- Maritime History
- West Coast Sailing
- Commentary
- Northern California Racing
- General Sailing
- Current News
- Events
Fabulous Scenes From the Magnificent Master Mariners Regatta
May is a magnificent time to sail on San Francisco Bay, and one day that always stands out in May is the day the classic yacht crowd struts around the Bay during the annual Master Mariners Regatta. Saturday, May 25, quickly cleared to a brisk, sunny day for the varnished leeward rails to dip deep into the Bay in the building breeze. Weight on the rail might help, but not much, when sailing these heavy-displacement yawls, schooners, ketches, and sloops around the Bay. We went out to cheer them on and get some shots near Little Harding as they started their Bay tour.
The traditional first leg from in front of the St. Francis across the Slot to Little Harding challenged everyone’s strong flood-compensation skills as they sailed high, hoping to complete the crossing without having to beat upwind to make the mark. Not everyone succeeded. Without the current it’s an easy reach across the Bay, but when is there no current? Many boats ended up east toward Alcatraz and sheeted in hard to make it up to the mark.
These are all vintage vessels, with two of them celebrating their 100th birthdays this year. Terry Klaus was out with his 100-year-old Herreshoff schooner Brigadoon that he’s owned, maintained and raced since 1967. She’s stunning to see at the dock, and more so under sail. The other is Mark and Maureen Sanders’ 72-ft ketch Hurrica V, built in 1924 in Australia.
There were loads more lovely boats out for the day, but we’ll leave you with this sampling from our visit to the Little Harding/Easom buoy corner of the course. If you captured some photos from the day you can send them to [email protected].
The Master Mariners Regatta captures Bay sailing at its best. Conditions challenged every crew, causing some damage and some exceptional rides and photos. One casualty was the Farallon Clipper Hana, which lost her rig near the finish by Treasure Island.
We’ll have a full report in our upcoming July issue. Before then you can see the full list of boats and results here. You can also climb aboard many of these boats that will be on display for the MMBA Wooden Boat Show on June 23 at the Corinthian Yacht Club.
Latitude 38 June Issue Is Out Today!
Welcome to the June issue of Latitude 38. As we sail into summer we’re excited to bring you our latest stories, photos, news and updates. It’s all possible thanks to our community of readers, advertisers, our printer, delivery drivers, and everyone who has had a part in putting these pages together. We hope you enjoy our latest offering!
Here’s a preview.
May Gray is one thing (plenty of that later in the month), but a winter storm on May 4 is quite another. While snow dumped on the Sierra, cold rain poured on San Francisco Bay all morning. The temperature dropped 25° from Friday (more in the higher elevations). We suspect that some competitors registered for the Great Vallejo Race saw the weather, hit the snooze alarm, and pulled their down comforters over their heads. The rest of us had a cold, wet romp of a sail in 10 to 21+ knots of southwesterly breeze, surfing the stacked waves whipped up in an ebb on San Pablo Bay. We hoped we wouldn’t see those waves going back on Sunday, and we pitied those who turned around after finishing to bash back on Saturday afternoon.
28 Days Before the Mast — A Sailor’s Experience Aboard Stad Amsterdam
Sailing across the Pacific Ocean on a Dutch clipper ship was not on my boating bucket list until I read about Stad Amsterdam’s voyage from Panama to San Francisco in ‘Lectronic Latitude. The ship’s stop in San Francisco before sailing to Honolulu and then Tokyo was part of its 2023-25 around-the-world voyage. The Pacific leg of this adventure had berths available!
The photo that ran with the article showed a three-masted, full-rigged ship, sails billowing, bow furrowing through the water — a picture I’d seen on the covers of all the sailing books I started reading as a kid on a farm in Oregon, far from any ocean. Thoughts of Richard Henry Dana, Herman Melville, and all the 19th-century clipper ships arriving at San Francisco during the Gold Rush filled my dreams. I was hooked.
$2 Catamaran, Priceless Adventure
An adventure like this is not for the faint of heart. When Terry Castleman found the boat of his dreams on eBay, he approached his three prospective boat partners to see if they’d throw down the cash to make the deal. After some deliberation, the three partners each Venmo-ed Terry 50 cents, at which point they had enough for the all-cash purchase of their two-dollar catamaran, Lickety Split. All that remained was cleaning it up and sailing the boat from its location in Stockton to their home in Los Angeles. Simple enough, right?
