Local conditions (left) are ideal for serious sailing, and local yachtsmen are serious about winning. The Santa Barbara Yacht Club took home the Ventura Cup in 2006.
The fastest boats and crews from area yacht clubs will hit the waters off Ventura this month, competing in the highly anticipated 2007 Ventura Cup Regatta—the most prestigious yacht racing event in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties. The race brings together yacht clubs from all over California, and the public is welcome to cheer on their favorite teams from the Observation Deck of the Ventura Yacht Club or from the shore adjacent to the Ventura Harbor.
“It’s the icing on the cake for sailors when they get to race,” says Jeff Stansfield, the vice commodore of the Ventura Yacht Club and co-chair of the event. Racers spend countless hours preparing their boats and gathering team members for practice sailing sessions prior to the race. “It is expensive and can take a lot of work,” Stansfield adds, “but the racers love it when they hit the water.”
A longstanding tradition, The Ventura Cup Regatta began in 1968 when The Channel Islands Yacht Club threw down the gauntlet and challenged the Ventura Yacht Club to a race. The race has been held each year since, although it has changed in format several times.
In 2006, in order to encourage more participation, the Yacht Club added an additional complete course. “We now run two separate races concurrently,” explains Stansfield. “We have the triangular-shaped course similar in format to the original 1968 race: The Santa Barbara Channel Challenge. We also have a windward-leeward race—The Ventura Cup—in which racers navigate a course around series of buoys.” The S.B. Channel Challenge competition’s starting line will be one and a half miles south of the Ventura Harbor, whereas the starting line for the Ventura Cup portion of the races will be one and a half miles west of the Ventura Harbor.
“There is a high level of concentration, and tempers can flair,” says Stansfield, explaining that an independent race committee judges each competition. The Ventura Cup Regatta’s rules are governed by the current version of the 2005-2008 Racing Rules of Sailing. “If a protest is lodged, a panel of judges back on the land-side will hear the evidence and make a ruling,” he explains. They also hire a Principal Race Officer, who ensures the fairness of the races.
The series of races, sponsored by the Ventura Yacht Club, will begin at high noon, both Saturday, September 22 and Sunday, September 23—and continue throughout each afternoon. The public is also invited to join the winners for an awards ceremony directly following the races, Sunday at 4 p.m., at the Ventura Yacht Club. According to Stansfield, the whole weekend is exciting for participants, organizers, and observers alike. “This is a unique team event unlike anything being held anywhere else,” he says.
09-01-07
