Bushwhacker Week is here. Pensacola is regatta ready.
 
Pensacola, FL – Nov 8, 2021:  Welcome to the countdown to the Pensacola Yacht Club's 2021 Melges 24 Bushwhacker Cup. Practice races, final registration, a North Sails clinic, the competitors briefing, and a party kick it off Friday (Nov 12). A full slate of racing is on tap for Saturday and Sunday. 
 
PRO Hal Smith has set the bar at 10 races scheduled. The forecast for Pensacola Bay looks spot on for delivery... big 20+ North wind Saturday and the coolest day this fall, moderating to a perfect 12-15 day on Sunday
 
22 Melges 24's are entered. The fleet includes one of the top boats from Europe, Peter Karrié's GER 859 "Nefeli" arrived last week and Bora Gulari's 2021 Melges 24 Point Series Leader "New England Ropes" - USA 820 returns. Gulari finished second in Pensacola’s 2019 Bushwhacker Cup.
 
Pensacola YC fans hope their new home town Melges 24 “Phoeniceus” USA 086, owned by members Nathan and Jennifer Simonson, will be on the Corinthian podium… a dark horse. 
 
Daphne, AL sailor Zane Yoder's "Friday Night Gigolos'" - USA 9- broke it's mast in the Pensacola YC's West Florida Open Regatta in October in similar wind to those predicted for Saturday. They have a replacement mast and will be out on a windy course to try again.
 
US Melges 24 Class Association’s (USMCA) Southeast Governor, Tony Stanley commented, “Following a great Melges 24 US Nationals in the Detroit area with 22 boats competing, the combined Gulf Coast & Atlantic Coast Melges 24 Championship at the “Bushwhacker Cup” has attracted an equal fleet of 22 boats.”
 
“The field looks like a good mix of Corinthian and Professional boats, Stanley added. “Bora Gulari, Richard Reid from Canada, and European Peter Karrie are the strong favorites in the pro field. Steve Suddath, KC Shannon and Brent McKenzie look good in the Corinthian field…But all bets could be off once the first race gets started… there are some strong sailors on the start line.”
 
Stanley, who will be racing his own Melges 24 "Hermes" - USA 610, added, “The Melges 24 Class is excited to hold this event in Pensacola, as a warm up event to the 2022 International Melges 24 World Championship scheduled for Ft Lauderdale in May. We’ll all get some experience in the Pensacola Bay Area.”
 
The 2021 Bushwhacker Cup is the first step toward the 2022 Melges 24 World Championships scheduled for May in Ft. Lauderdale. In December After Pensacola sailors will move to Miami for the Bacardi Series, racing in Key West and St Petersburg and the back to Miami for the Bacardi Invitational then up to Charleston Race Week and back down to the Worlds.
 
Pensacola Yacht Club will then host the 2022 Melges 24 North American Championship at next year’s Bushwhacker Cup #3.

Race information for both the WFORC and the Bushwhacker Cup … NOR/SI’s, regatta entry, team lists and official notices… is all on a Yacht Scoring Web Page. Links to those pages are also on Pensacola Yacht Club Racing. [https://pensacolayachtclub.org/Racing].
 
Sailing on Pensacola Bay
Pensacola Bay and Santa Rosa Sound are naturally protected by Santa Rosa Island to the south. The pass to the Gulf of Mexico is located to the southwest, across from the Naval Air Station Pensacola and divides the Gulf Islands National Seashore on Santa Rosa Island from the western park on Perdido Key.
 
The racing area is a matter of minutes from the Bayou Chico channel and the Pensacola YC marina. That’s close racing… more racing and less transit time.

In summer months, sailors find a daily sea breeze that builds from a mid-day southeasterly to the afternoon 12-15 knot southwesterly they love. In other seasons, the winds are determined by frontal passages, temperature variables, sunshine and other factors. Tides are minimal, about one foot to one and a half feet.
 
Pensacola Bay is naturally deep with a white sand bottom. The water is clean, seasonally warm and just choppy in a breeze, but not often rough. The east-west shoreline in downtown Pensacola to the north is perfect for stadium regatta spectating.
 
All sailors— race or cruise— are invited to come sail on Pensacola Bay. Organizers of both amateur regional, national or international sailing championships and professional sailing events should contact Pensacola Yacht Club to discuss racing on beautiful Pensacola Bay. http://www.pensacolayachtclub.org
 
Pensacola Yacht Club, the South's Finest—
Pensacola Yacht Club is a championship sailing venue located on approximately 22 acres at the mouth of Bayou Chico just west of downtown Pensacola, Florida. Part of that area is approximately 250 feet of sparkling white beachfront property on Pensacola Bay adjacent to the club marina in Bayou Chico. 
 
Pensacola YC has been the site of numerous one design and handicap championships over the years. 

In 2019 PYC hosted the Thistle Class Southeast Championship in April, the 2019 Junior Olympic Sailing Festival presented by BBVA Compass in June, the Flying Scot North American Championship in July and the inaugural Melges 24 Bushwhacker Cup — the Atlantic and Gulf Coast Championship— in November. 

COVID and Hurricane Sally interrupted the program but the club is back on track in 2021.

In 2021, Pensacola YC has returned to its national and regional regatta program. The club welcomed the North Gulf Challenge (St Petersburg to Pensacola) in April, the Catalina 22 National Championships in May, and lthe rejuvenated WFORC, in October, and of course the Bushwhacker Cup in November.

In December through February 2022, Pensacola YC will host the VX One Winter Series and Midwinter Championships. 
 
Pensacola YC stages local regattas throughout the year and offers a youth Summer Sailing Camp in the summer and both youth and adult sailing instruction year ‘round. 
See Pensacola Yacht Club
 
For More Information 
Contact:
Tom Pace, Jr. — PYC Commodore and Regatta Chairman
Mobile: 850-572-6727
Email: tomracechair@gmail.com
 
Hal Smith— PRO 
Mobile: 864-275-6290
Email: hal_smith@mindspring.com
 
Talbot Wilson— Regatta Marketing & Publicity
Mobile: 850-217-7138
Email: talbot@talbotwilson.com