:02:42 on Tuesday is the time to beat to be on that podium.

After three days of really nice conditions at the start of the San Diego to Puerto Vallarta Race, all boats are on the course! It has been called the “pleasant depart” - a reference to boats sailing to Mexico starting the race with spinnakers as opposed to the edgier initial course for boats sailing to Hawaii which typically involves some upwind sailing for the first day or two. So while it wouldn’t be fair to say we saved the best for last, it would be accurate to say the last got the best… start conditions. As a whole, the middle of the Saturday Class 1 and 2 fleet have already sprinted 270 miles down the course in the first 20 hours. 

If Friday’s summary word-of-the race was “angles”, Saturday’s words are “VMC or Velocity Made on Course.” Watching the Thursday Class 6 boats beat their way out of San Diego Bay in a southerly wind was a tough way to start a distance race. At 0800 Roll Call Saturday, they were generally passing San Carlos/Turtle Bay. By contrast, the Friday Class 5, 4, and 3 boats got a nice westerly breeze that built through the evening and allowed them to fast reach directly toward the finish 1050nm away. Their 0800 boat positions are less than 100nm astern, about parallel to Guadalupe Island. Watching the YB Tracker, you can see the dramatic difference in course choices. By 0400 or 0500, the Friday boats started to gybe back toward the Baja coast and stay closer to the rhumbline, the most direct course to the finish.

San Diego Yacht Club’s race to Puerto Vallarta, Day 1 is in the books for Class 6 (Thursday start) and to sum up their race so far: angles. Twenty hours into their 2022 Puerto Vallarta Race at the 0800 morning, email check-in had the three Class 6 boats 120-135 miles down the course. White Cloud and Envolee were within a half mile of each other having morning coffee (or their equivalent). Such Fast stands only a few miles behind the other two in terms of distance to finish, but in a more offshore position. Clearly different pages from the Mexico Race play book.

Nathalie Criou, Envolee skipper: 

“Awesome sailing last night - 17 to 20 knots of breeze which has turned into s**t about a hundred miles from Cedros. Battling it out with White Cloud but we’ve lost track of Such Fast. Team morale is good and we are all rested as the weather tests our patience."

The 2022 Puerto Vallarta Race hosted by San Diego Yacht Club is the 36th running of the biennial yacht race from San Diego to the Mexican mainland. The previous edition in March 2020 took place in the last waning days prior to the wide-scale Covid 19 shutdown in the US, which literally broke while the competitors were racing to Puerto Vallarta. Two years later, a strong fleet of 30 boats set sail on the 1000nm course, some as their first distance race of the last two years.

Teams drawing mostly from the US west coast, but as far as Australia, are looking forward to the competition of this race, but also the picturesque, springtime destination of Puerto Vallarta. Those from the colder climates in Northern California and Washington see this race as the perfect winter getaway with temperatures in the 80s awaiting in Puerto Vallarta.

SDYC KICK OFF PARTY
Thursday, March 10, 2022, 1800

Skippers and crew of participating PV Race boats are invited to attend the Kick Off Party at San Diego Yacht Club, included with the entry fee. Additional party tickets can be purchased for family and friends and SDYC members.

BUY EXTRA KICK OFF PARTY TICKETS


AWARDS PARTY IN PV

Friday, March 18, 2022, Time TBD
Terraza Arrecifes at the Westin Hotel & Marina Puerto Vallarta, (same outdoor venue as previous years)

1 Ticket per race crew included at no charge. Additional guests will be able to buy tickets online or at the party for $30.

BUY EXTRA AWARDS PARTY TICKETS

A variety of official 2022 PV Race shirts and hats are available for order online now. Merchandise will be available for pickup at SDYC March 10-12.

ORDER FORM

Thirty-two boats are already registered for the 2022 Puerto Vallarta (PV) Race scheduled for March 10-18, 2022. Although there is still time for new boats to pop up on the entry list, the current list of 32 makes the 2022 running of the biennial event the largest since 2000. So, what keeps intriguing sailors to gather their crews for multiple nights of offshore racing down the pacific coast?

NEW FOR 2021-2022 - Refresher Course

If your certification has lapsed in the last 10 years for the International (ISAF) Offshore Safety at Sea with Hands-on Training you no longer need to take the Complete Two-day Course. Refresher Courses (Day-2 Modified Hands-on Only) are being offered at select locations.