There are plenty more stories, plus our regular monthly columns:
- Letters: America’s Schooner Cup Aboard Schooner Quascilla; A Light-Wind Singlehanded Farallones, On the Other Hand, Tested Patience; Speaking of Oregon …; A Posse of Optis Took Over the Bay in April for Earth Day; and many more readers’ letters.
- Sightings: Falling In, and Saving Myself; West Coasters at Charleston Race Week; The Mini-Clipper Route; and more great stories.
- Max Ebb: Ahoy, sailors! As the sun sets on another day at sea, it’s time to chart a course through the waves of wisdom with Max Ebb. In this month’s column, we’re setting sail into uncharted waters to explore a topic that’s sure to make waves among sailors and landlubbers alike — Artificial Ideas
- Racing Sheet: A fast Newport to Ensenada Race, FLYC’s Camellia Cup, StFYC’s J/105 Women Skipper Invitational, SCYC’s Moore 24 Santa Cruz Regatta, the SSS Sort of Singlehanded South Bay Race, DRYC’s Malibu Race, the team roster of American sailors heading to the Paris Olympics, and Box Scores all get ink in this edition.
- Changes in Latitudes: This month we bring you reports on Sweethaven’s first season in Mexico (Part 2); Migration‘s return to the South Seas after a 16-year hiatus; Quark’s return to cruising after a summer in the marina; and catch-ups with voyagers from all over the place in Cruise Notes.
- Loose Lips: A wrap-up of May’s Caption Contest(!).
- All the latest in sailboats for sale, Classy Classifieds.
We appreciate all readers and all our supporters. Without you there would be no Latitude 38. Again, we extend a big thanks and appreciation to our advertisers who have made this issue possible. We invite you to show your appreciation by supporting them.
And thank you to our distributors. Go grab your new issue of Latitude 38 from any of these folks listed. Or subscribe, and have your copy delivered each month.
Sail Away With the Jeanneau 60 from Marine Servicecenter
Marine Servicenter San Diego is proud to offer the Jeanneau Yachts 60, ready to sail away June 1st — Get Aboard at our Get to Know Jeanneau Summer Event June 20 – June 23!
Sailing Invitations You Won’t Want to Miss For Summer Sailstice
The long days of June are the start of summer sailing. Summer is when you want to make sure your boat gets out of its slip and sets sail across the Bay or anywhere up and down the West Coast. If you haven’t already got a plan for the June 22 Summer Sailstice celebration of sailing now is the time. You can join some of the events already posted, post an event, or just sign up to sail on your own. We highlighted several events a few weeks ago and are now adding more events inviting you to #raiseyoursails on Summer Sailstice weekend:
The South Beach Yacht Club J-Stop Regatta Summer Sailstice is the fourth annual invitational event inviting the J/105 and J/88 fleets out for a two-day, five-race series in the South Bay.
The South Bay will also be active with another race heading south. The Westpoint Regatta is an annual Yacht Racing Association of San Francisco Bay (YRA)-sanctioned destination regatta, hosted by The Club at Westpoint, Sequoia Yacht Club and Treasure Island Yacht Club. It starts with a party on Friday night at the Treasure Island Yacht Club and a start off the island Saturday morning, racing to Westpoint Harbor in Redwood City and a race back on Sunday.
Paul Marbury is spending Summer Sailstice like most days sailing, by helping more kids discover the Bay and sailing by bringing youth aboard Bluewater Sailing Foundation’s Golden Bear. The Bluewater Foundation is an all-volunteer nonprofit dedicated to bringing the joys and challenges of sailing to San Francisco Bay Area underserved youths
Club Nautique in Alameda and Sausalito offers sailing to newcomers and members almost 365 days a year. They’re planning to get the fleets out from both locations on the June 22–23 weekend.
The recently completed Master Mariners Regatta was a prelude to the Master Mariners Wooden Boat Show happening on Sunday, June 23. You could do the “old fashioned” sailing activity of sailing over, anchoring in Belvedere Cove, and taking the dinghy into the show. Learn more here.
