Jim and Kate Murray’s Callisto take first place overall for the offshore race week, with 1st in the Spinnaker Cup, 3rd in the Coastal Cup, 2nd in the SoCal 300 Race. The combined points delivered a series win overall for the California Offshore Race Week.
California Offshore Race Week is made up of three events over two weeks and this year saw 36 boats enter for the first race; the 88 mile Spinnaker Cup, from San Francisco Bay to just off the pier in Monterey on the 29th of May. The series continued with the Coastal Cup from Monterey to Santa Barbara, a 204 miles course. This year’s Coastal Cup boasts a recent record of 24 entries. The final race in the series is the SoCal 300 from Santa Barbara to San Diego, different from previous years, the race was be scored as a standard start to finish single race this year.
Next up for the Doyle powered team is the Transpac race on the 10th of July.
Jim Murray shared his thoughts on his team, boat and experience during the CORW:
“Callisto sailed CORW with a crew of 12-13 throughout the series. Our crew uses a “Pro-Am” model, combining veteran sailors who are nonetheless new to the TP52 platform with experienced ocean sailors. We’re based out of Lake Bluff, Illinois, and Chicago Yacht Club, but have crew from the Pacific Northwest, East Coast, Australia, and New Zealand as well as the Great Lakes.
Callisto, like Warrior Won, is a “Pac52” variant of TP52. More freeboard, a stiffer rig, plus enhanced berthing and galley spaces make the boat well-suited to offshore events like CORW. In heavy air reaching during the Spinnaker Cup or light air VMG running like the SoCal 300, she is responsive and can accelerate (or turn) on a dime.
The highlight was undoubtedly reaching along the coast north of Monterey, where a fresh thermal breeze close to the shore gave us 27+ knots of TWS and allowed us to hit mid-20s boatspeed.
We never seriously considered retiring from the SoCal 300. Most of the crew are veterans of the Chicago Mackinac Race. The SoCal saw the same kind of drifting conditions that often occur during the “Mac”…without the biting flies! We were just excited to be out there as a team, logging hours on the boat and getting in practice hours ahead of the Transpac in July.
This was a great week of sailing coming after three days of breezy practice on San Francisco Bay. It combined a bit of everything. A big breeze sprint, steady breezes and gorgeous scenery down the coast (the reach through the Channel Islands was particularly stunning) and a bit of Lake Michigan-like drifting further south. The parties along the way were a great break post quarantine. We look forward to returning…hopefully when the Pacific High is cranking!”