Announcing SF2SF, a New Ocean Race

July 13, 2012

Several of Northern California's renowned sailboat racers have been meeting the past few months with one goal in mind, to launch the first round-the-world race that starts and ends on San Francisco Bay. The race, named SF2SF, is the brainchild of Jim Antrim, naval architect and avid ocean racer. "I'm intrigued by the challenge of a new sailing route around the world opened by the breadth of the Pacific Ocean," stated Jim. "And not all major races have to start and end in France!"

Jim Antrim trimming the main of Tony English's Antrim 27 E.T. (Dan Natake is on the helm.) ©2012 norcalsailing.com

It's no coincidence that Jim plans to be part of a Bay Area team which will build a boat and compete in the race. Among his long list of successful racing yacht designs, some more recent ones have spurred a revival of the Bay Area's yacht building industry. Three custom Antrim racing yachts in the 40 to 50-ft range have been built by Cree Partridge at Berkeley Marine Center. A new 60-ft monohull is in the works for SF2SF.

The SF2SF Ocean Race group has created a broad outline for the race, and is seeking additional input to finalize details for an official Notice of Race. One thing for certain, the race organizers seek to. According to Jim, "The race will be about the challenge and the love of sailing. It should be accessible to a greater variety of teams. We welcome the big syndicates if they'd like to participate, but we also want the amateur teams that are ready to take on this challenge."

The race is scheduled for Fall 2015, with a course around Cape Horn and Cape of Good Hope. It is essentially a non-stop race, though boats will be allowed to stop as needed, with the clock continuing to tick. See the group's new website at www.sf2sfoceanrace.com, where you'll find the survey seeking input from potential entrants, sponsors and racing enthusiasts.