South Coast : Annual Tall Ship Race to Be Visible From Shore

The second annual Southern California Tall Ship Race, with a fleet of lofty vessels that could be sailing right out of the past century, will start at 11:30 a.m. Saturday off the Balboa Pier in Newport Beach.

Several hours later--exactly how many hours will depend on the wind--they’ll cross the finish line 18 miles down the coast at the San Clemente Pier.

On the way, they’ll be easily seen from ocean-view homes, bluff tops, waterfront restaurants, beaches and even Pacific Coast Highway, according to race officials, who said the ships will stay as close inshore as safety considerations will permit.

In the regatta, sponsored by the Capistrano Bay Yacht Club, will be the official state tall ship, Californian, a topsail schooner; the Pilgrim, modeled after the brig on which author-sailor Richard Henry Dana Jr. visited Dana Point 150 years ago; the three-masted barkentine, Discovery; the three-masted schooner, Resolution, and the Pilgrim of Newport, replica of a 19th-Century Baltimore clipper with schooner rig.

After the race, several of the ships will return to Dana Point and be available for close public inspection.