MEXORC 2022 on it's 45th edition will take place in Banderas Bay, Puerto Vallarta from the 19th to the 23rd of March 2022. The venue will be Marina Vallarta BVG where the participating fleet will dock under privileged conditions. The Official lodging with attractive rates will be the Flamingo Hotel Puerto Vallarta among other options.

This Regatta is supported by the Acapulco Yacht Club, San Diego Yacht Club and the PV RACE 2022. The organization is working on a variety of accommodation options having already secured good deals with the Hotel Flamingo Puerto Vallarta located next to the marina. The ratings rule will be ORR. There will be 4 or 5 categories in accordance with ratings and also with the number of identical boats that could compete as a class.

Racing will be a mix of W/L races as well as 20-30 mile coastal racing on a couple of days.

March 19:
0900: Skippers Meeting and Registration at MEXORC tent
1330: Races 1, 2: Windward/Leeward Courses
1800-1930: Cocktails in MEXORC tent

March 20:
1300: Races 3, 4: Windward/Leeward Courses
1800-1930: Cocktails in MEXORC tent, sponsored by SMA Yachts

March 21:
1230: Race 5: "Las Marietas"
2030: Cocktails/Dinner at restaurant in Marina Vallarta TBD

March 22:
1300: Races 6, 7: Windward/Leeward Courses
1700-1930: Cocktails in MEXORC tent

March 23:
1300: Race 8: Pursuit Race
1900: Gala dinner and prize giving

San Diego Yacht Club is proud to announce the biennial international yacht race from San Diego, California to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico will be held March 10 – 18, 2022. SDYC has been running the West Coast’s only continuous yacht race to mainland Mexico, a tradition that began in 1953.

The tables are set for the awards presentation and unfortunately, there are still a couple of ORR Class 6 competitors on the course. For those privileged few that are taking full ownership of their commitment to sail the course with no time limit - Congratulations.

Thursday started with a chase with Cabron pursuing Pyewacket 70, erasing what was once a 40 mile lead to come side by side with their Class 1 rival. Just after 0100 PST Thursday, with both teams within boat lengths of each other, they dueled for the line, actually missing the port end on the first pass and both boats scrambling to reverse course and re-round the port end of the virtual finish line. One can only imagine the match race tactics, flying lines and crew work needed to keep these ocean titans moving, in the dark, with close quarter maneuvering. In the end Cabron is the line honors winner of the 2020 PV Race, while Pyewacket 70 wins Class 1 on corrected time including a 1 hour corrected time penalty assessed to Pyewacket as a result of the match race at the finish. After over a 1,000 miles, the first to finish honors came down to a dial up at the finish and some string theory.

Daily commentary from Roger Gatewood's J/145 Katara as they compete from Class 5 in the 2020 PV Race.

Hey Race fans. It has all been a bit on for the last two days. Which seems a bit contradictory, given the overall light air and upwind or reaching nature of the race so far. Many have questioned the reasoning for bringing spinnakers. Several have wondered why Mexico is downwind of the US. But, we’re sailing upwind and other have suggested that maybe flying to Puerto Vallarta would have been a lot more sensible. We got rid of that last group though, so now there is plenty of freeze dried food for the rest of us.

The standings start to come into focus once the boats turn the corner and begin the final leg of the race from Cabo to the finish. There are different ways to look at handicap rated standings on a course like PV. The formula for Distance to Finish (DTF) can be a straight line to finish which may be a straight line over Baja Peninsula, or use a curved DTF that more accurately accounts for the racers path on course. But once the boats are clear of the end of Baja, the math should be the same. It is also important to know if the predictions are using “recent” boat speed or “average 'velocity made good' (VMG)” for the whole race. See the standings reports via a spreadsheet set up by SDYC's Greg Stewart to provide the daily morning standings linked on the PV Race home page (Wednesday's Standings).

In years past, PV Race Committee has typically been coordinating customs clearances and interviewing the first few finishers by Tuesday evening in the race timeline. The 2020 race is going to be one of those years... not so much.

On the race course, boats are running their polars with the latest grib files to assess their ETA. While each boat makes the most of the conditions they find themselves in, they will be having ‘that discussion’. Balancing a competitive and corinthian effort against room nights and airline departures is a tough equation to balance. There is no time limit for this race, so that’s not a consideration. The OA feels if someone commits the effort to the race, they should be allowed to finish. The awards banquet will proceed as planned, and awards that are mathematically secure will be handed out. It’s not ideal, but these logistics are all but changeable.

