Race Week moving to Bellingham

Race Week Pacific Northwest will be moving their Washington event from Anacortes to Bellingham for the 2025 event on July 21-25. The move will help the event grow through additional moorage and better scheduling.

“Anacortes has been a great venue for our event for the past 4 years,” stated Schelleen Rathkopf, Producer of Race Week. “But we’ve maxed out all the available guest moorage that is available to us at Cap Sante Marina, and we’d like to continue to grow the event and get more fleets involved.”

When Race Week was on Whidbey Island for over three decades, the event was on the third week of July after schools were out, and the event did not run into conflicts with other sailboat racing events in the region. The Port of Anacortes had only had available the last week of June which proved to be a challenging time for many fleets and families.

“We’re excited to get back to the third week of July with our move to Bellingham,” added Rathkopf. “A good chunk of the commercial fleet clears out of Squalicum Harbor en route to Alaska at this time, so this opens up a lot of guest moorage for us to expand and grow. The closer proximity to Canada will also make it easier for those boats coming to the event from British Columbia.”

The event will be based out of Squalicum Harbor in Bellingham, with direct access to Bellingham Bay, where buoy, distance, and pursuit races will originate. Racers will make their guest moorage arrangements in the commercial area at Squalicum Harbor directly with the Port of Bellingham.

The commercial area of Squalicum Harbor is accessed by Gate 5, which is also the location of Fisherman’s Pavilion, a 9,000-sf event space that will serve as the site for post-race parties. With an unobstructed view of Bellingham Bay, Fisherman’s Pavilion will also be used for the new Race Week Marketplace – an exhibition space for event sponsors and Bellingham business supporters.

In addition to the Race Week compound at Gate 5, other Race Week events including the Sunday night skipper meeting, opening and closing night parties, and protest hearings will be held at Bellingham Yacht Club; also located at Squalicum Harbor.

Longtime Race Week Principle Race Officer (PRO) Charley Rathkopf will remain at the Race Committee helm in Bellingham, and joined by Race Officer and Race Week Advisory Board member Paul Evenden.

“I’ve been PRO for Bellingham Yacht Club’s PITCH regatta for the last six years, and Bellingham Bay is a great place to sail,” shared Charley Rathkopf. “I’m looking forward to getting a big fleet back, and the dates moving back to July is so great. My entire Race Committee team is coming to Bellingham, and we’re really looking forward to the new venue.”

With many sailing instruction programs in Bellingham, Race Week is considering bringing back the popular Race Week Kids Camp in 2026, a program that originated when Race Week was on Whidbey Island.

The day camp program was designed for the kids of Race Week racers, who learned to sail, practiced water safety, and enjoyed fun outings. Race Week Kids Camp had to be dropped with the move to Anacortes due to the lack of local sailing instruction resources available.

Current sponsors of Race Week include Gosling’s Rum, Fisheries Supply, CSR Marine, Port Townsend Rigging, Seattle Sailing Club, Corinthian Yacht Club Seattle, and Ullman Sails. With the move to Bellingham, the Port of Bellingham and the Bellingham Yacht Club will both be added to the sponsor line up beginning in 2025.

“We’re really excited for this move,” said Emily Gosling, 8th generation family member from Gosling’s Rum and creators of the famous Dark ‘n Stormy cocktail. “We’re currently working on a signature cocktail called the Bellingham Bell – available for the first time at Bellingham Race Week next summer!”

The Notice of Race will be posted on or before December 31, 2024 with event registration opening January 1, 2025. The event website is currently unavailable but will reopen on or before December 31, 2024.