Baja Ha-Ha XXV

LET'S TALK ABOUT HA-HA BOAT SIZE

So far we've gotten 114 paid entries for the 2018 Baja Ha-Ha, the total length of which is nearly 5,000 feet. That's nearly a mile of boats.

The average length Ha-Ha entry is 43.5 feet, give or take a few inches.

While I don't have exact figures, that average size has held steady for the last 20 years or so. Maybe it's a foot longer.

The shortest entry so far for the 2018 Ha-Ha is C.A.T., James Denmark's  Nonsuch 30 from Washington Crossing, Pennsylvania.

The longest entry so far is Bruce Mclean's Pacific Bear, an Alaskan 66 from West Vancouver, Canada.

Although the nominal minimum length to enter is 27 feet, over the years several shorter boats have been given special dispensation. The shortest was, depending on how you measure her, 17 or 19 feet. And her 74-year owner did the Ha-Ha twice.

The longest boat to date has been 96 feet. But we rarely get boats over 75 feet.

The Baja Ha-Ha is the 750-mile cruisers' rally from San Diego to Cabo San Lucas, with R&R stops at fun and funky Turtle Bay and at pristine Bahia Santa Maria. The event starts on Sunday, October 28 and finishes 13 days later. For complete details, visit www.bajaha-ha.com.

The accompanying photo is of John and Debbie Rogers of the San Diego-based Deerfoot 62 Moonshadow. After sailing all over the Caribbean, and two seasons in the South Pacific, decided they wanted to stay closer to home — and do another Ha-Ha. It's only coincidence that their's was the first boat to sign up this year, and that they brought the Grand Poobah a bottle of Ha-Ha wine from somewhere in the Antipodes.

Correction: In the last message we reported that the three Farrier entries in the Ha-Ha are trimarans. Mike Gehl was nice enough to correct us by saying that the Farrier 41 and Farrier 44 are both catamarans, not trimarans. "Damn nice ones, too!"

Baja Ha-Ha, LLC

417 South Hill St., Suite 646
Los Angeles, CA 90013

Please note: This is a mailing address only.