Cal Maritime’s national champion sailing team, the Keelhaulers, has left Vallejo to compete starting Friday in La Rochelle, France, in the Student Yachting World Cup, Bobby King, the academy’s spokesperson.

The Keelhaulers, who are sponsored by Jewell Insurance, earned the right to represent the United States by winning the 2013 Kennedy Cup and defeating the University of Michigan, Navy and seven other schools during the regatta at the U.S. Naval Academy, he said.

The Kennedy Cup is the College Big Boat National Championship, he said.

Charlie Arms, director of sailing, said the Keelhaulers have been working hard after their 22-hour flight to be ready for their competition, and will continue to do so today.

“We will try to work the boat and sails as hard as we can so that if anything isn’t up to the test, it can be replaced before racing starts on Friday,” Arms said.

Cal Maritime has had this sailing program since the academy was founded in 1929, King said. It is part of the California State University system, and is the only degree-granting maritime academy on the West Coast, and Forbes Magazine has named it one of the top 25 “best value” colleges in the nation.

This is the second time Cal Maritime has represented the United States at the World Cup, King said. The Keelhaulers finished fifth in 2010. So far, no American team has won the cup.

The Student Yachting World Cup has been contested every year since 1979 by students from the Ecole Polytechnique in France, King said.

It originally was called the Course de l’Europe, until the event began welcoming competitors from other continents.

In 1992, the International Yachting Race Union gave the contest its current name, and it is recognized as the World Cup by the International Sailing Federation (ISAF), King said.

Those interested can follow the Keelhaulers’ progress through the website www.csum.edu/sywoc. They also may follow Cal Maritime Sailing on Facebook.