J/Teams Win Big at 2026 Newport to Ensenada Race

ByStuart Johnstone

(Newport Beach, CA)- The 78th Newport to Ensenada International Yacht Race will take place on Friday, April 24th, 2026. With more than 800 competitors and 76 yachts registered, this iconic event is considered to be one of the largest and most challenging sailing races on the West Coast. While many consider it to be a simple “sprint” down the coastline to a Mexican border town, it’s anything but that when you consider how the super-hot heating of the land affects the offshore winds!

Competitors are divided into 5 classes based on boat performance and competition class. Seventy-six yachts are in the PHRF divisions; fifteen of them are J/Teams (20.0% of the fleet)!

“The City of Newport Beach is excited to welcome the over 800 competitors racing in over 75 yachts in the 78th Annual Newport to Ensenada International Yacht Race,” said Newport Beach Mayor Joe Stapleton. “This race continues to be one of the largest sailing events on the West Coast, and it features many of the extremely competitive yachts tuning up to race to Hawaii.

J/Boats Division
With nine entries, there was bound to be tough competition amongst the talented fleet of J/sailors. In the end, it was the classic J/40 KATSUO sailed by Michael Thompson that not only won the coveted J/Boats Trophy, but also won the First Timer Division for boats sailing the Newport-Ensenada Race for their maiden race!

Second was Mark Stratton’s J/122 CHEEKY, always a team vying for the top of the leaderboard and also taking . Then, taking the bronze medal was Chuck Bower’s J/29 RHUMB RUNNER.

PHRF Race A Division
This twelve-boat fleet saw Thompson’s J/40 KATSUO take the silver medal, while Stratton’s J/122 CHEEKY finished in fifth place. Just off the pace to secure sixth place was Dean Stanec’s J/130 NIGHT’S WATCH.

PHRF Race C Division
This eleven-boat fleet saw Bowers’s J/29 RHUMB RUNNER take the gold medal by just over 1:32 corrected time!

PHRF UL-C Division
This eleven-boat fleet saw Ed Sanford’s J/111 CREATIVE get onto the podium again and garnered the bronze medal, just 8 minutes off taking the silver medal. Fellow J/111 sailor John Staff’s OBSIDIAN took fifth place, just 15 minutes back from CREATIVE.

PHRF UL-D Division
In this half-dozen-boat fleet, Robert Dekker’s J/105 CUCHULAINN ended up taking the bronze medal just 70 seconds back from the second-place boat.

For more Newport to Ensenada Race sailing information
https://nosa.org/