If you’re a city sailor or want to become one, Spinnaker Sailing San Francisco is hosting an open house on Saturday, June 22, giving folks an opportunity for a tour and a free sail. Space is limited so check in early. Learn more here.
Modern Sailing in Sausalito will be taking members, guests and new sailors our for an introductory sail aboard the Seawind 1160 catamaran Ho’okele. All members, non-members and guests sailing with them on June 22 are also invited to join the Après Sail Celebration!
Eleven-year old Cody Wood will be racing aboard the Wilderness 21, Slice on the Estuary on Friday night and then heading over to Richmond Yacht Club for the BAYS Race #1 on Saturday.
What are your plans? You can join any of the events above — some are BYOB (Bring Your Own Boat), others are open for anyone to attend. If you have a boat tied to the dock you can just invite friends and post your personal sailing plans on the map as well. There is more daylight on the June 22 weekend than on any other weekend of the year. If you have a sailboat it’s an ideal time to #raiseyoursails and join the whole world sailing.
If none of these events suit your sailing dreams you can always start your own. As Scoop Nisker used to say on KFOG, “If you don’t like the news, go out and make some of your own.” Add your sailing plans or event to the map here.
Regatta Action Heats Up in June
San Francisco Bay Area Regatta Action
St. Francis Yacht Club invites interested yacht clubs based in the United States to race in an inaugural Sailing League Regatta in San Francisco. This will be a pilot event on June 8-9 in StFYC’s fleet of J/22s. The competition features short races on standardized courses, in this case on the legendary Cityfront sailing area. Crews of four from the same yacht club will race in J/22s, with 16 flights planned plus a final series of up to four races. The winner will be qualified for the SAILING Champions League Final in Vilamoura, Portugal, on September 26-29. Interested clubs should contact StFYC at [email protected] to submit a request for invitation. Include your name, contact information and the yacht club you intend to represent.
Yacht clubs will compete for the PICYA Lipton Cup on June 14-16. The regatta will use StFYC’s fleet of matched J/22s. South Beach, Berkeley, Corinthian, Inverness, Richmond, San Francisco, Sausalito and Tahoe YC signed up (registration is closed).
On the Friday, the first race will go from StFYC to the Berkeley Pier. Two races will follow off Berkeley. A destination race to Encinal YC will end the day. The helmsperson must be female. On Saturday, seven races are scheduled for the Sir Thomas Lipton Challenge Trophy. Racing will take place on the Alameda Estuary racecourse, starting off EYC. On Sunday, three races are scheduled for the Larry Knight Trophy, starting near the Berkeley Pier. The third race will finish back at StFYC. The helmsperson must have reached their 60th birthday before June 14. See www.liptoncupsf.com.
The YRA’s Full Crew Farallones Race will sail out the Gate and back on June 15.
The Treasure Island Vanguard 15 fleet will race Round-the-Island in honor of the late Jeff Knowles on Tuesday, June 18, with a 6:30 p.m. start. Sign up at https://vanguard15.org/schedule/1400.
Kids will have to choose between StFYC’s Opti Heavy Weather Slalom and Regatta on June 20-23, and a Bay Area Youth Sailing (BAYS) regatta at Richmond YC on June 22-23.
Bill Worden of the Mercury fleet writes: “Registration is available for the Hart Nunes Regatta on San Francisco YC’s web page. This is a two-day event (June 29-30). We are looking for class-wide participation.” This will be the second event for the 2024 Travel Trophy.
Northern California Region
Gold Country YC’s Go for the Gold Regatta on Scotts Flat Lake will lead off the month on June 1.
Time is running out for you to submit your entry in the Stockton Sailing Club/Richmond Yacht Club Delta Ditch Run on June 8. Entry closes at midnight, Wednesday, June 5. SSC promises “a great party, with plenty of tasty food, live music, and fun at the finish line” on the San Joaquin River. Registration fees increase from $100 to $125 on June 2.
In Santa Cruz on the weekend of June 8-9, SCYC will host a combined regatta for 5O5s, 470s, and Lasers. For the latter, the regatta will serve as the District 24 Championship. SCYC Laser sailor Laird Henkel commented, “Note that this year ILCA is providing a great incentive for District Championships: ILCA-NA members get a 50% discount ($45) on the registration! If you’re not already an ILCA-NA member, this basically pays for your membership. (Regatta discounts is yet another great reason to join ILCA-NA.) There is casual Friday night racing on June 7, separate from the weekend regatta. Registration ($10) is on the SCYC regatta page.” The late registration fee will kick in this Saturday night.
