J/Teams Win 2 Divisions @ Santa Barbara to King Harbor Race

(Santa Barbara, CA)- An annual mid-summer classic in southern California has been the 80.0nm Santa Barbara to King Harbor Race. It has been a tradition for Santa Barbara and King Harbor sailors for 52 years! In recent years, the race has been popular with a significant number of J/sailors hoping to challenge the straightforward, but wildly tricky race course.

From the start to the first turning mark- the Anacapa Islands- is a relatively straight shot on starboard tack with Code Zeros or spinnakers to the western end of the islands, leaving them to port. Thereafter, it becomes a “roll of the dice” to avoid the massive wind shadow to leeward of the high peaks in the standard NW breezes. Once escaping that windless hole, “death grip”, the fleet generally heads toward Point Dume, a prominent point with very tall cliffs and mountains just to the west of Malibu. The southeasterly flowing winds tend to accelerate near the shoreline by a solid 3 to 8 knots, so it more often than not pays off to go this route, instead of doing a straight shot offshore from Anacapa to King Harbor beneath the Palos Verdes peninsula. From Point Dume, it’s a coin flip on which gybe to take to the finish line inside the King Harbor breakwaters.

Many J/teams over time have won not only their divisions, but also overall in the PHRF division. This year, there were only strong performances in various divisions. Here’s how it all went down.

ULDB A- 7 boats
1. Dan Murphy’s J/125 JAVELIN

ULDB B- 7 boats
3. Jeff Shew’s J/121 RAVEN

PHRF A- 7 boats
3. Dr. Laura Schlessinger’s J/122 WARRIOR
4. Mark Stratto’s J/122 CHEEKY
7. Scott Wildman’s J/122 RESOLUTE

PHRF B- 8 boats
1. David Newland’s J/92 DREAMLINE
3. Juan Lois’s J/105 ROCINANTE
4. Stephen McMillan’s J/99 MERLIN
5. Jack Mayer’s J/109 ZEPHYR

For more Santa Barbara to King Harbor Race sailing information
https://sbyc.org/sb-kh