Will Records Fall in the Newport Beach to Cabo Race?

With the 51st edition of the Transpac quickly approaching — and racing and training opportunities few and far between due to COVID — this year’s Cabo race takes on increased importance for the 18 teams that will make the trek to Mexico. A 790-mile dress rehearsal for this summer’s big dance, the race from Newport Beach to Cabo San Lucas presents an invaluable opportunity for teams preparing to race to Hawaii in July. While entries have steadily decreased from a high of more than 25 in January to just 18 as of yesterday — almost surely due to COVID — many of the West Coast’s premier sailing teams will still be in attendance.

A race oftentimes defined by light and fluky breeze along the Baja coast, this year’s looks like a cracker. A solid 15-20 knots of northwest pressure could build in strength to 20-25 and possibly higher by the end of the weekend and into the beginning of next week. The race should prove to be a navigator’s duel. The typical fight between more pressure offshore and working the land breezes inshore looks to be reversed. The GRIBs currently show some interesting compression zones closer to land. The sailing should be fast and the competition intense in the fast, diverse fleet of boats that range in size from a 1D35 to a 100-ft super-maxi with a bit of anything and everything in between. Sadly, no multihulls entered this year.

Six years ago, Manouch Moshayedi and his team on the Bakewell-White super-maxi Rio 100 missed out on establishing a new course record for this race by less than an hour. However, 2021 may give them another opportunity to leave their mark on the race. As the big 100-footer slides down the Baja coast at breakneck speed, navigator Justin Shaffer will surely be aware of Doug Baker and Magnitude 80’s long-standing record of 2 days, 13 hours, 25 minutes. The fastest-rated boat in the fleet, Rio 100 should be first into the barn. But they will have their work cut out for them against Roy P. Disney’s Volvo 70 Pyewacket 70, which should offer a formidable challenge in the fight for fastest elapsed time. After winning line honors in the recent Islands Race, the San Diego-based team looks to be on form, and with a weapon of a boat.

Though the fight for line honors and/or fastest elapsed time may steal the headlines, it likely won’t result in an overall win. Those honors are more likely to come from elsewhere in the fleet. Podium contenders include a J/125, a Rogers 46, a TP52 and a nice smattering of sleds. The first, and by far the smallest, contingent of yachts will get underway today at 1 p.m. The bulk of the fleet will start tomorrow at 1 p.m. With the breeze progressively filling in from behind, we expect the Saturday starters to have an advantage, as they’ll spend more time in better pressure. You can track the fleet here or on your Yellowbrick app. Look for a full recap, complete with competitor reactions, next week.

This just in…the crew of the Dehler 46 Favonious from San Francisco Yacht Club is fired up and ready to sail. Crewmember Matthew Sessions sent this in as they’re readying to head to the start line today. 

You can find them on the race tracker now.