Brigadoon:
Wind 059 @ 6.4 kts, Sea 0'-1', Cloud cover 96.5%, bar steady @ 1025 mb
Wet, dewy, moist night.  Light breeze with crazy decisions followed by moments of brilliance.  Meatballs with penne pasta (mostly meatballs) in marinara sauce and a Caesar Salad provided by Romeo Villareal at Baja Sessions Catering - wow! great meal. Loud wake-up call this morning to a boisterous version of "Rock Star" by N.E.R.D.

From the Captain and under the heading "You Can't Make This Shtuff Up" we awoke for the midnight watch to find the display on our Nav Station computer was UPSIDE DOWN!   At first we thought we had gone so far south we had crossed the equator. Rob V gets the McGuyver Award for fixing it. We're back in the Northern Hemisphere now heading for PV.

Read more boat commentary >>

In any handicap race, time is the measure of performance. An hour is a huge chunk of performance. So keeping track of ‘race time’ is important. One unique challenge for the 2020 PV Race is the time change that occurred in the US Sunday morning. All boats started the race in Pacific Standard Time (PST) which is measured 8 hours behind “coordinated universal time (UTC -8), the US changed to Pacific Daylight Time (PDT) 7 hours behind UTC (UTC-7), and PV is on UTC-6 time. Making sure the tracker stays on PST time communicating with the racers in PST time, estimating when boats will arrive at the marina in PV time, and chatting with families back home in US time is a whirlwind. So when looking at estimates of finish times, consider the source and check to make sure you understand what time zone is being referenced. 

Daily commentary from John Shulze' Santa Cruz 50 Horizon as they compete from Class 4 in the 2020 PV Race.

We had a near perfect Kodak moment start of the 2020 PV race thanks to Gary Weisman. 12 knots of wind straight up the bay made for a 12 to 14knot fetch out to sea.
That wind did not stop for the first 24 hours of the race. By 11am we were nearly abeam of Cedros Island. Amazing! Then, it turned in to a more typical Mexican race and we drifted for the next 10 hours. Finally we are moving again under mostly cloudy skies and cold weather about 100 miles offshore abeam Punta Lazarro.

Boat life has been good. Gary Weisman and Ben Mitchell bought a bunch of bricks of Parmesan Cheese but turns out we have no grater so the guys have been breaking off chunks of cheese ever since. Expecting some more tricky weather in the next few hours. We are hoping  to come out of it ok and head to PV.

On Day 3 of San Diego Yacht Club’s 2020 Puerto Vallarta Race, 21 of 29 boats had spent at least one night on the course. As of 0600 Saturday, Class 6 boats from the Thursday start had come to the vicinity of Cedros Island which is 275 miles down the course. The leader the first group has been Bill Hardesty’s Hobie 33 Sizzle since the opening moments of the race, and their lead had extended to 15 miles over the nearest boat 1D35 Such Fast, and as much as 55 miles over Cal 40 Nalu V. Sizzle appears to have maintained a consistent 6-8kts of speed throughout the night.

Looking back up the course at the 3 Classes of Friday starters there is a second grouping of 16 boats. As might be expected by the wide variety of boats in the class, Class 5 split up with many different paths, while the Santa Cruz 50/52 class hung tight together. Horizon and Triumph were the 0600 leaders in Class 4 in site of each other no doubt within a mile or two much of the way. Rogers 46 Bretwalda3 made the most distance down the course from the Friday starting group. Multiple reports of shifty overnight conditions made for busy crews keeping up with the sail changes.

Day 2 of San Diego Yacht Club’s 35th Puerto Vallarta Race started with a review of the race tracker to check on the progress of the Class 6 boats who started on Thursday. Over the first 18 hours of the race, Bill Hardesty’s Hobie 33 Sizzle led the pack, cutting over 150 miles off the course with an average of 8.5kts boat speed over course.

Aboard the Cal 40 Nalu V, the crew loved the start delivered to them on Thursday. “Great start to the race! Much windier than expected – only one roundup! Excellent ‘skippers lasagna’ for dinner. Champagne sailing all the way.”

