Festival Nautico – Vallarta Race Week

John Moore has all the latest on Festival Nautico ’08 – Vallarta Race Week:

This biannual, week-long event started in 2006 as a celebration of Mexico’s greatest natural treasure: Banderas Bay. The Bay is one of the finest sailing venues on the west coast of the Americas, and is listed as one of the most beautiful bays in the world. The Festival is held from March 1 through March 8 and consists of four separate events.

The celebration begins with the finish of the San Diego YC’s Vallarta Race ’08, a 1,000-mile bluewater ocean race. More than 20 of the fastest yachts in the world will finish their race at Punta Mita, and then be welcomed at the docks of Paradise Marina by members of the Vallarta YC, the Mexican host for the event.

On the afternoon of March 1, there will be a welcoming reception at the Paradise Village Amphitheatre followed by a Ballet Folklorico and the Vallarta Race ’08 Awards Dinner.

Starting at 10:30 a.m. on March 2, there will be a Grand Boat Parade from Nuevo Vallarta traveling along the coast to Bucerias. Prizes and awards will be given to the best themed and decorated boats. “It will be a Mardi Gras on water,” said parade chairman Mike Gowen.

The Governors Cup Race, a 21-mile distance race, will begin at 1:00 p.m. Spectators can enjoy the parade and the race from boats, beaches and hotels along the Riviera Nayarit. The Governors Cup Race is also the first race of the MEXORC Regatta, which is Mexico’s premier International Grand Prix Regatta, hosted by the Vallarta YC this year. The best Mexican racers will sail up from Acapulco to compete against the boats arriving from the States.

On Wednesday, March 5, there won’t be any regatta racing, but there will be a special America’s Cup match race between elite Mexican and U.S. teams aboard two of Vallarta Adventure’s IACC race boats. At the same time, there will be a Laser regatta in the Nuevo Vallarta Lagoon.

The Banderas Bay Regatta XVI, a series of fun races around the bay for cruising boats, will begin on Thursday, March 6, and continue through Saturday — as does the MEXORC. Both Regattas will have award dinners Saturday evening.

The hub of all these activities is the VYC, located in Nuevo Vallarta. For more information on these events check out www.vallartayachtclub.com, www.sdyc.org, www.mexorc.com or www.banderasbayregatta.com.