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Another View of the Three Bridge Fiasco
Dwayne Newton of San Francisco was crewing aboard Michael JR Smith’s Cal 2-34 EOS for last weekend’s Three Bridge Fiasco (3BF). It was Dwayne’s third Fiasco in a row with Michael, and although they didn’t win or place, they did enjoy a good day on the water, and Dwayne managed to get a couple of nice photos along the way.
Dwayne and Michael didn’t reach the finish line. Like so many other boats, they called in a DNF.
“We ended up motoring through Raccoon Strait, checking out the sad Ayala Cove docks, and enjoyed the day,” Dwayne tells us. “We’ll be back next year to give it another shot and hoping for more wind.”
Dwayne’s own boat is a Morris Leigh 30 that he ties up next to Michael’s EOS. “Her name is Yemaya, after the Brazilian goddess of the seas.
“I sail primarily on S.F. Bay,” he continues, “and have been sailing on the Bay for over 30 years. I used to have two sailboats — 1975 International Folkboat Gaia docked at Treasure Island for 10 years until the docks were destroyed in the March 2022 storms ….” Gaia was then sold to a budding young sailor.
Good Jibes #176: 30th Annual Baja Ha-Ha: LIVE Aboard ‘Profligate’ in Bahia Santa Maria
Tune in as Chuck Skewes of Ullman Sails and the crew of Profligate share more stories, LIVE from the 30th Annual Baja Ha-Ha Cruisers Rally. Good Jibes host Nicki Bennett brings us this episode, including livestreams from November 9 and 11, 2024.
Hear all about the amazing beach parties that make the Baja Ha-Ha so special, a thrilling water drop-off complete with cliff divers, how immigration clearance works on the Baja Ha-Ha, the tradition of the Kids’ Olympics, and the endless golden sand beaches in Bahia Santa Maria.
Here’s a sample of what you’ll hear in this episode:
- What kinds of whales are in Bahia Santa Maria?
- How many families with young kids do this leg of the Baja Ha-Ha?
- The infamous beach party backstory
- The logistics of water drop-offs
- What are the benefits of sailing in a fleet?
Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and your other favorite podcast spots — follow and leave a 5-star review if you’re feeling the Good Jibes!
Schedule Your Winter Service at Spaulding Marine Center
Free Sailboats Are the Secret to Growing Sailing
American Magic, the US challenger for the 36th and 37th America’s Cup, and Nautor Swan recently announced a partnership aimed at energizing sailing in America. We’re skeptical. We’re reminded that the peak growth of participation in sailing was in the ’60s and ’70s. Building with fiberglass was hitting its stride, and people had real, two-day weekends when they didn’t look at emails and devices. They went outdoors and played. Sailboats were small, affordable, and even free! We discovered this when looking up information on our family’s first boat — a Styrofoam Snark. We found the following ad from a 1960s edition of the San Francisco Chronicle.
We know a Styrofoam Snark would be lucky to last five minutes on the Cityfront before it became flotsam drifting up onto the Emeryville shoreline, but if you took it to Lake Merritt with your family, the kids could have a blast. And you could take photos of them to show your friends, with your Kodak film camera. When you showed your friends the photographs you became an “influencer” and more people wanted to sail. Small, affordable boats made sailing boom. California was at the epicenter of that boom, with Costa Mesa builders flooding the world with small, affordable fiberglass sailboats.
Lake Merritt in Oakland was a hotbed of small-boat sailing. You can still rent sailboats there for $15/hr.
Believe it or not, there are lots of “Free” sailboats available, such as the Coronado 25 John Super is offering in our Classy Classifieds. And a Coronado 25 is the same boat world-famous yacht designer Ron Holland owns in Victoria, British Columbia.
A reminder that Economics 101 taught us all “TANSTAAFL,” which stands for “There Ain’t No Such Thing As a Free Lunch.” It would be irresponsible for us not to mention that as soon as you own it the expenses will begin — insurance, slip fees, maintenance, etc., but boats like the Coronado 25 started millions of people off on a lifetime of sailing adventures. You can spend $5,000 on a bicycle that seats one, or partner on a Coronado 25 that seats and sleeps four or more!
Free Snarks also launched thousands of sailors. Our family’s first boat was a Snark, though it cost about $120. The first bright-yellow plastic sail ripped, so our mother sewed a new one out of clear plastic. The Snark, plus a Turnabout, a Rhodes 19, a 420, and a Laser were the small boats that started us off on a lifetime of sailing.
We were thrilled to learn that American Magic and Nautor Swan are partnering to re-energize sailing in America; that they’re focusing on growing sailing. However, their initial focus is to promote Swan’s new ClubSwan 28 regatta series. To join this you need to purchase a new ClubSwan 28 for about $250,000. It sounds like an awesome boat and would be a ton of fun to race in the class, but will it really re-energize sailing in the US? Can you grow participation in sailing by selling quarter-million-dollar boats? We never say never, so we support anyone who’s on the mission to grow participation, but we think sailing would grow faster with Snarks, El Toros, Rhodes 19s and Catalina 22s. At least that’s what worked in the past.
“This joint venture marks a significant step in American Magic’s mission to lead sailing in the United States into a new era of innovation and competition,” said Terry Hutchinson, president of sailing operations at American Magic.
We wonder if most sailors are looking to spend their weekends involved in “a new era of innovation and competition,” or if they just want to relax and go sailing with their family and friends.
One of the most successful sailing clubs on the Bay is the Richmond Yacht Club because of their emphasis on small boats and youth sailing. Small boats allow you to fit more sailors and sailboats within the confines of limited space on a shoreline. We love big boats and our big Sabre 38 sloop, but when we see sailing growing, we see it happening when small-boat sailing is reenergized. Just as we don’t think the homeless problem is going to be solved by building McMansions, we don’t see growth in sailing being driven by high-tech boats costing hundreds of thousands of dollars. Maybe that’s just us.
