Feeder Races Boost Saturday’s Ensenada Fleet to 600 Boats

During its 38 years, the annual Newport Beach-to-Ensenada yacht race has turned into more than just a weekend party junket to the Baja California resort.

The 600 entries in Saturday’s race will include sailors involved in feeder races from northern and southern ports a week in advance of the actual race, resulting in a massive raft-up of yachts at the various Newport Beach yacht clubs.

Oldest of the feeder races is from Coronado, in which scores of yachts will sail north Saturday.

Two feeder events will originate at Marina del Rey--California Yacht Club’s Mayor’s Trophy race, the first of the Overton Series, and Pacific Mariners Yacht Club’s Catalina-to-starboard race.

The CYC race will take the racers around the seaward side of Catalina Island before heading for the finish at Newport Beach’s Bahia Corinthian Yacht Club. The PMYC racers will make a straight run down the coast, leaving the island on their starboard side.

Feeder races are also scheduled from the Ventura area.

Many of the yachts arriving this weekend will have to undergo mandatory inspection to ensure that they have the required safety equipment.

Although there has never been a serious accident in the 125-mile “Tequila Derby,” extreme weather conditions could create problems for the 600 boats--many with inexperienced crews--heading down the coast.

To avert minor mishaps or boats getting lost, the sponsoring Newport Ocean Sailing Assn. provides a fleet of powerboats as escorts, and the Coast Guard also has at least one escort vessel.

The most precarious place for accidents is in crowded Ensenada harbor, which has poor holding ground for anchoring. There have been several years when returning yachts ran aground on the Baja California coast--mostly because of gear failure in heavy weather or unfamiliarity with the coastline, not to mention too much partying in Ensenada.