Sailonline is again partnering with San Diego Yacht Club (SDYC) for the 2020 running of the Puerto Vallarta Race. SDYC has been racing to the Mexican Mainland since 1953, and in 2016, was the first USA West Coast yacht club to bring virtual sailing navigation to its members and the west coast sailing community. The Puerto Vallarta Race is 1,020 mile race down the baja coast, across to the mainland and the entrance to Banderas Bay. Three days of starts, Thursday - Saturday March 5-7, 2020.

Sailonline will be going head to head with the real fleet – it is intended to bring the tracks of the real racers on-screen – and as we are racing our Volvo 70 polar, similar to the Pyewacket entry.

REGISTER ONLINE TO RACE

San Diego Yacht Club has been hosting the Puerto Vallarta Race to the Mexican mainland since 1953, making this year the 35th running of this west coast classic. Twenty-nine boats are competing in 6 classes in this edition of the PV Race with starts on Thursday, March 5 (Class 6), Friday, March 6 (Classes 3, 4, 5) and Saturday, March 7, 2020 (Classes 1 and 2). The destination is 1012 nm away in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

From the 14th to the 18th of March, Puerto Vallarta will host the well known Mexican Ocean Racing Circuit  -  MEXORC 2020. Participants are mainly expected from México, USA, Canada, Holland, Germany and France, among others.

Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, México, Feb 6th, 2020. Puerto Vallarta is honored to host the 44th aniversary of the MEXICAN OCEAN RACING CIRCUIT – MEXORC 2020 from the 14th to the 18th of March.

This edition is expecting to receive 30 boats, with an average of 12 crew members each, mainly from the United States, Canada and Mexico, but we are also expecting the presence of competitors coming from Germany, Holland, France, and South America.

MEXORC is an international event, contributing to the efforts to attract tourists from the Northern Continents to Puerto Vallarta. This event is important to our tourism industry for the economic benefits that come with the event, and it showcases our coasts and our destination as the best place to practice the sport of sailing.

2020 PV Race Helly Hansen tech shirts, Wide Brim hats, and Trucker hats are available for order online. Pick up your gear at the skippers meetings prior to race starts on March 5-7, or request an alternative pickup or shipping method. Shirts will be available for purchase at SDYC and in Puerto Vallarta while supplies last. Pre-order to make sure you get the sizes you'd like.

ORDER FORM

Registration is open for MEXORC 2020 which follows immediately after SDYC's PV Race.

Tradition is a staple element in San Diego Yacht Club’s Puerto Vallarta Race, and the 35th running in 2020 will have many shining examples of tradition. Fleet starts will be held on March 5, 6 and 7. Some of the fastest boats and most experienced ocean sailors will race the 1,000nm course from San Diego to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

The winners of the last three PV Races (Disney/Pyewacket, Schulze/Horizon, Pethick/Bretwalda3) are registered for the 2020 race and are eager to win another trophy. Sailors who have sailed in the race dozens of times will be back for the latest competition. Wayne Zittel and Roy Disney have been skippering teams in this event going back over 20 years are ready for the next challenge.

For one team, San Diego Yacht Club’s 2020 Puerto Vallarta Race will be the first step towards a journey around the world.

Viva Mexico, a VOR 65 skippered by Erik Brockmann, will be making their racing debut during the 2020 Puerto Vallarta Race as part of their campaign to compete in The Ocean Race 2021. Brockmann’s goal is to bring Mexico back into The Ocean Race almost 50 years after Mexico’s Sayula II competed and won the first Whitbread Round the World Race in 1973-74. Among the crew we will see Co-Owners Ricardo Brockmann, Loernzo Berho and Yon Belausteguigoitia who have been competing in the PV Race during the past decade in the Vincitore and Peligroso Racing programs. Also involved in supporting the Viva Mexico project is San Diego Yacht Club’s Malin Burnham.

San Diego Yacht Club is hosting two seminars prior to the Puerto Vallarta Race related to safety at sea. November 16-17, 2019 will be an Advanced First Aid and CPR for Mariners seminar. January 25-26, 2020 will be a US Sailing Safety at Sea Seminar. Register for either at https://sailaweighllc.com/shop-orderbymenu-order/.

San Diego Yacht Club is proud to host the 2020 Puerto Vallarta Race, featuring the 1,000nm course from San Diego to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Racing to the Mexican mainland is a tradition for SDYC going back to 1953.

