Newport To Ensenada Yacht Race

Baja Bound is a proud sponsor of the 60th Annual 2007 Lexus Newport to Ensenada Yacht Race. This year the Yacht Race takes place on April 27-29th. Created by the Newport Ocean Sailing Association (NOSA), the founding members met in 1947 to organize a small, just-for-fun race for sailors coming out of World War II. Newport Harbor Yacht Club hosted the first race, called at the time, The Governor’s Cup. A total of 117 boats paid $22.50 each to compete in the first 125-mile race from Newport Beach, California to Ensenada, Mexico on April 23, 1948. With winds estimated at 25–35 knots, only 65 boats finished the race that year.

With an emphasis on comradeship as well as friendly competition, the Cup was renamed the Newport to Ensenada International Yacht Race and quickly began to attract thousands of well-known racers, fun-seeking novices, and celebrities from around the world. People such as movie producer Milton Bren, well-known actors Buddy Ebsen and Humphrey Bogart, Walter Cronkite, comedienne Vicki Lawrence, and Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist Paul Conrad have raced alongside world-class skippers like Dennis Conner, Bill Ficker, and Dave Ullman.

In 1983, a record 675 boats entered the race and with more than 500 boats typically competing every year, the colorful race has earned the title “world’s largest international yacht race.” With more than 20 classes, the race includes a variety of sea-going boat ranging from top ultra-light and maxi-yachts to the non-spinnaker classes. The racing teams compete for the coveted First-to-Finish Honors, the President of the United States Trophy, and the President of Mexico Trophy among many other awards.

In the 1998 51st Annual Newport to Ensenada Race, the winds blew hard and consistent allowing virtually every boat to finish in record time including the world-famous Stars and Stripes on which skipper Steve Fosset set a new course record of 6:46:40. The monohull record was also rewritten by Roy Disney’s turbosled Pyewacket with a time of 11:54:00.

Please visit www.nosa.org for more information about the 2006 Lexus Newport to Ensenada Yacht Race.