There are all kinds of sailors, and that’s why there are all kinds of boats. We’re agnostic regarding what people choose to sail. Fantastic, fast foiling boards are awesome, but so is singlehanding your Westsail 32 in the Three Bridge Fiasco. Larry Ellison started on a Lido 14 at the Cal Sailing Club before moving up to a Perini Navi megayacht (and a few other boats). We wish Nautor Swan and American Magic good luck with their efforts to reenergize sailing, but to help sailing do some market research, we’re curious: How would you reenergize sailing?
You can find inexpensive boats in our Classy Classifieds or great youth sailing programs in our Youth Programs page. Think big, but start small.
Anticipating Some Sweet February Regattas
Northern California Series
Some Bay Area Midwinter series wrap up in February:
- Encinal Yacht Club’s Jack Frost Series will finish up on Saturday, February 1.
- Ending on February 8-9 will be Berkeley YC’s Saturday and Sunday series, with a victory lap race for the Champion of Champions on February 22.
- The Corinthian Midwinters’ second and final weekend will be on February 15-16, with a Midwinters Après-Sail Party on that Saturday night.
But Tiburon YC’s Midwinter Series will just be getting their start on February 16.
The Singlehanded Sailing Society will continue their 2025 series with the Corinthian Race on February 22. The plan is start the race west of Angel Island using San Francisco YC’s yellow signal boat, Victory. Registrations will close on Wednesday the 19th.
Southern California Regattas
San Diego YC will host the Women’s Winter Invitational Regatta on February 14-16.
The SCYA Midwinters will range over venues from Morro Bay to Ensenada and two weekends, February 15-16 and 22-23. Events for keelboats, dinghies and radio-controlled model boats abound.
The Etchells West Coast Spring Series is hosted by San Diego YC in collaboration with Etchells Fleet 13 on the Coronado Roads. It serves as a lead-up to the 2025 North American Championship and the 2026 Worlds. The next event in the series will be the Pacific Coast Championship on February 22-23. The entry deadline is Saturday, February 8, at 4 p.m.
Balboa YC in Corona del Mar will host the next stop in the California Dreamin’ Series. On February 15-16, the club will provide Gov Cup 22 boats for the match racers.
The Islands Race, from Point Fermin to San Diego, will start on February 28. Newport Harbor YC and SDYC will run the race, which will take Santa Catalina Island and San Clemente Island to port. Enter by this Friday, January 31, to avoid a late fee.
As usual, you’ll find many more races, regattas, series, events, seminars, etc. in our monthly Calendar. The February edition will come out in Latitude 38 magazine and online this Friday, January 31. Or, plan out your whole year with the 2025 Northern California Sailing Calendar & YRA Schedule.
Catching Up With Sailors Cruising the Latitudes
Where Are They Now? Lots of folks come and go in the Changes in Latitudes column every year, telling their past and present stories and writing future plans in the sand at low tide. We feel as if they’re all part of the extended Latitude family, so it’s always great to catch up when we can. Here’s a look at what a few of our 2024 Changes contributors are up to these days.
— A lot has happened since we last heard from Keith Rasmussen of the Port Townsend-based Fraser 41 Nikko. Departing San Francisco on Easter morning (March 31), Keith and crew — son Jason and buddy Adin — did a straight 25-day shot to Hiva Oa. In Tahiti, Jason and Adin headed home and Keith’s daughter and her boyfriend took their place aboard. Since then, says Keith, “Nikko sailed on through the Societies, waited out weather in Aitutaki, partied with Ali Baba at Beveridge Reef, lost our dinghy in Niue, pieced together a new one in Tonga, saw the kids engaged in Savusavu, got myself engaged in Vanuatu, and got Nikko sold in Newport, Australia. It’s been a busy season.
“Much gratitude for all our crew, our friends on Sea Soul, Ali Baba, Andante, Hooligan, and the many others that made this voyage a lifetime treasure.”
— Seaquester completed her second winter in Mexico in April.
“If we can ever get fully retired, I think I could get used to being a snowbird,” writes Bill Leone of his and wife Cheryl’s San Diego-based Beneteau 423. “Banderas Bay remains a wonder: wildlife, restaurants, a vibrant cruiser community, beer can races, and of course the Banderas Bay Regatta at the end of the winter cruising season.”
In early April, Seaquester headed out to sea. “We sailed directly to the NASA-supplied coordinates for the total eclipse path on April 8,” says Bill. “With sextants, eclipse glasses, box viewers and cameras ready, we had an otherworldly adventure navigating to the centerline of the path of totality and experiencing a total eclipse without obstructions, traffic, hotels or a crowd.” Continue.
— Scott and Jeno Brigham of the Valiant 40 Pendragon are back in Montana after a great trip on the 2024 Ha-Ha.
“After exploring the Sea of Cortez close to La Paz, Jeno and I sailed down to Banderas Bay for the BB Regatta. We had our good friend Tom Verburgt come down to help us race our Valiant 40 around the cans. We had one good race, but as expected, and as a true cruiser, we finished last in every race. Who cares? We were there for the fun, and the yacht club did not disappoint. They put on a well-organized, fun regatta. We loved La Cruz and stayed there diving and eating tacos for another two weeks before sailing north to San Jose del Cabo.”
After a wonderful winter, it was time to bash back home. Unlike many owners, Bill says he’s come to enjoy the trip back, as there’s always a surprise or two. “The bash was a little trickier this year. We had stopped in Bahia Santa Maria (which we normally skip) due to weather. But that meant we needed to refuel between there and Turtle Bay.” Continue.
Catch up with more cruisers in this month’s Changes in Latitudes.