Port of Los Angeles Harbor Cup - Overall
by Los Angeles Yacht Club 10 Mar 02:03 GMT
March 7-9, 2025
The Trojans of University of Southern California won the 17th running of The Port of Los Angeles/Cal Maritime Harbor Cup Regatta. They were in second place last year.
USC Skipper Morgana Manti credits her team for the win. Their coach- Michael Segerblom was celebrating more than the team's first win since 2010- earlier that day-he became a grandfather for the first time, welcoming grandson Hans Paul Segerblom to the world.
Segerblom commended Cal Maritime, the Port of Los Angeles and Los Angeles Yacht Club, who together provide an opportunity for college students to participate in one-design big boat offshore competition. For 17 years, he has witnessed teams receive warm welcomes, meals, and accommodations. In addition, organizers cover charter fees so there is no cost to racers.
USC's Manti, a junior studying screen writing, credited Segerblom's coaching and shared that four of the Trojan team members competed in last year's regatta and that experience also contributed to their win.
"The starts were the most stressful part of the weekend. With 10 boats on the line and the wind shifts, it was definitely a challenge" Manti said.
The eight-time victors of the cup-The Rainbows of University of Hawaii finished second. The Cougars of the College of Charleston took third. They have taken top honors in two previous cups.
In the small world department, the USC team normally competes in dinghies namely FJ's. Skipper Morgana Manti first sailed in another small boat- an Optimist (nicknamed Optis)- in her home county of Italy. The 2013 winning Congressional Cup skipper Simone Ferrarese was her Opti coach.
The Catalina 37s used for Harbor Cup are the same keel boats used in the Congressional Cup as well as the all-woman's Mayor's Cup. In the 2009 running of the Mayor's Cup, a very young Martine Grael completed. Grael will be racing next weekend in SailGP as skipper for the Brazilian team. SailGP will be racing in the same area where Harbor Cup was raced this weekend.
This Harbor Cup event brought 10 sailing teams from leading universities and institutions to Los Angeles to compete in ocean-going Catalina 37 keelboats.
The POLA Harbor Cup - a three-day regatta with 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.
The match race yachts are chartered for the weekend and LAYC members power the boats over Thursday prior to the regatta and return them Sunday afterwards. This is the only time that the boats are permitted to be away overnight.
A special "Dockmaster Award" is presented to the team by Jr Staff Commodore Ken Corry. It is presented to the team that takes best care of the boats they sail and this year the Arizona Sun Devils earned the honor.
The 2026 regatta is tentatively planned for March 6-8, 2026.
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.