Puerto Vallarta, MX (March 9, 2018) - It has been five, six or seven days since the 2018 San Diego Yacht Club’s Puerto Vallarta race left San Diego Bay, depending on when you start counting. One thousand rhumbline miles later, the boats are piled into Marina Vallarta, Puerto Vallarta. Sails are being flaked, lines are being dried, along with foul weather gear being given a chance to exhale after some serious work. Every two years a new cast of characters hop on board to head south for fast sailing and warm weather...a Puerto Vallarta Race tradition since 1953.

At midnight we surf waves with whooping shouts, grins, and no spinnaker. Then Orion and the stars of the milky way watch as our frothing bow wave gives way under slacking breeze and flattening seas. Morning brings dolphins, a lazy sea turtle and a fleet that is catching up. Capt. breaks out the A5 (Barney and Beaulah) ... a sail reserved for show not racing and it is game on again.
It's 12:55 PST on Wednesday. Just officially passed 5 days of racing. Looking downwind at the finish, 5 miles away. Unfortunately, our sistership again snuck past us during the night and looks to cross the finish line just ahead (amazing how we watch her all night, then lose sight, then she pops up just in front, plain as day). A bummer to say the least, but to be within 4 miles of your competition after 1000 miles of racing is pretty cool. I calculate we had 6 or 7 lead changes just in the last 2 days. Good times.
Mighty Merloe (Orma 60, HL Enloe) flew across the Sea of Cortez Monday and crossed the finish line to set new multihull and overall record for the San Diego to Puerto Vallarta Race. The previous record was set in 2014 by Tom Siebel’s MOD70 trimaran Orion, sailing 1209 miles in 56 hr 55 min for the 1000 mile rhumbline course. Mighty Merloe was three hours behind them that year, but suffered from a broken centerboard on one of the hulls, sailing 1160 miles that year. The new 2018 record now stands at 51 hr 58 min set by Mighty Merloe, sailing 1136 miles, for an average speed of 21.8 over the 1000 mile rhumbline course.
Tracker update issue overnight being resolved Tuesday morning. Positions will begin updating throughout the morning, including the manually reported 0600 times direct from the fleets daily roll call. All boats checked in per daily morning check in protocal and all is well with the fleet. Estimating Rio100 as first monohull finisher after dark. YB Tracking issued a statement on the technological explanation for the tracker down time. They have been in contact with SDYC throughout the process and are working to keep the event running smoothly for the competitors and race fans.
Exciting night rolling thru sustained 25 kts winds in 20’+ seas. A turn at the helm tested ones mettle. In true “Corinthian spirit”, crew appreciated having dined already on chicken Tikka Masala over basmati rice, paired with a ration of Oregon Pinot Noir. All aboard doing well.
In San Diego Yacht Club's Puerto Vallarta Race last night, a good portion of the fleet passed the metaphorical 50 yard line… or the "500 miles to go" mark. The combined average of 'Distance to Go' for the fleet is 495 miles. You can witness this compression if you review the YB Tracker. Today, the Saturday starters are approaching the 'catch', and will begin sailing through the Friday starters, who have already overtaken the Thursday boats. Outside of all of that, there is a lot of commercial traffic off the coast of Mexico... not just our intrepid sailors. Visit MarineTraffic.com to witness vessel traffic transmitting AIS world wide. Then zoom in to the race course and you will see the virtual highway used by hundreds of container and tanker ships, likely transiting through the Panama Canal and moving goods up the west coast. It can seem like a vast empty ocean, until you open your digital eyes. Look carefully and you may spot a few of our racers with their AIS-B permanently on. This “B” signal is low-power, and usually only visible for 10-15 miles by other vessels. These positions are relayed automatically by passing commercial vessel with commercial AIS-“A” systems with a much greater range.
Everyone is on the race course… and judging from 0600 comments from the boat, most are having a classic race to Mexico. Winds are generally from aft of the shrouds, sea states are moderate and ‘pushy’, and the temperature is rising. One boat, Jim Madden’s Stark Raving Mad, less so. SRM retired Saturday morning with a reported injury to a crew members finger. The boat diverted to San Quintin and the crew member was driven back to San Diego for prompt doctor’s attention. SRM is proceeding back to San Diego. All reports are good.
