In January 1953, Club de Yates de Acapulco and San Diego Yacht Club, led by Commodore Ken Baker, established the first San Diego to Acapulco Race. The course for the race streched 1,430 nm from SD to Acapulco, offering a tropical port in wintertime and a "leisurely return" via the Mexican and Baja California coast. The only SDYC entry in '53 was the 89-foot ketch Novia del Mar owned by John P. Scripps. The race was won by Acapulco entrant Wolf Schoenborn sailing the 44' Island Clipper Conejo with an elapsed time of 12 days, 18 hrs 13 min 57 sec. The best Elapsed Time for the First to Finish yacht to Acapulco was 8d, 9h, 15m, 34s established in 1964 by Sirius II. SDYC’s Ashely G. Bown aboard his well known 40’ Owens Cutter “Carousel” was the Overall Winner that year.

The San Diego - Acapulco race was held biennially a total of 12 times before changing its destination to Manzanillo in 1976. This cut over 300 nm. off the course length and shortened the race by up to four days. Elapsed times for the First to Finish yachts averaged six days for the 1100 nm course as the boats were getting faster. The best time to Manzanillo was posted by Roy Disney’s famed “Pyewacket” in 1994 in 5d, 0h, 16m, 14s which works out to about 9.1 knot average compared with the winning time in the inaugural 1953 race average of just 4.6 knots. After 10 editions of the San Diego to Manzanillo race spanning 20 years, ‘the race’ went looking for a new destination. Mazatlan was selected as the 1996 destination, but proved to be an undesirable racing destination.

In 1998, San Diego Yacht Club headed for Puerto Vallarta. That year, Roy Disney was back with a ‘turbo’ version of his ultra-light sled “Pyewacket” to establish a course record to Puerto Vallarta (approx. 1000 nm) that still stands today at 3d, 21h, 55m, 36s. Even though it was a ‘fast year’, some of Pyewacket’s thunder was stolen by world adventurer Steve Fossett’s 60’ trimaran “Lakota” which sailed as an unofficial entry in an ‘exhibition’ class. He displayed the awesome speed potential for those designs as Lakota roared down the course at an average speed of almost 16 knots and completed the 1000 nm. course in 2d, 14h, 20m, 17s.

After two more runs to Puerto Vallarta, a sentimental return to Manzanillo was hosted in 2004. Richard Compton’s Andrews designed “Alchemy 77” blazed a trail to the famed Las Hadas Resort in Manzanillo in just under four days (3d, 23h, 52m, 33s) at an average speed of just over 11 knots – a record for that destination. In 2006, the event settled back on course to Puerto Vallarta and the seaward finish out by Punta Mita. This seemingly obscure finish line located on the northern edge of Bandaras Bay was selected because of its proximity to the open ocean and to avoiding the predictable night time parking lot for boats trying to traverse the 12 miles across Bandaras Bay to the PV’s harbors.

Doug Baker’s Andrews design “Magnitude 80” was a 2006 Vallarta Race pre-race favorite to break Pyewacket’s record with a projected finish of 3d 12h (89 hrs). Alas favorable weather didn’t materialize and Magnitude 80’s time of 111.7 hrs wasn’t even near the 100 hour mark typically broken by the top finishers to Puerto Vallarta. Maybe next time?!

Throughout San Diego Yacht Club’s 55 year history of conducting races to Mexico, participation has been as ‘enthusiastic’ as 42 boats and as ‘concise’ as 15 boats (1960 and 2006 - aside from the 7 boat roster for the inaugural year). A variety of fleets, rating systems and designs have been woven into the history of this event. Looking down the roster of past participating boats, you can just about trace the evolution of yacht design. Beginning with the early 1950s dominance of large ketches and yawls (waterline, waterline, waterline) the late 1960s and early 1970s introduced fiberglass construction and fin keels worn by the Cal 40s, and various Ericson designs. Then enter the early 1980s featuring the custom designs of Doug Peterson, Bill Lee, and Bruce Nelson. By the 1990s, the 70’ “ultra light displacement boat” or ULDBs were the rage and at the turn of the newest century, cutting edge ‘maxi’ sleds exceeding eighty feet with canting keels are poised to establish records that will surely stand for many years.

Across all the years, the Scripps family of San Diego has a unique prospective. They framed the event with their inaugural participation by father John P. Scripps in 1953 aboard their 89’ ketch “Novia del Mar”, and just last year, 53 years later son Paul K. Scripps  participated in the 2006 race aboard their 79’ ketch “Miramar”. There are numerous other families that have no doubt regularly plied the waters between San Diego and destinations south. But regardless of what type of boat you have, or how long you have done these races, San Diego’s race to the Mexican mainland will persist thanks to all those with a competitive spirit, a love of the ocean and a ‘Mexican’ wanderlust.