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."
Thursday starters launched in a moderate south wind, beating into a southerly wind. But through the night, the breeze swung to a more southwesterly direction and increased, allowing the three competitors to set some downwind sails and extend down the course. However, with 24 hrs of change on the weather map, gains from inshore thermal, or offshore gradient winds near San Carlos will reveal winners and losers by tomorrow.
Classes 5, 4, and 3 launched midday Friday in a more westerly wind. Although wind velocity was only 5 to 8 kts during the half-hour these classes started, once out of the lee of Point Loma, competitors are reported to be making 8-10 kts of boat speed to the south. No upwind sailing for this group.
Friday 0800 Daily Standings link
Jeremy Davidson, Strategist on Nereid, J/125, Class 3:
“A lot of time, money, and effort goes into preparing for a long distance race. From boat prep to crew selection, I think we have done all that we can in the time allotted. We are excited to get to the fun part of the race, the sailing, and enjoy the Mexican hospitality upon arrival! Thank you to those who helped us get to the start line!”
Several hundred sailors, family and friends met at the Thursday SDYC Kick Off Party to a taco bar, Mezcal samples from Rosaluna, and beer courtesy of Bay City Brewing.
The final 12 boats to start will be on Saturday at noon for competitors in Classes 1 and 2. Forecasts are showing conditions settling into a more consistent west/northwest breeze that should set the Saturday starters up for a fast exit.
Brad Wheeler, Navigator on Fast Exit II, Ker 51, Class 2:
“PV2022 is one of the first 'post' Covid races and we have ended up with a fleet of strong competitors. The race is looking like a classic Mexican race with strong northwesterlies driving us quickly down the coast under the largest spinnakers. The wind then should lighten up for our crossing of the gulf providing a more varied race than either Ensenada or Cabo. One uniqueness of these races is the inclusion of the YB trackers and the 4-hour delay. While real time tracking is desired by some, many feel it detracts from the 'offshore' concept of 'man against the sea', and instead would turn it into a 5 day dinghy type race. We monitor the tracker every hour to see how different boats ahead and behind are affected by and taking advantage of the various weather elements. The 4-hour delay did become a key advantage to use in a recent Transpac Race. There was a unique position at the 0800 real time position report and 4 hr delayed YB where we were able to 'nudge' our primary competitor, who was 6 hours behind in elapsed time, to make a tactical change that in the end was to our advantage. Included some fake gybes etc., but an option that would not have been available without the tracker that all competitors monitor throughout the race. While safety is the primary driver of the tracker, we continue to find all ways possible to use it to our racing advantage as well.”
Race fans can watch the final starts tomorrow, Saturday at noon, watching from land on Shelter Island or on a boat in San Diego Bay. Each boat will carry a YB Tracking race tracker, and will show boat positions at 1-hour intervals with a 4-hour competitive delay at https://yb.tl/sdpv2022.
Thank you to the sponsors of the 2022 Puerto Vallarta Race: North Sails, Ocean Navigator, Twin Rivers Marine Insurance, Bay City Brewing, Rosaluna Mezcal, and Marina Vallarta.
About SDYC
The San Diego Yacht Club encourages and fosters an environment that helps and continues to produce the best in the world of boating-related activities. Founded in 1886, SDYC has become a world renown sailing community recognized for its success in bay sailing, ocean racing, cruising, angling, and its world class youth sailing program. SDYC is consistently ranked among the top 5 yacht clubs in the U.S. and is recognized by the Club Leadership Forum as one of the finest facilities of its kind in the world.