Race for the Reefs
Returning event chairman James Cameron hosts Race for the Reefs (and
defends his title) at the California Yacht Club in Marina del Rey, California on October
18, 2003. The race itself will be comprised of six to ten sponsored sailboats with crews
that include volunteer celebrities, corporate executives or guests, and a PCRF
representative. Jim will also host the VIP Post Race Reception aboard his dive boat.
Additional Race for the Reefs activities include an exclusive Captains'
Dinner, pre-race crew training, a Silent Auction, a luncheon buffet and Trophy
Presentations. The research vessel RV Heraclitus, which is completing year nine of its
ongoing PCRF Save the Coral Reefs Expedition, is returning to the west coast for the first
time in its 28 years to be present at Race for the Reefs, making the
event even more special. The first event, held in 2001, featured 6 Newport sailboats in a
race in the L.A. Harbor. The 2003 event will take place in deep water, with about 70
guests viewing the race there, while the remaining guests stay at the yacht club, enjoying
the race via a closed broadcast.
Participating Celebrities
The inaugural event was supported by Marlon Brando and attended by Jim Cameron, Maria
Shriver, Bill Paxton, Billy Zane, Billy Campbell, Frances Fisher, Tom Arnold, Jessica
Alba, Michael Weatherly, Dennis Weaver, Max Gail, Gary Busey, Simone Mackinnon, Jeff
Conaway, Adam Rich, and KTLA's Gayle Anderson.
Media Coverage
Coverage in 2001 included Entertainment Tonight, People, Inside Edition, Nippon TV,
Channel 4, Los Angeles Magazine, Local News in the top 15 markets, etc.
Race for the Reefs
benefiting the Planetary Coral Reef Foundation
One of our planet's truly precious natural resources, coral reefs are considered to be the
rainforests of the sea, serving as predictors and barometers of the health of our oceans
and, by extension, our global environment. They are in crisis, dying at an alarming rate
worldwide.The Planetary Coral Reef Foundation's ongoing Save the Coral Reefs Expedition
aboard the RV Heraclitus pursues a unique mix of research activities and cultural outreach
programs dedicated to mapping, preserving and restoring the earth's coral reefs, often
pioneering new technologies along the way. As no comprehensive baseline map of living
coral reefs has been charted, the crew of the RV Heraclitus, in partnership with
scientists at College of Charleston, M.I.T., Scripps Institution of Oceanography,
SeaSpace, Stevens Institute of Technology and USC, is working to accomplish this ambitious
goal by pioneering a Coral Reef Satellite Mission. This will be the first space mission
dedicated to the stewardship of coral reefs.
