Hosted by Corinthian Yacht Club of Portland

The Oregon Offshore
The Oregon Offshore was first run in 1976 as a result of a challenge set forth by Jack Gainer (Raindrop) and Richard Kipp (Vagabundo) to all the Portland area sailors. They wanted an event that would put the Oregon racing community into "offshore" racing rivaling Seattle, BC and even California. The first race was from Astoria south to Newport. It started at buoy "2" off the entrance to the Columbia River and went to buoy "Y" at Newport, Oregon. The distance was 100 miles.

The response was enthusiastic. Ten boats raced this first event with Jim Christensen winning on Destiny. Jack and Richard took the leadership responsibility and the Corinthian Yacht Club of Portland became the sponsor.

During the first few years, several courses were tried varying in direction and length. In 1977, the course was changed to start at Columbia River’s buoy "2" and then round buoy "T" off of Tillamook Bay and return to buoy "2". This distance was 77 miles.

In 1978, the buoy "2" to buoy "T" to buoy "2" was run as a short course and a long course of buoy "2" to "T" to Victoria BC was added with a distance of 275 miles.

In 1979, the short course was changed to buoy "2" north to Grays Harbor and back to the mouth of the Columbia River (85 miles). The long course was mercifully changed to the present buoy "2" to Duntze Rock buoy (Starboard) to Victoria, course of 205 miles.

In 1980, the short course was dropped and the long course has remained the same to the present date.

From 1979 to 1990 the official distance for the race was 205 nautical miles. In 1991 an error was brought to the attention of the organizers by Fred Hazzard (Challenger) and the official distance was corrected to the present distance of 193 nautical miles.

Milestones
The record elapsed time history for the current course is as follows:

1978 -1983 Record unknown

1984 Tom Kelly Wizard Record Unknown

1988 Al Staley Decadence 32 hrs 56 minutes 00 seconds

1993 Steve Rander Rage 30 hrs 41 minutes 57 seconds

1999 Steve Rander Rage 30 hrs 21 minutes 5 seconds

2000 Steve Rander Rage 19 hrs 46 minutes 41 seconds

The smallest boat to have competed:

Rob Wightman Flyer Wavelength 24
Bob Smith Jr. Dream Machine San Juan 24
Peter Reece Krazy Bull NZL 24

The largest boat to have competed:

Canadian Navy HMCS Oriole Owens 102

Most Class Victories:

Bill Huseby (Eight)

Most Overall Victories:

Jack Becker (Three)
Steve Rander (Three)
Bill & Becky Huseby (Three)