Sailing

The U.S. SailGP team has a new general manager: Kimo Worthington. The 60-year-old Worthington will help run the team alongside skipper Rome Kirby. Season 2 of the global sailing league begins Feb. 28 in Sydney.

SAN DIEGO (AP/Log News Service) — Kimo Worthington, who was on teams that won the America’s Cup and a major round-the-world race, has been hired as general manager of the United States SailGP team.

Recently retired as an executive with North Sails, Worthington said his main role in running the team would be to take pressure off skipper Rome Kirby during the global league’s second season.

“Rome was getting pulled in all different directions and getting taxed,” Worthington said in a phone interview.

U.S. SailGP hires ex-America’s Cup champ as GM

“He needed someone to come in and take the pressure off. The skipper goes sailing and I take care of everything else. I just remove obstacles to make it easier for them to go racing. I did the same thing at North Sails. I removed obstacles so they could sell sails.”

Worthington, 60, sailed with the fathers of three of the U.S. SailGP crewmembers. He was a teammate

of Kirby’s father, Jerry, with Bill Koch’s winning America3 team in the 1992 America’s Cup. In 1995, Worthington was head coach of what started out as the first all-women’s team in the America’s Cup, and Kirby was one of his coaches.

The Australian team, led by America’s Cup winner and Olympic gold medalist Tom Slingsby, won the

inaugural season championship by beating the Japanese team in the $1 million, winner-take-all match race finale.

In addition to the team from the United States, teams from France, Great Britain Japan and Denmark are scheduled to return to Sydney Harbor on February 28 and 29 to take on Australia in the first race of Season 2 of SailGP.

The United States will once again be the only team with two regattas in home waters, in San Francisco on May 2-3 and New York City on June 12-13.

Four seminars remain for Newport-toEnsenada Race Bahia Corinthian, Long Beach, Silver Gate and Del Rey yacht clubs will host courses between Feb. 13 and March 26.

BY PARIMAL M. ROHIT

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA—The 2020 iteration of the annual Newport-toEnsenada Race is almost here. Those planning to compete in the race from Newport Beach to Ensenada, Mexico can still attend a seminar to prepare for the competition, which runs April 24-26.

Four of the eight planned seminars for the international sailing competition are still on deck, meaning sailors still have a chance to be updated on several race-related topics. The seminars will be held on Feb. 13 at Bahia Corinthian Yacht Club in Corona Del Mar, Feb. 20 at Long Beach Yacht Club in Long Beach, Feb. 27 at Silver Gate Yacht Club in San Diego, and March 26 at Del Rey Yacht Club in Marina del Rey.

All four seminars begin at 7 p.m. You must register in advance for the seminar you plan to attend.

Each seminar offers information on several race topics, such as how to solicit and organize a crew, how to prepare your boat, what forms you need to fi ll out to enter and leave Mexico and what you need to do to develop a race plan.

The seminars will also give attendees tips on the following: being compliant with the Notice of Race; racing strategies and tactics; navigation pointers; sail trim guidelines; onboard equipment storage; night sailing; weather forecasting; and, organizing hotels for your team.

Len Bose, Bruce Cooper and Bill Gibbs are among the instructors selected to lead the seminars.

Four seminars were already held at Newport Beach (Jan. 15), Ventura (Jan. 23), Long Beach (Jan. 31) and Dana Point (Feb. 6). The seminars are organized by Newport Ocean Sailing Association, or NOSA.

Newport-to-Ensenada kicks off on April 24, with competitors sailing from Balboa Pier in Newport Beach south to Ensenada. Festivities will end at Hotel Coral and Marina on April 26. Registration ends on April 9.

There are two other races: Newportto-San Diego and Newport-Sprint-toDana Point. The Log will preview all three races in an upcoming issue.

Visit nosa.org/seminars/ for more information about the seminars, including how to register.

SCYA’s 91st Midwinter Regatta adds new classes for 2020

Sailing competition to feature more than 600 boats and 2,500 sailors battling each other at 26 hosted venues.

BY PARIMAL M. ROHIT

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA—The 91st running of the Midwinter Regatta, which is a two-weekend sailing competition, returns on Feb. 8-9 and

Feb. 15-16, courtesy of the Southern California Yachting Association (SCYA). More than 600 boats and 2,500 sailors are expected to compete at 26 venues between Morro Bay and Baja California.

This year’s regatta will feature several new classes, such as one-design, PHRF, cruisers, multihulls, dinghies, remote control model boats, Predicted Log and RS-Tera.

“This yachting tradition is a chance to test your skills against the best skippers on the West Coast or provide an opportunity to experience the thrill

of competitive racing for the fi rst time,” SCYA staff said in a notice to racers. “The two-weekend format, stretching from Morro Bay to Baja California and points east, will again enable host yacht clubs to select the best fi t for racers wishing to participate in this unique event.”

Entry fees are as follows: $27 for 10 feet and smaller; $37 for 10-19.9 feet; $45 for 20-30 feet; $55 for 30 feet and larger. US Sailing members receive a $2 discount in each category. The entry fee for model boats is $17; Predicted Log is $30. Checks are payable to SCYA. Registration and payment of fees can be done online at www.scyamidwinterregatta.org.