by Garth Meyer
The 50th Annual Santa Barbara to King Harbor sailboat race drew 84 sailboats for the 80 nautical mile race last weekend. The boats departed from the Santa Barbara Yacht Club at noon on Friday, July 28, in 8 knot wind, after which the wind retreated with the sun. It was one of the lightest winds in the race’s history, according to King Harbor Yacht Club Staff Commodore Mark Hansen.
The 77-foot “Zephyrus,” skippered by Damon Guzot of the Los Angeles Yacht Club, was the first to reach King Harbor, at 5:40 a.m. Saturday morning. In previous years, boats have finished before sundown on Friday.
The overall winner – with the lowest corrected time – was the 52-foot monohull, “Bribori.” captained by Mark Surber of Southwestern Yacht Club, in Point Loma. “Bribori” finished at 6:07 a.m.
Their first mark was Anacapa, the smallest of the Channel Islands. From there, the race got tactical, Hansen said.
“Winds are stronger offshore in general, but once night falls, the only wind left is a little coastal ribbon. The great decision every year is whether to go inshore or offshore,” Hansen explained.
His recommendation is keep it simple.
“Rumline,” Hansen said. “You get around Anacapa and point straight to King Harbor and don’t worry about where the wind is.”
“Some skippers will say, ‘Screw it,’ and fire up the engine. I’m going to the party,” Hansen said.
King Harbor Yacht Club is open 24 hours during the race to welcome finishers.
Members viewed the competitors’ progress on a screen in the bar. This was the first year boats were required to carry a transponder for tracking.
The colored triangles on the screen in the bar showed boats moving as slow as one to two knots – even 0.5 in one case. Then a triangle was seen moving six knots.
“Did they find wind?” someone ventured from the bar.
“No, he gave up,” said another. “He turned on his engine.”
The SB2KH includes three main classes of boats; ultralight displacement (flat bottom); PHRF (Performance Handicap Racing Fleet) – a mix of slower boats, and a third class of multi-hull boats, divided into catamarans and tri-marans.
King Harbor Yacht Club members with top finishes in various classes included Andy Beggs (“Triggerfish V, first place, PHRE-B), Denny Browne (“Renegade,” third place, PHRE-B), David Bew (“Kanani,” PHRE-C), and Jason Herring (“Flying Dutchman, third, ULDB-D).
“It was the most popular of the five times I’ve been SB2KH chair,” said Rosemary Vullo of King Harbor Yacht Club.”The pre-party Thursday (at Santa Barbara) was jam-packed. Big party Thursday, but no wind all night Friday.” ER
