Annapolis Yacht Club To Host 24-Hour Race

ANNAPOLIS, MD — Teams of sailors will descend upon Annapolis Sept. 28 for the Annapolis Yacht Club's new 24-hour race for double-handed crews that begins at the Chesapeake Bay's entrance to the Severn River. The Olympic Games will be holding a mixed double-handed long-distance competition starting with the 2024 Paris Games and the Annapolis Yacht Club will be among the first sailing organizations to establish their own similar event.

The race course will be span the Chesapeake Bay with a finish line off the yacht club’s dock on Spa Creek. The race is scheduled to last 24 hours and the first boat to the finish line will receive the top prize. The race will be an endurance contest for the crews as they race throughout the night hours. Keeping the boat sailing fast, monitoring weather forecasts, careful navigation, precision boat handling, and physical stamina are a few of the skills the crews will need to excel in this challenging contest.

With GPS-based tracking and easy communications with the competitors, the double-handed long-distance race will attract worldwide interest in all time zones 24 hours per day, the yacht club shared in a statement. Racing enthusiasts will be able to follow the Annapolis Yacht Club competitors throughout the race on the internet.

The AYC event will feature two divisions: one for mixed gender crews in J105s and a second division open to male or female teams in boats of 25 to 42 feet using the Offshore Rating Council handicap rule to score the different size boats. Among the early entrants is two-time Olympic medalist and winning America’s Cup sailor, Randy Smyth, and champion offshore sailor from Annapolis, Dee Smith. Both sailors say they were attracted to compete in this race because it is a new concept with so many unknowns. Sailors will be tested in boats not usually sailed double-handed around long-distance courses compared with the more usual windwardleeward courses. In addition, Smyth is looking forward racing with his friend, Christina Parrson.