Sailors are counting down to three days of racing during Ullman Sails Long Beach Race Week 2026, the 21st edition under the Alamitos Bay Yacht Club and Long Beach Yacht Club collaboration, which will run from June 26 to 28.

The racing will take place in Long Beach Harbor.

Bruce Cooper, owner of title sponsor Ullman Sails Newport Beach, said the weekend regatta is where sailors can prove themselves.

“LBRW is the special Southern California regatta where skippers and crew can compete in the best SoCal conditions and show off what they have got; it’s where skippers and crew can really test themselves against the top racers from across the region,” Cooper said. “The regatta attracts a diversity of fleets, many who choose LBRW as the venue for their class championship. With typically champagne conditions to enjoy, racers can look forward to the usual prevailing conditions for LBRW – clearing westerlies every day and about 75-78 degrees – there is something for everyone.”

Ed Feo, regatta co-chair and ABYC junior staff commodore, is on double duty this year, helping with regatta management and racing his Soto 40 Loco.

“Ullmans Sails Long Beach Race Week is the highlight of the Southern California summer racing calendar with perfect Long Beach breezes, the best competition, parties every night,” Feo said. “The event succeeds because of the longtime collaboration of the Alamitos Bay Yacht Club and Long Beach Yacht Club, two clubs which share a long history of promoting sailboat racing from dinghies to fifty-footers.”

Long Beach Race Week has a storied history.

“The regatta’s roots go back to the late 1970s,” said retired Long Beach Yacht Club general manager Luis Izurieta, “when Dr. Robert C. Kelleher presented the concept of Long Beach Race Week at the club’s board of directors meeting.”

Izurieta further explained some of the event’s early history.

“His vision was a world-class invitational regatta limited to 30 entries in three classes,” Izurieta said, “on the same level as St. Frances YC’s Big Boat series.”

In the 1980s, under the leadership of LBYC Commodore Phil Murray, the regatta doubled to 60 entries. Beginning in the mid-1980s, ABYC Golison Family, along with various sponsors, hosted the event for the next 20 years.

Since 2005, the three-day Ullman Sails Long Beach Race Week has been hosted by both LBYC and ABYC — and draws racers from San Diego to San Francisco.

Here’s everything you need to know about race week:

Check-in will be at Long Beach Yacht Club on June 25. The first race day will be on June 26 and will begin with a weather briefing at 10:15 a.m. by Ullman Sails, and a skipper’s meeting at 10:30 a.m. upstairs at LBYC.

The first race warning will sound at 12:55 p.m. June 26, and at 11:55 a.m. on June 27 and 28. Conditions permitting, it is expected that two races will be sailed in most classes on days one and three, and three races on day two.

During all three days, ABYC will have no-host breakfasts available at the 10:30 a.m.

There will be a water taxi service between the two clubs available on June 27 and 28.

There will also be a party at ABYC from 5 to 9 p.m. on June 26 — day one of racing.

The second day, Mt. Gay Rum will bring back its signature Mobile Rum Cart to the LBYC party, which will take place from 5 to 9 p.m.

Trophy presentations will take place on June 28 at LBYC. All three nights will feature popular DJ Steve Steiner playing your favorite tunes.

LBRW is open to multiple classes and in addition to the PHFR Southern California Regional Championship, trophies will be awarded for championship racing in the following classes: Catalina 37 National Championship, the J/109 West Coast Championship, the J/111 Pacific Coast Championship, the Beneteau 36.7 High Point Series, and the J/70 West Coast Championship. A perpetual trophy, the Campbell Cup, will also be awarded to the PHRF Random Leg A Winner.

For details on entering, the schedule, mooring requests and more, visit lbrw.org.

Kayaking

George Wolfe, co-owner of The Wicked Wolf, is the authority on kayaking on the Los Angeles River. Back in 2008, he led an expedition down the entire length of the river, and helped prove that it was navigable, which kept it protected under the Clean Water Act.

Since 2012, the nonprofit he started, LA River Expeditions, has brought more than 20,000 paddlers on the river

The kayaking season has opened, with trips in the Sepulveda Basin and the Elysian Valley.

Beach sprints

Long Beach is establishing itself as the beach sprint racing capital.

The Long Beach Sprints, which will take place during LBRW, is a coastal beach sprint rowing regatta held on the city’s shores near the pier. This fast-growing discipline combines rowing, running and surf navigation.

Athletes will begin on the beach, sprint to their boats, race a marked nearshore course, and finish with a beach sprint to the line.

Racing will be conducted on a course modeled after the LA28 beach sprint format, giving athletes the opportunity to compete on a course aligned with current international standards.

The event is open to a wide range of competitors, including junior, open and masters athletes, with racing opportunities in both singles and mixed doubles categories. Racing will begin with time trials to establish rankings, followed by head-to-head knockout rounds culminating in finals.

A clinic will take place from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. June 26. Then the time trials will take place from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. June 27, with the finals taking place from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. the following day.