THE HARBOR COLUMN:

Ahoy.

The seas will be mixed swells this weekend, and boating will be good on the ocean with swell heights less than three feet near Newport. The outer waters may have small craft advisories with windy conditions and swells up to seven feet, so be careful if you are heading out to San Clemente Island or Tanner Banks, for example, to go fishing. As usual, watch out for areas of fog that will develop over ocean areas.

The good sailing weather is good news to sailboat racers who have entered the famous “Crew of Two Around Catalina” race. South Shore Yacht Club is hosting this endurance race where boats may only have two persons aboard to sail around Catalina Island with the start and finish line off Balboa Pier. Eighty entries have completed in the past with multiple classes including the Performance Handicap Racing Fleet of Southern California, non-spinnaker, Ocean Racing Catamaran Assn. and non-spinnaker cruising classes.

The challenges are not only limited to finding the best sailing conditions, but rotating watches at the helm day and night. The first class of boats will start at noon Saturday, with the last class crossing the start line at 12:35 p.m. Good luck to the ocean racers. More information is available at www.southshoreyc.org.

Tip of the week is Flight of the Lasers, organized by the Commodores Club of the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce. The race has roots back to 1935, beginning as the Flight of the Snowbirds, then becoming the Flight of Kites in the early 1970s and now the Flight of the Lasers. The race is still organized annually by Seymour Beek, who expects this year’s Flight of the Lasers to be just as fantastic as in previous years.

On Sunday, Newport Harbor will be filled with about 100 Lasers and Bytes sailing throughout the harbor. The 73rd Annual Flight of the Lasers will be racing a five-mile course with the start/finish line lying about halfway between channel markers 8 and 10, so keep an eye out for the racers when cruising the harbor Sunday afternoon. You can go to www.newportbeach.com for more information, and Seymour will be on my radio show this Saturday to tell us about the race.

Tune Saturdays at 11 a.m. to “Capt. Mike Whitehead’s Boathouse Radio Show” on KLAA-AM (830).

Safe voyages.

MIKE WHITEHEAD is the Pilot’s boating columnist. Send marine-related thoughts and story suggestions to [email protected] or go to www.boathousetv.com.