Yachts to head to Balboa Pier for the 75th Newport to Ensenada race

Only a week remains until the 75th Newport to Ensenada race.

Registration closed this week, and roughly 140 entrants will set off from Balboa Pier next Friday to travel on one of two tracts: the titular 125-mile trip between the pier and Ensenada, and the 90-mile sprint to San Diego.

Newport Ocean Sailing Assn. Commodore Mary Bacon said in an interview Thursday that about 55 a of this year’s entrants didn’t race in 2022, and of those about 24 are first-time participants who have never participated as an owner or a skipper.

Racers are coming from all over, with skippers coming from nine states, including California. One is expected from Canada, while two will travel north from Mexico to take part in the race.

Bacon noted that this year will likely not see the same wind as the race last year but joked that winds should be strong enough to get folks over the starting line.

The race started in 1948, when it kicked off from the Newport Harbor Yacht Club. It returned to that location this year for the annual Yachtsman Luncheon.

“We’ve come full circle. It always starts in Newport Beach, but [the Newport Harbor Yacht Club] were the ones who hosted the first race. It was a ‘just for fun’ race,” Bacon said, laughing. “They called the first race the Governor’s Cup, and an invitation was sent to Gov. Earl Warren, inviting him to present the first trophy in the small fishing village of Ensenada. The invitation was sent by telegraph.”

The Newport Ocean Sailing Assn., which hosts the race annually, celebrated its 75th year in operation with a meeting of mayors between Newport Beach and Ensenada in November 2021. This year’s race is the 75th, off by one year due to race cancellations in 2020 due to the pandemic.