Well, we kind of knew this one could hurt a little bit. There were signs. Twenty-four hours into the 2018 San Diego to Puerto Vallarta Race, and we are feeling the pain. We are headed south in Division 4, a mix of boats from 46 feet (us) to 65. It's a fairly diverse group featuring on one end a J/65 and a Swan 601, and on our end our 'little' DK46, Cazan. Alas, it is not a good year to be the slow boat in the class. Peter Isler said at the weather briefing for our starting day on Friday, "Well, you guys got the short straw." He was referring to the fact that the class that started on Thursday was experiencing great conditions, and the fact that it was looking pretty good for the Saturday starters. Friday was, well, very 'Friday.' It was going to be light, and shifty and variable. So we were pleased when the sea-breeze managed to push in for a bit, enough to get us out of SD Bay and heading south on a beautiful afternoon. We went from the #1 Jib to the Jib Top, and late at night we were actually able to get the 3A spinnaker up. 
Start day was off to poor running when one of the team lost his phone overboard, before we had left the dock. It's in a waterproof case and two of the team immediately jumped into see if they could find it. No joy, one phone down. The start area was inside San Diego Bay. So we had a nice start and headed out of the bay along with the main competition. As the third slowest boat in our class, we were able to hang in with the speedsters until we got out of the bay. In the lighter conditions we struggled a bit, but managed to put up a good fight anyway. Had a nice battle going through the Coronado Islands, and then things went a bit pear shaped. Very light conditions into the early morning on Saturday had us floundering slightly with some weird gybe angles. Sunrise showed a very cool looking but rather sullen sky with a mixture of small rain squalls and heavy looking currus around us, loitering about and threatening some bother. Roll call had us in close company with the leaders and as the day has progressed we have gained better and better pressure. Currently sailing at 10 to 13 knots of boat speed and waiting on a Lasagna dinner. Not too shabby at all.
“It’s going to be Champagne Sailing…” is a phrase that is meant to bring to mind ‘optimal’ sailing conditions. In the case of San Diego Yacht Club's Puerto Vallarta race, it would bring to mind a full moon lighting the seas at night, fresh winds of 12-15 kts aft of the beam, and long ocean swells just large enough to lift the transom and give your boat a little invisible push, followed by a subtle roar of your bow wave peeling past the hull. That was the case for Thursday starters, but as roll call 0600 reports trickled in Saturday morning, it was apparent that the champagne was running low.
For the first roll call of the 2018 Vallarta Race, it was clear that Peter Isler’s weather briefing the morning before had been spot on. “You’re going to have a banner evening with full moon and full breeze…” he advised. Thus this from Marjorie Friday morning: “…Just as Peter promised – bright worm moon, building breeze and great sailing…”, and “…sacrificed 1 spinnaker in 21 knot gybe…”. Cabernet Sky chimed in with “…spin halyard separated just after sunset, fished A3 from under boat…”. And this from Tropic Thunder “…30kt gust took out full symmetrical sail…”!
The Vallarta Race 2018 is officially underway with the first 3 boats getting their start on Thursday. The rest of the teams can be found enjoying beer and tacos along with Mariachis provided by partner Bay City Brewing and Mexico Tourism at the San Diego Yacht Club for the Kick Off Race Party tonight as they gear up for their starts on Friday and Saturday.
By Craig Leweck, Scuttlebutt My DNA is Southern California, which means adverse sailing conditions are for other people. We get criticized for this, but when the weather for most of the year is predictably preferable, we get used to it. When it does rain, we can’t cope. It’s smart to stay off the roads… accidents happen.
Beginning on March 1st, the 2018 Vallarta Race hosted by San Diego Yacht Club, will include 30 boats, many sailed by some of the most experienced offshore racing teams on the West Coast. Racing from San Diego to Puerto Vallarta, this race highlights 1,000 nautical miles that include some of the best scenery and fiercest rivalry that California and Mexican waters have to offer. The 2018 running of the Vallarta Race will be the largest the race has been in many years.
Shirts, hats and more are available for order online from the exclusive provider of PV18 race gear, Pirate's Lair. Order your shirts and add custom team name embroidery if you wish. http://store.pirateslair.com/sdyc-puerto-vallarta-race-2018
