Hot Racing and Cool Parties at Long Beach Race Week

In a universe where regatta numbers in the US have been in decline these past few years, the trend reversed at this year’s 20th edition of Ullman Sails Long Beach Race Week, with some 115 competitors registered and ready to do battle among the best California boats.

Exciting race courses with flat-water offerings inside the Long Beach breakwater, and big waves and big breeze on the outside, are just a few of the factors that make the Ullman Sails Long Beach Race Week regatta not only the largest, but one of the most enjoyable on the West Coast. Plus, it’s simply hard to beat sailing in T-shirt and shorts in 75+ degrees, amidst the typical Long Beach 15+ knot summer breeze conditions, right?

Tim Russell, Bay Area owner of the J/105 Ne*Ne, was looking to buy or charter a Viper when he went to the Ullman Sails LBRW website to see what classes were racing this year, and noted the option to charter a Catalina 37.

“My application to charter was accepted. I put together a team, rented a house in Long Beach, and was excited to sail in shorts and just a long-sleeved SPF shirt!” says Russell, who with his Bay Area crew took fourth overall in the 11-strong Catalina 37 fleet.

Six of 11 teams racing in the fleet of Catalina 37s owned by Long Beach Yacht Club and frequently chartered for racing events were all-women crews, two of whom made podium. Chris Orlando and his team easily defended their 2024 Catalina 37 National Championship by taking first overall, finishing with 11 points and again taking home the title.

For the first time this year, Ullman Sails LBRW hosted the Moore 24 fleet and the Moore 24 National Championship. The championship title went to Kurt Lahr and his team on Safety Third, who finished with 23 points; Lahr’s team also took home the One Design Boat of the Week award. Rowan Fennell on Paramour placed second with 28 points and also won the Golison & Kent Family Trophy, sailing with his wife Vikki and brother Nathaniel.

“It was a phenomenal regatta and it was amazing to bring our little rocket ships down to a new area. You can’t ask for better champagne sailing than Long Beach,” says Lahr. “Conditions were super-challenging; I can’t think of a regatta where I finished so mentally exhausted! It’s a tough fleet to do well in.”

Bay Area’s Peter Wagoner on his J/111 Skeleton Key, racing Ullman Sails LBRW for the second consecutive year, took home his second win in class, prevailing in six of seven races sailed. Skeleton Key also won the J/111 Pacific Coast Championship.

“I always love sailing Long Beach: The conditions are spectacular, and while it wasn’t prototypical Long Beach conditions, it was still good racing,” says Wagoner. “It’s really great to see the numbers in the fleet growing and the level of competition getting higher and higher as more good sailors jump into the class.”

In the J/70 fleet, Ryan Cox from the Ventura Yacht Club, racing on boat DJ, took seven bullets over seven races, finishing with a significant 18-point lead on second-place Nunuhunu, owned by Arnaud Benahmed from the Bahia Corinthian Yacht Club. Cake, owned/skippered by Scott Deardorff from the Santa Barbara Yacht Club, took third with 36 points.

“Last year we only had seven J/70s in the fleet, and this year we had 12 racing; it’s a great time for the class here and we’re happy that the fleet is doing well,” says Cox. “It was a great event, and I’ve been lucky to be racing two J/70s here and on the East Coast — when you’ve done it over and over you know what works.”

The fast, fun and über-spicy Melges 15 class was well represented, with 22 boats on the start. Karla Reinhardt, who sails out of event co-host club Alamitos Bay YC, sailed with Robbie King. The pair maintained their lead position throughout the weekend to finish the regatta with 10 points.

The race for first place was nothing short of hot in Random Leg B, with Mark Stratton from Del Rey YC on his J/122 Cheeky taking the tiebreaker for first with Derek Williamson (ABYC/LBYC), who finished second on his new-to-him ID35 Relentless; both were just one point ahead of John McEntire (DRYC), who finished third with 8 points on his Santa Cruz 37 Encore. Cheeky also won the Boat of the Week award.

Collaborating with competitors to ensure sailors come first, event co-hosts Long Beach YC and Alamitos Bay YC executed a new twist on the program this year: additional random legs combined with buoy racing for two classes. The J/109 class requested mixing up racing with two days of random-leg courses and one day of buoy racing. The Moore fleet always includes a distance race in their National Championship, so that fleet was also assigned a random-leg race on the final day of racing.

Results: www.lbrw.org/results

Register early for the 21st edition of Ullman Sails Long Beach Race Week, June 26–28, 2026.