THE OWRC

2025 OPEN OCEAN REGATTA

Sunday, April 27, 2025 – Sausalito, CA.

 

Find accurate course information farther down this page.

The 2025 Open Ocean Regatta features four race courses of different lengths. For the second year will be running the 23km Endurance Course - a huge hit in 2024. We are also running the 15km Paddlesport Long Course around Angel Island again for the SUP, surfski and outrigger canoe communities. The always popular Pt. Diablo (15km) and Strawberry (9.5km) courses remain unchanged.

Each course provides astonishing scenery with challenging rowing conditions of the San Francisco Bay. Separate event classes for open water shells, coastal rowing shells, flatwater rowing shells, paddlesport and traditional open-cockpit boats, provide competitive and recreational rowers the opportunity to self assess themselves in a supportive, fun-filled regatta.

OUR SPONSORS:

regatta organizers

Committee:
Wayne Aleshire, Stefan Benton, Kevin Burrell, Scott Kozinchik
Contact email address: regatta@owrc.com
Contact telephone: 1.415.332.1091

Volunteers

Volunteers are needed to help with registration, parking, safety boats, launch and recovery of rowing shells and more! Please reach out to regatta@owrc.com to sign up to volunteer! Thank you!

Regatta Registration

To register, go to the event page at RegattaCentral to sign-up:
https://www.regattacentral.com/regatta/?job_id=9626

Registration closes April 23, 2025.

Registration Fees

  • Single $75

  • Double $150

  • Quad(+) $300

  • OC-6 $300

INSTRUCTIONS FOR COMPETITORS

UPDATED - 2025 OPEN OCEAN REGATTA INSTRUCTIONS with APPENDICES (PDF)
Saturday, April 26 - Updated with the new starts and times.

Individual Appendices (All included in the Competitor Instructions above):

A & B - Staring Area and Starting Lines
C - Endurance Course Details
D - Pt. Diablo Course Details
E - Strawberry Course Details
F - Paddlesport Long Course Details
NEW | G - Class Start Assignments

Bad Weather Course Chart - Changes Endurance, Pt. Diablo and Paddlesport Long in the event of bad weather.


Video guides:

Important: Boat Numbering Instructions Video

Course guides - IMPORANT: These videos were made for the 2024 regatta. Please disregard all mentions of starting times in the videos. See the competitor instructions above for accurate starting times.

Endurance Course Guide (2024)

Pt. Diable Course Guide (2024)

Paddlesport Long Course Guide (2024)

Strawberry Course Guide (2024) - IMPORTANT: The Strawberry Course has been modified slightly since this video was made last year. It is mostly the same, but there is a key change up near piling #14. Please study the written course description in the appendix of the Competitor Instructions above for the accurate information.

Friday Schedule

7:00 AM - 10:00 AM
Long Course Preparation Clinic (Pt. Diablo & Endurance courses) with Stefan Benton.
Free clinic and $35 boat rental for registered regatta participants. Sign up here.

10:00 AM - 12:00 PM (time updated from previous announcement)
Strawberry Course Preparation Clinic with Ellen Brathwaite and Joe Novitski.
Free clinic and $35 boat rental for registered regatta participants. Sign up here.

Saturday Schedule

Shellhouse open at 7AM.
Arrivals welcome all day.

11:00 AM - 2:00 PM
Coastal Rowing Beach Sprint Demonstration & Clinic with Olivia Farrar and Amir Meraban. Free, but registration required to participate. Register here.
At Schoonmaker Beach. See poster to the right.

2:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Pre-Registration and Bow Sticker Session.
(See the video about applying bow stickers.)

3:00 PM - 5:30 PM
Pre-regatta Social with food & drink.
At the OWRC shellhouse.

Sunday Schedule

6:30 AM Registration Table Open
We recommend coming to pre-registration on Saturday (2:00 - 5:00) so you have plenty of time to apply bow stickers and sign remaining waivers if necessary.

7:15 AM Competitors Meeting - Required for all competitors.

7:25 AM Endurance, Pt. Diablo & Paddlesport Long Course competitors Launch and head for the Starting Area.

8:05 AM First Start for long courses (More starting sequence details coming soon.)

8:00 AM - 8:15 AM Strawberry Course competitors launch and head for the Starting Area.

8:50 AM First Start for Strawberry (More starting sequence details coming soon.)