In the build up to the 2018 offshore racing season and the Puerto Vallarta Race, San Diego Yacht Club is hosting a 2-Day Saftey at Sea Seminar, presented by John Miller. Event Information: https://sdyc.org/calendar/event/safety-at-sea-course-with-hands-on-training Saturday & Sunday, January 27-28, 2018 If you or your crew are unable to attend this seminar, check the US Sailing Safety at Sea Seminar locations for other options up and down the coast: http://www.ussailing.org/education/safety-at-sea/find-a-seminar-near-you/
Anticipation is building for the 2018 Puerto Vallarta Race as race entries begin to roll in. So far, a mix of boats including Santa Cruz 50 and 52s, Pac 52s, TP 52s, and one multihull will be back for the next installment. When checking in with a handful of the race’s past competitors, we discovered what the race means to them, why they register year after year, and for some, how it feels to win the event. Dennis Pennell, skipper of Blue Blazes, will be back in 2018 to attempt a third win. “I have had the good fortune with my Reichel/Pugh 50 Blue Blazes to have been the overall winner in the San Diego to Puerto Vallarta race twice- in 2006 and 2012. In my 60 plus years of racing sailboats those two wins were the highlight of my racing career. I am doing it in 2018 in my 80th year because for me it represents a thousand miles of sheer fun!”
We’re officially one year away from the iconic race from San Diego to Puerto Vallarta which will sail its 33rd installment in March 2018, with its first start on March 2nd. This biennial event features some of the fastest boats and ocean sailors in the sport and continues to provide the rare opportunity to race from the US, beyond Baja, to the Mexican mainland. Many talented sailors from yacht clubs all over the world competed in the 2016 edition, making it a very diverse race. A total of 21 boats raced in five classes, representing 12 different yacht clubs. First entries for the 2018 race include Lani Spund from SDYC in his Santa Cruz 52, Kokopelli2, Tom Holthus from SDYC in his brand new Pac52, Bad Pak, the 2010 Puerto Vallarta race winner Lorenzo Berho from SDYC on his Kernan 70, Peligroso, and Ricardo Brockmann from the Acapulco Yacht Club in his Reichel/Pugh 52, Vincitore.
The 2016 edition of the Vallarta Race was a tale of two races. As sailors reached the dock in Marina Vallarta, their stories emphasized the contrast between the two. The first race is the run from San Diego to Cabo which this year was like none other. The second race involves attempting to avoid the holes and minimize the light air that most boats encountered crossing the Sea of Cortez and approach to PV. While this diversity is expected on any Vallarta Race, the extremes seen in 2016 were unique. Boats like Gordon Leon's Farr 40 Flyer reached 22 knots and were rocking and rolling on the first half, while even the trimaran Mighty Merloe fell victim to the shutdown of breeze on the second half approach to the finish, floating along at 2-3 knots at times.
Congratulations to John Schulze and the crew of Horizon (Santa Cruz 50), overall and Div 3 winners of the 2016 Vallarta Race! Horizon sailed the course in 4 days, 13 hours, 52 minutes, 19 seconds, and corrected out over Roy Disney's Pyewacket (Andrews 70) by nearly 2 hours.
Congratulations to Manouch Moshayedi and the crew of 19 aboard Rio100, who set the monohull course record by completing the Vallarta Race course in 77.7 hours.
Mighty Merloe crossed the finish line in 67.8 hrs (2 days, 19 hr, 49 min, 29 sec). After a 36 hour run unlike any other from San Diego to Cabo, the second half of their journey was an exercise in getting through the lee of Cabo, build speed down the course, and staying on which ever tack (yep - beating is what you get approaching at night) to keep best speed to the finish despite the light north and east winds blowing out of Banderas Bay through the night. The trimaran crew hoped to get across the line overnight, but it was not to be.
That 'new day' we talked about yesterday... it's here, and so begins the second part of the Vallarta Race. So consider that as of Monday, 0900 race time, the fleet is stretched approx. 235 nm along the Baja peninsula, plus another 110 miles if you add Mighty Merloe's lead. She is clearly forecasting the future for the fleet.
With everyone recognizing that HL Enloe's ORMA 60 trimaran Mighty Merloe (MM) is fast, it is no surprise that MM was going to ZOOM down the course. But it is still so impressive to track them as they work their way through a fleet that started 24 hours before them, and they are still 160 miles from Cabo at 1700 PST.
All 21 boats have departed San Diego and the adventure to Puerto Vallarta is in motion. We have a pair of Farr 40s one design racing for 1000 miles; we have the 60x60 trimaran machine Mighty Merloe pacing the epic Super Maxi sled Rio100; we have a great collection (Class 3) of Santa Cruz 50s and 52s; we have the great design debate: small quick pole boat (J/125) vs classic offshore R/P 50 Blue Blazes; and we have Class 2, the diverse and always fun to sail sled class. There is a lot going on this week in the Pacific.
