We were happy to get the notice below yesterday afternoon from Laura Muñoz of the Yacht Racing Association of San Francisco Bay. The quick news is that racing is now allowed. But there are important details in the letter and links below.

Laura wrote:

Greetings Race Organizers,

This morning I [Laura] received the signed letter from the USCG stating that events on the YRA Blanket Permit can resume. It is attached (here), along with the current Racing Guidelines.

With this letter the USCG has officially removed themselves from the “Can we run a race?” question. It’s now up to each organizing authority to determine if they are capable of running a race under their county’s orders, and, if so, how to do so safely. All regattas should follow the YRA Racing Guidelines as closely as possible. If you are planning on resuming any series or individual regattas you do not need to send me (Laura) anything, you will just call into VTS before and after your races as you normally would. You can find your permit number for your event on the YRA Master Calendar here.

If you would like to try to reschedule events that were not able to be held prior to this, I [Laura] will need information on those events, specifically, when it was originally scheduled and what dates you are hoping to move it to.

I [Laura] urge everyone to read their county orders carefully and be sure that any races that occur are within the requirements and restrictions in their current Health Order, as well as following the YRA Racing Guidelines. The Coast Guard has advised that if they get negative feedback from counties about races they may consider pausing the blanket permit again. I’m hopeful that with careful consideration of how to safely run races no one will run into any issues and some semblance of a summer racing season can proceed without delay. Please urge your race committees and race participants to carefully follow the social distancing and face-covering requirements in your county, especially as they are coming and going from their boats.

A last reminder that this continuation of the Blanket Permit does not apply to events of more than 100 participants or offshore events. Those will be treated on a case by case basis. If you have an offshore or 100+ participant event coming up, please get with me [Laura] sooner rather than later to get the approval process started with the USCG.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

Stay safe, stay healthy, and happy racing!

— Laura Muñoz / YRA

We expect that, like getting up to speed after a slow tack, race organizers and others may take a while to get back up to speed. It’s taken a lot of patience and perseverance to work through the details to allow people to both race and remain safe and healthy. Certainly, those will be needed as the sailing world gingerly moves forward. See you on the Bay.