New Grand Prix Class to Grace the Bay

While some West Coast racing fleets are shrinking, we’re thrilled to announce that a new breed of cutting-edge racing machines will soon be heading our way. 

The latest boat to bear the name Invisible Hand is the first of three new Pac 52s to be launched in Auckland, New Zealand, where she recently completed two days of sea trials. According to Norman Davant of Sail California, the Pac 52 ringleader is looking good!

Built for the Bay Area’s Frank Slootman, the boat is now being taken apart for shipment to San Francisco Bay, with her expected arrival around mid-February. Here, she’ll be reassembled for sea trials on the Bay in advance of her christening and first crewed sailing on February 24. Her first local regatta will be Richmond YC’s Big Daddy Regatta in March.

Although you may not be in the market for such a boat yourself, the imminent arrival of the Pac 52s is creating substantial excitement within the racing community, as the Pac 52s are the first new grand-prix fleet to arrive on the West Coast in years. As mentioned above, Invisible Hand‘s arrival will soon be followed by two more new boats. With the addition of Fox (which is already sailing in Southern California waters) the four-boat West Coast fleet will meet in San Diego on May 4-7 for the Yachting Cup, which will commence the class’s five-regatta 2017 season.  

The other races are:
• 6/8-11 — Newport OD regatta
• 6/22-25 — Long Beach Race Week
• 9/13-17 — Rolex Big Boat Series
• 9/28-10/1 — Pac 52 championships at StFYC 

All of the above are scheduled to be four-day events with room in the schedule to allow for boats to participate in the Transpac and other offshore events. Class rules call for owner-drivers with a mix of paid and amateur crew, plus a weight limit that suggests a crew size in the 15- to 16-person range. These boats are designed for both inshore and offshore racing schedules.