2025 LOPEZ CUP RACE RESULTS
I want to thank everyone for a fun and successful 14th Lopez Cup! This was the race that nearly didn’t happen. Saturday morning greeted us with both heavy fog and a total absence of wind.
We had planned for two changes to the course this year. The first change was suggested by the first Lopez Cup winner, Tom Andrews, and was embraced by the LIYC Sailing co-chairs. Tom’s suggestion was to lengthen the course with the first mark to be the Reid Rock Danger Buoy ENE of Friday Harbor which would bring to play some interesting current strategy for the race. The second change we took on was to move the second, southern mark to a new position about 7/10ths of a nm NW of the CG Mooring Buoy deep in Griffin Bay that has served as the race mark for 13 years but has also been a notorious wind hole. The new southern mark was set about 4/10th of a mile SE of Halftide Rocks in the SW part of Griffin Bay.
However, with not a wisp of wind in the air 90 minutes before the race, the Race Committee decided to invoke the “short course” and skip the Reid Rock buoy. When we set the southern mark, visibility was less than 1/4 nm, and we wanted to see 2 nm of visibility in order to run the race.
But the race gods showed us a bit of mercy and in the hour before the race the fog began to clear and some faint wisps of wind began to develop. The fleet began to assemble with some of the Lopez Cup big guns: Tom and Nick Andrews on Lagertha with LIYC Rear-Commodore Mo Crist skippering her first race; Mike Kaminskas, a two time Cup winner, on with Christina Carpenter on Freya; Chris Maas and Todd Twigg on Pteron (check spelling). Foamy, a fabled Moore 24 that has a Pacific Cup notch in its keel was on the line skippered and single-handed by Adam Sapek. Robin Hirsch and Jimmy Roser, two elite J/70 racers from Orcas Island, emerged quietly from the fog with their crew on Ad Lib.
Minutes before the start, two boats requested that the starting line be moved, they were worried about rocks in the area. However, we had +7’ of tide and after some discussion concerns were assuaged enough for the race to start on time.
The 14th Lopez Cup began, appropriately, with 14 boats and just enough wind at noon. The first two racers to start were in beautiful wooden boats: Katie Mae, a Drascombe Peterboat skippered by Dwight Marshall and Little Bean, our smallest boat at 15’ that the skipper, Vern Brock, finished building this past year. Most of the boats struggled a bit with the light wind combined with current to get across the start line on time. The final boat to start was Mike Miller’s Lyrae, an Outremer 49. Once started, all the racers were able to hook up with light winds coming from various directions. Depending where exactly you were on the course, the wind may have been coming from the N, S, or W and several times we witnessed boats headed on the same course but on different tacks. The 14th running of the Lopez Cup was clearly destined to be a strategic light wind battle. Ironically, Griffin Bay was blowing 20+ kts the day after the Lopez Cup.
Early in the race, the Moore 24, Foamy, was observed to be well sailed and finding wind. Ad Lib, the J/70 took a different course than all others and seemed to be heading to Friday Harbor. Had they missed the short course announcements? Clearly not. As the race developed and in the middle of Griffin Bay, everyone seemed to do a good job finding wind. Two made it to the mark well ahead of the field: Ad Lib and Foamy. The next group of boats to the mark were Pteron, Lagertha, and Slow Ride. As they all sought wind working their way north back to the finish, Ad Lib was able to gently put the hammer down with their well tuned spinnaker work and route choices. For the rest of the field, the already light wind began to slacken further and the southern end of Griffin Bay turned to glass albeit with sunshine, dolphins, flocks feeding birds, and beautiful views.
Back at the finish, Ad Lib crossed first by a wide margin with Jimmy Roser collecting his first Lopez Cup win. There was a bit of a challenge for second place between Pteron and Lagertha but ultimately Pteron’s lead was too great and Chris Maas, Todd Twigg, and a flock of young sailors on Pteron prevailed for second, and Mo Crist and crew took third. Adam Sapek, in Foamy, had a brilliant single-handed sail, finishing fourth overall and first in the “B” Class of smaller boats. After those four boats managed to cajole their way to the finish, the wind turned off for good and the remainder of the fleet eventually had to abandon or risk having the current eventually sweep them out into the Strait of Juan de Fuca. The race committee awarded Little Bean with the “Fleet Favorite” Award as they battled the longest in the smallest boat.
Our final change to the Lopez Cup format for this year could be observed after the race: thanks to the Islander / LIYC partnership, moorage for Saturday night was included with the $20 entry fee. We had a number of boats on the dock for the community to view including Pteron built by Chris Maas and Little Bean built by Vern Brock. LIYC provided hotdogs, chips, and drinks to all and there was a spirited after party and award ceremony on the Islander docks. Unconfirmed reports indicate that after party sailor shenanigans occurred both at the Islander and the Galley who both had great musical acts playing, possibly in support of Lopez Cup, the latter featuring a duo that is touring by sailboat.
Special thanks to Brian Halaburka and photographer Leslie Richter who joined me in the committee boat. You can find more pictures of Lopez Cup (and other work) on Leslie’s site here.
Below are results, some photos, and past race winners.
