Port of Los Angeles Harbor Cup - Day 2
by Los Angeles Yacht Club 9 Mar 04:07 GMT
March 7-9, 2025
Day Two of racing in the Los Angeles Yacht Club is complete with the Trojans of the University of Southern California first and the Rainbows of University of Hawaii close behind in second.
There were great sailing conditions. The day started with light wind that steadily grew and clocked to the west- in classic Hurricane Gluch style.
Each race was made up of two laps with race committee's objective of each race lasting about one hour. The times shortened as the winds grew with the last race of the day finishing in just 44 minutes.
Family members of some of the crew members enjoyed viewing on board the spectator motor yacht Mauretania. In addition to viewing the races the Port of Los Angeles- marine traffic included the SpaceX booster bound for Vanderberg, the Discovery Princess on her way to Cabo San Lucas and various cargo vessels.
It seemed the teams were so excited that two of the five races run today saw competitors passing over the start line early. One race saw six of the ten teams over early.
When asked why a general recall was not made- Principal Race Officer (PRO) Tom Trujillo said doing that would be unfair to the four boats that started timely.
The final two races of the ten race series will be raced Sunday- with the warning signal for the first race at 11:30am (daylight saving time)
The POLA Harbor Cup regatta racing continues Sunday, as the co-ed teams enjoy a series of 10 races in the challenging waters off Pt. Fermin. Sailing in the Long Beach Sailing Foundation fleet of 37-foot Catalina sailboats, these identically matched and maintained vessels will guarantee the focus is on each crew's skills and strategies to win the title.
Participating teams are selected from a large field of hopeful applicants. Since its founding in 2008 the POLA Harbor Cup has hosted 154 varsity sailing squads from 30 different universities and institutions: over 1,320 varsity athletes and coaches. "We truly enjoy the energy that 80-plus students bring to Los Angeles and to our yacht club each year," added Trujillo. After arrival at LAYC the students and their coaches are fully hosted by LAYC members, with all housing and meals provided.
After racing, the teams enjoyed dinner at LAYC Saturday evening featuring Kimball Livingston- an international sailor, author, screenwriter and commentator who built a career of doing, then talking about the doing, in print and in person.
Livingston's sailing career took off within days of finishing a master's degree. He boarded an ocean racing sailboat to Mexico; it was a good ride, made a good story with nothing whatsoever to do with his former field of study, and.....he never looked back.
Later in his life, Livingston recognized a one-time opportunity and fulfilled a mission to fit in the milestone editions of the Centennial Transpacific Yacht Race, Centennial Newport Bermuda Race and the 100th running of Chicago Yacht Club Race to Mackinac — America's three classic distance races.
As commodore of St. Francis Yacht Club in 2016, he recognized a need to drive change in the club's junior program. Once he started this challenge, he never looked back and is now the club's Staff Commodore Ambassador to Youth Sailing, Club Curator, and Historian ("I get 'em coming and going.").
Livingston is staff commodore of the Pacific Coast Yachting Association, he serves on the Transpac board, the National Sailing Hall of Fame's selection panel and, most recently, on the finalist panel for the US Rolex Yachtsman/Yachtswoman of the Year.
The college student competitors found his presentation informative and fascinating.
For more information visit www.layc.org/LAYC-harbor-cup.
Scoring updates: Port of Los Angeles Harbor Cup | Spring 2025 | ICSA Real-Time Regatta Results