Note on the two starting times this year:
Sunday, April 27 is also Opening Day on the Bay. We expect some traffic in Raccoon Straight, near Pt. Stuart and near Belvedere starting as early as 11:00 AM. We are staring the long courses earlier this year to make sure there is minimal traffic on your course. However, at that time, the water in Richardson Bay up near Strawberry Pt. will be very low. The eel grass is thick this year, so we are delaying the Strawberry Course start(s) 45-minutes to allow the tide to come in more and raise the water level.

on-shore Activites

Before racing, there will be coffee and sweet carbohydrate treats (i.e. pastries) available for competitors.

After racing, competitors, volunteers and guests will be treated to food and beverages by a local Marin food truck, the cost of which is all included in your entry fee. If you are bringing guests, you will be able to buy tickets so your guests can enjoy the food and beverages as well.

There will be an award ceremony with exciting prizes presented by some of OWRC’s longest-standing members.

Regatta t-shirts will be available for purchase.

The latest MAAS open water and NEXT Rowing coastal rowing shells will be on display.

For spectators that would like to see some of the racing, there are two great spots to watch the rowers from shore:

  • You will be able to watch the entire fleet gather pre-start, and then watch the starts from downtown Sausalito, on Bridgeway Ave near the Scoma’s and Trident restaurants.

  • All of the Pt. Diablo and Endurance course competitors will pass by Cavallo Pt. There is parking and you can get a great view from the bluff. In the distance, you will also see the Sprint and Paddlesport Long course competitors round the Hank Easom buoy off Yellowbluff.

Boat STorage

Boats may be stored at the OWRC boathouse in the Schoonmaker Marina. If you plan to store a boat, please call the office (415-332-1091) to confirm time of delivery and make sure to bring your own slings for holding your boat!

OWRC also offers long term storage solutions for all rowing and paddle sport craft.

Boat Rental

Boat rentals are available on a prepaid, first-come, first-served basis with OWRC. OWRC club members have booking priority. OWRC will provide rental-rowing shells to rowers who have been cleared to safely row the type of boat that they are renting.

Rowing the Diablo or Endurance course in an OWRC rental boat requires completion of the Rough Water Clinic.

$50 race day rental fee for visitors.

Contact owrc@owrc.com to reserve a boat.

Available to Rent

  • 6 Maas Aeros

  • 3 Maas 24s

  • 4 Maas Flyweights

  • 1 Maas Double

  • 2 NEXT Remedy FG C1X

  • 1 LITE Race Coastal

  • 1 LITE Sport Coastal

  • 1 Nelo C1X Coastal

safeTy and preparAtion

Safety Requirements for the Regatta

We are still finalizing the requirements, but in accordance with OWRC safety policies:

  • We require carriage of a USCG-approved Type III PFD for each person in the boat.

  • We highly recommend wearing your PFD at all times.

  • We are requiring that all competitors have some form of communication device with them in the boat. More details can be found in the Competitor Instructions document below.

The Rough Water Clinic

We highly recommend that all competitors on the Endurance and Pt. Diablo courses take the OWRC Rough Water Clinic. The clinic is required for anyone using OWRC rental boats on those courses, but it will benefit everyone who goes beyond the Golden Gate Bridge and/or around Angel Island.

There are two scheduled Rough Water Clinics leading up to the regatta. We can add more as needed to meet demand. Register early as these tend to fill up!

THE race COURSES

More details coming soon, including the classic Strawberry Course chart.

Endurance Course - 23 km
Open to: 24/Fly (1x), Open Water 2x, Coastal 1x, Coastal 2x, Coastal 4x+, Surfski, Double Surfski.

Paddlesport Long Course - 15 km
Open to: SUP12-6 and SUP14, Surfski, Double Surfski, OC-1, OC-2, OC-6.

Pt. Diablo Course - 15 km
Open to: 24/Fly (1x), Aero (1x), Open Water 2x, Coastal 1x, Coastal 2x, Coastal 4x+, Surfski, Double Surfski, OC-1, OC-2, OC-6, Traditional 1x, Traditional 2x.

Strawberry Course - 9.5 km
Open to: 24/Fly (1x), Aero (1x), Open Water 2x, Coastal 1x, Coastal 2x, Flatwater 1x, Flatwater 2x, Flatwater 4x, Traditional 1x, Traditional 2x, SUP12-6, SUP14, Surfski, Double Surfski, OC-1, OC-2.

PUT UP A POSTER!

Come by the office to pick up a poster. Call or email and we’ll send you one. Or, download one of the digital copies below, print it and post it yourself! You can also share the poster on social media to help us spread the word. There are three versions this year. All three versions are designed to be printed on 11x17” paper. Thank you for helping us get the word out.