Thanks all,
Barry Crist
Brian Halaburka
LIYC Sailing co-chairs
The 2025 results:
Pre-race conditions:
The 2025 Lopez Cup overall winner, Ad Lib
Sample of the race shots by Leslie:
Results – all Lopez Cup Races
2012 “MADAME PELE” Tom Andrews
2013 “BULLET” Mike Kaminskas
2014 “BREATHLESS MAHONEY” Mike Kaminskas
2015 “VALKYRIE” Bill White
2016 “VALKYRIE II” Fred Neilson
2017 “WILLIWAW” Tom Patty
2018 “SPEEDSTER” Russ Johnson
2019 “SHILLELAGH” Ray Pingree
2020 “RAKU” Christina Wolf
2021 “AHA” Ken Machtley
2022 “PURPLE MARTIN” Betsy Warren
2023 “SABRA” John Miller
2024 “SLIPPER” Chris Maas
2025 “AD LIB” Jimmy Roser
NOTICE OF RACE AND SAILING INSTRUCTIONS 14th Annual LOPEZ CUP CLASSIC YACHT RACE
Sponsored by the Lopez Island Yacht Club and the Lopez Islander Resort Saturday, September 13st, 2025
Rules: The race will be governed by these sailing instructions and the International Navigation Rules of the Road applicable to the San Juan Islands.
Divisions: All yachts will be divided into two classes based on their PHRF handicap. Class B will be the higher rating yachts. Class A the lower rated yachts. Final determination of classes will be assigned by e-mail notification prior to the race and based on number of entrants and handicaps. Yachts may sail with a spinnaker or without. Handicaps will be adjusted accordingly.
NOTE: An active PHRF rating is NOT required. If you have not raced your boat in this race before and have not been assigned a PHRF rating, please email lopez.sailing@gmail.com so we may calculate your start time.
Communication and Check-in: The race committee boat will monitor channel 72 VHF prior to and during the race. All entrants must check in prior to 11:45 PM with boat name, make of boat, and sail number, either via radio on channel 72 or by sailing past the committee boat and hailing. Any changes to these Sailing Instructions will be announced on VHF channel 72 and repeated at 11:45.
Time Check: At 11:55 PM Race Committee will announce on Channel 72 that a time check will be at 12 PM. At precisely 12 PM a horn will be sounded by the 1 committee boat to co-ordinate times for all boats. Each entrant should start their stop watch at this time. A horn will be blown for the start of each successive start thereafter. All horn signals for a start will be preceded by an announcement on Channel 72 vhf.
The Course (New! Note change from previous years): The starting line will be at the red day marker at the entrance of Fisherman’s Bay Channel. Boats must pass to port Reid Rock Shoal buoy (48°32.96’ N 122°59.38’W). Next, boats must pass to port a racing buoy set ¼ mile to ½ mile east of Halftide Rocks in Griffin Bay (near 48°28.8’ N 122°59.4’W, about 2 miles NW of Cattle Pass). Finally, boats return to the starting line at the red day marker at the entrance to Fisherman’s Bay channel. Finish between the red day marker to starboard and orange buoy to port (or the committee boat). The total distance of the course is 12.5 miles. All boats are warned to change course as soon as you finish to avoid the shallow water to the east of the starting line.
The Start: Similar to previous years, the race will utilize a Pursuit Style start. Each boat has an allotted start time based on how fast or slow their boat is determined by their PHRF handicap (or otherwise handicapped by the Race Committee). The highest PHRF handicapped boats (the slowest ones) will start first and the lowest handicap boat (the fastest boat) starts last. The start will be between the channel entrance day marker to Fisherman’s Bay and a committee boat (an orange buoy).
The Finish: The finish line will be between the red day marker at the Fisherman’s Bay entrance channel to starboard and an orange float (or a committee boat) to port.
Time-Limit: The time limit for finishing the course will be 1800 hrs.
Protests: There will be no format for a formal protest or a protest committee. We are operating on the honor system (just like golf or ultimate frisbee). If you foul another yacht, take your 360 penalty turn and continue racing.
Skippers Meeting: There will be no skippers meeting for this event. You must notify the LIYC Sailing Committee of your intent to race along with the name of your boat, the make, and phrf rating by emailing lopez.sailing@gmail.com.
Any questions you might have please call either Barry Crist at (206) 225-1068 or Brian Halaburka at (408) 335-8133. We will notify each entrant of their start time by e-mail prior to the race. Also, the race committee will publish the start times of the fleet.
Entry Fee: There will be a $20 entry fee for all boats. Please send your entry fees by mail (check only please by mail) to Barry Crist at 1564 Bayshore Road, Lopez Island 98261. You may make payment (check or cash) to the committee boat prior to the start. The committee boat will have a fish net to snag your checks or money. Checks should be made out to LIYC.
After race BBQ: Accommodations (including free camping), the Party, and Awards: We want to encourage all racers to attend the BBQ, the Party, and if possible spend Saturday night on Lopez Island!
LIYC will host a BBQ on the Islander Dock starting after the race. BYOB or grilling items. We will provide hotdogs and chips if needed.
There will be an afterparty with (hopefully!) live music at the Tiki Bar in the Islander. Accommodations are available at the Islander (360-468.2233) or if you would like camp, the Race Committee has arranged the use of a one acre mowed grass waterfront yard located on the Fisherman’s Bay peninsula.
Email sailing.lopez@gmail.com if you are interested in the camping option. There will be trophies and prizes awarded for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place for each class. 3 Additionally the overall winner will have his name engraved on the Lopez Island Cup, a perpetual trophy that will reside in the LIYC room at the Lopez Islander Resort.
Lopez Island Yacht Club ● P O Box 22 ● Lopez Island, WA 98261.