South County : Starting Line for Race of Tall Ships Is Changed

The starting line for the second annual tall-ship race of lofty square-riggers, schooners and ketches has been changed and will be off the Balboa Pier instead of the Huntington Beach Pier, according to Mike Wathen, chairman of the race committee.

The finish line of the 0ct. 4 event still will be the San Clemente Pier, he said.

At least six vessels will take part, including the Californian, the state’s official tall ship; the Pilgrim, a replica of the brig on which author Richard Henry Dana Jr. sailed to California 150 years ago; the Discovery; the Argus, the Resolution and the Pilgrim of Newport. A possible seventh entry is the Swift of Ipswich.

The race, sponsored by the Capistrano Bay Yacht Club, will start about noon and will be run on a course not far off shore. The ships will be clearly visible from beaches and bluffs along the coast.