Starting February 19, teams will gather in San Diego to start the 2016 Vallarta Race, the 32nd running of the international sailboat race from San Diego Bay to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. This biennial event features some of the fastest boats and ocean sailors in the sport and continues to provide the rare opportunity to race from the US, beyond Baja, to the Mexican mainland.
Joe and Laura are once again offering their gear delivery services for Vallarta Race and MEXORC competitors. Find out the pick up dates and locations around Southern California, rates, contact info and more.
Teams are signing up to avoid the upcoming rains brought on by El Nino and preparing for the wind, sunshine, warmth and the margaritas to be enjoyed after another epic ride down the Mexican Coastline and bounce across the Gulf to scenic Puerto Vallarta! Our friends in Mexico are determined to help the San Diego Yacht Club make this a great experience for all the teams and their families.
Race to PV, Stay for MEXORC! Sailors from around the world descend on Puerto Vallarta for the biennial MEXORC regatta on Banderas Bay. Those racing from San Diego in the Vallarta Race fit nicely into this schedule with the awards ceremony for SDYC's regatta taking place the day before MEXORC begins. Join us for both events!
Since its introduction in the late 1980s, the ORMA 60 trimaran has seduced the best sailors in the world, especially the solo-sailing cowboys from France. Capable of sustained speeds few powerboats can match, it’s not the sort of boat one would expect your average 78-year-old Texan to campaign, but then again, owner Howard Enloe isn’t your average Texan.
The iconic race from San Diego to Puerto Vallarta will set sail again in 2016 with the first start on February 19th. The biennial event is a favorite in the sailing community and has continued to draw some of the fastest and fiercest competitors from all over the world, since its origin in 1954. This will be the 32nd installment of the race.
The San Diego Yacht Club biennial Puerto Vallarta Race finished its 32nd edition with great success and positive feedback from race competitors and sponsors alike. Although winds were light for the majority of the race, the weather showcased southern California and Mexico’s near perfect conditions with sunny skies and warm temperatures for the 1,000 NM race from Point Loma to Puerto Vallarta.
Most likely, the history books will show the 2014 San Diego to Vallarta race as not a particularly fast race, but it wasn’t a slow one either. We had two world class trimarans entered, and without a spectacular weather system to hurl them at once in a while speeds, both entries beat the flat out speed record from San Diego to Puerto Vallarta established by Steve Fossett aboard Lakota (size/type) in 1998. Tom Siebels MOD 70 established the new mark of 2 days, 8 hours, 33 mins, 0 sec. Almost 6 hours later, HL Enloe’s Orma 60 limped across the line (broken port foil), also just an hour under Fossetts benchmark time. Renamed ‘Mighty Merloe’, this tri dominated the maxi-trimaran circuit when it was built and was the design basis for the MOD 70.
Bob Pethick, the owner of the Rogers 46 Bretwalda was able to change his travel plans and stay for the Saturday awards ceremony now that there is some glory to be had. Congratulations to Bob and his crew. They correct out to 83.9 hours, 0.2 hours over Fritz Lanzinger’s J/125 Hamachi.
San Diego Yacht Club’s tradition of racing to the Mexican mainland is over 60 years old. This year, the 1,000nm race to Puerto Vallarta produced a new record finish time courtesy of Tom Siebiel’s MOD70 Trimaran Orion, with a finish time of 2 days, 8 hours, 33 minutes (56 hours, 33 minutes).
The 32nd edition of the biennial San Diego to Vallarta International Yacht Race started off Shelter Island, with Class 3 and 4 leaving on Friday (Mar. 14) and Class 1, 2, and Multihull departing on Saturday (Mar. 15). Both days provided summer-like conditions for the 23 entrants to begin their 1000 mile southerly slide toward beautiful Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.
San Diego Yacht Club will send Class 3 and Class 4 boats off to Mexico today in the 52nd biennial Vallarta Race. Each boat is equipped with a Yellowbrick race tracker, which will allow spectators to follow along with the race progress, updated hourly. The positions are on a 4 hour delay to keep the boat positions a bit more mysterious to the competitors as they navigate down south.
On the eve of the 1,000 nm southern jaunt down Baja California from San Diego to Puerto Vallarta, we take a look at the history of, and the competition, and more specifically, the Nor Cal Boats entered this year and their crews.

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