The Singlehanded Sailing Society’s Great Pacific Longitude Race (LongPac) will start on June 29. The course starts in front of StFYC and goes out to Longitude 126º 40’ West before turning around and sailing back into the Bay. (The start is at Longitude 122º 24′ West.) This event serves as a qualifier for the Singlehanded Transpacific Race in 2025, but the SSS offers a division for doublehanders too. Note that they require a qualifying cruise to enter this qualifier! Registration will close on June 13. The SSS requires participation in a skippers’ meeting on June 26 at 7:30 p.m. via Zoom.
Destination Races from the YRA
On June 22, the Westpoint Regatta will head out from Treasure Island and rocket down through the South Bay to the Club at Westpoint and a dockside after-race party! “As with all YRA Destination Regattas, we’ve got divisions for all kinds of boats and racers: multihulls, sportboats, one-design fleets, spinnaker and non-spinnaker, doublehanded, and, new this year, a dual-scored ORC division.”
Just one week later, on June 29, you can keep the post-race party vibes going and sail down the other side of the Peninsula in the Half Moon Bay Race. “This is the YRA’s only Offshore Destination Regatta. Boats head out from StFYC and race down the coast to the Half Moon Bay YC, where a fantastic beachside BBQ awaits, along with live music and great drinks. As this is an offshore race, the 2024 Offshore SER is in effect, though SER 3.9, the AIS requirement, has been waived for this race.”
If you choose to race doublehanded and prefer to race back rather than stay for the party, you can round a mark and continue racing on the course for StFYC’s 24-hour Doublehanded Offshore. “We’ll be awarding particular recognition to mixed-gender teams.” This version of the event will satisfy Pacific Cup qualifying-voyage requirements. “Win in Half Moon Bay, sail all night, and come through the Gate with the new day breaking. We’ll be dual-scoring this in PHRF and, for those with ratings, ORC.” Sign up for the Offshore Doubles Race here.
Pacific Northwest
Stage 1 in the Race to Alaska (R2AK VIII) will start from Port Townsend, WA, on June 9, “as dawn cracks its first grim smile.” Before the racing begins, there’s gotta be a Ruckus. On June 8, the Commons at Northwest Maritime Center will provide the site for food trucks, music, dancing, a beer garden and more. Stage 2, the long haul from Victoria, BC, to Ketchikan, AK, will start on June 12. See www.r2ak.com.
“The Best Ever” is the slogan for Race Week Anacortes on June 24-28. (This is the regatta that evolved from Whidbey Island Race Week.) The regatta will double as the North Americans Championships for the 6-Meter fleet. See all that is best at www.raceweekpnw.com.
Jericho Sailing Centre in Vancouver, BC, will host the ILCA Canadian Masters Championships, to be sailed on English Bay on June 28-30. Register by June 15 to save $25 Canadian.
Southern California
Los Angeles YC will host the J/111 North Americans on June 5-9. Alamitos Bay YC in Long Beach will run the RS Tera North Americans on June 8-9.
Del Rey YC’s final Berger/Stein Series regatta of the year will be on June 8-9. The Cat Harbor Layover Race will sail to Catalina Island (and back the next day).
On June 18, San Diego YC will host the Area J US Sailing Sears Triplehanded Qualifier. Then SDYC will host the US Open Sailing Series (Olympic Classes Regatta)Â on June 29-30.
Summer Sea Camp Registration at Spaulding Marine Center Is Open
Starting June 24, campers will learn sailing on SF Bay aboard Spaulding Marine Center’s fleet of Pelican sailboats. Plus, they’ll develop woodworking skills in our historic woodshop. Our summer camp is the perfect beginning sailing camp for young water enthusiasts, non-competitive sailing, and youth who show interest in hands-on-learning experiences. Ages 10 to 16 years old. To learn more about Summer Sea Camp, visit www.spauldingcenter.org/youth-programs. Email [email protected] or call 415-332-3179.