Offshore multihulls for inaugural CA 500

New this year, the California Offshore Race Week includes a fourth component for the fastest boats – the CA 500 from San Francisco to San Diego on May 30. Originally conceived by Manouch Moshayedi who owns Rio100, the big monohulls couldn’t rally interest but three MOD70s will be using the course as preparation for the 2019 Transpac Race in July.

The CA 500 course is approximately 500 miles long, from San Francisco to San Diego: after crossing the starting line, off St. Francis Yacht Club, the fleet will leave Farallon Island Light to port before heading towards the finish line off San Diego.

Ideally suited for the fastest of boats, the course also alleviates a logistics issue in Santa Barbara during the California Offshore Race Week where the harbor has limited depth for the maxi monohulls.

During the first 12 hours of the race, weather forecasts show 25 knots of NW wind, with gusts up to 30 knots, and rough sea. Closer to the finish line, in the last 100 miles, the wind will drop abruptly, but at the moment the forecasts vary: the European models indicate a wind between 3 and 4 knots, whereas the American models are more optimistic.

Competing in the multihull category is the American MOD 70Argo, skippered by Jason Carroll; the English MOD 70 PowerPlay, skippered by Peter Cunningham; and the modified foiling MOD70 Maserati, skippered by Italian Giovanni Soldini. Christian Doegl’s Swan 461Free is the lone entry in the monohull category.

Event details – Entry list – Results – Tracker

The fifth edition of California Offshore Race Week once again connects three distances races into a full offshore race week series. The first stage was the Spinnaker Cup on May 25 (San Francisco to Monterey; 88nm) followed by the Coastal Cup on May 27 (Monterey to Santa Barbara; 204nm) and the SoCal 300 on May 30 (Santa Barbara to San Diego; 245nm).

New this year, the California Offshore Race Week includes a fourth component for the fastest boats – the CA 500 from San Francisco to San Diego on May 30. Originally conceived by Manouch Moshayedi who owns Rio100, the big monohulls couldn’t rally interest but three MOD70s will be using the course as preparation for the 2019 Transpac Race in July.

Source: SDYC