Latitude 38’s Spring Crew List Party Is Back!
Remember when Spring Crew List Parties were a thing — before COVID shut us all down for while? That’s all over, Red Rover, and we’re loading up the boats and gearing up for the coming spring and summer sailing seasons. And everyone wants to get on board for that, right? Well, now’s the time to fill up your dance card and organize your crews and boats.
Join us for the first Latitude 38 Spring Crew List Party since 2020 (yes, we managed to squeeze one in right on the line). The party is on Thursday, April 3, 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., at Bay View Boat Club in San Francisco. It’s a new location and a new energy, and we’d love to see you there!
Connection is what we’re about. If you’ve got your name on the Latitude Crew List page as either a skipper looking for crew or crew looking to join a boat, then the party is the next logical step — show up and meet your boat buddies, face to face. And even if you’re not on the crew list page you can still come to the party, but we recommend also signing up here.
This year’s format is simple. Buy your tickets ahead of time — you can use this link — there will be NO TICKET SALES AT THE DOOR. Also, numbers will be limited, so if you want to join the party, get your tickets now and circle the date on your calendars.
Speaking of calendars, check the Latitude 38 calendar for upcoming events you might like to join with your new crew or boat: www.latitude38.com/calendar.
Here are the details:
Date: Thursday, April 3.
Time: 6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
Location: Bay View Boat Club, 489 Terry A Francois Blvd., San Francisco, CA 94158
- Mingle with fellow sailors and skippers to find your next sailing opportunity
- Drinks and chili will be available for sale from Bay View Boat Club. Please note BVBC does not accept credit cards. Please bring cash for drinks and food. There is an ATM on site.
- Meet local sailing organizations and vendors who can help get you on the water
- Door prizes, sailing slideshows, and a lively sailing community
Tickets: $10 (Tickets must be purchased in advance. We will have no ticket sales at the door) — Ticket includes entry, snacks, and a chance to win door prizes.
PARKING:
The club is at 489 Terry A Francois Blvd., San Francisco, on the waterfront in Mission Bay between Oracle Park and the Chase Center. Metered parking is available on the streets around the club and in the adjacent parking lot. Parking is extremely challenging when there are events at the Chase Center or Oracle Park.
Whether you’re wanting to find a ride or find a crew, this is the place to be. The Latitude 38 Spring Crew List Party is all about bringing sailors together.
See you there!
Things To Do, Coves To Visit, and People To See on the Bay
We recently wrote about the new Treasure Island Marina to be constructed starting in spring 2026 in Clipper Cove, and some reopened guest docks on the Bay. This is in addition to news that up to 16 of the “closed” docks at Ayala Cove on Angel Island have been repaired and will be open this year, until the full dock renovation can occur in 2026.
Neil Motteram of the Columbia 43 Mi Dulcinea out of Berkeley sent the shot below of a boat out of Sausalito on a quiet morning in Clipper. Then a couple of other shots came in from Yarden of a much bigger gathering in Clipper Cove, on yet another calm, blue-sky day.
Following these posts, we received the following photos of anchoring in Clipper Cove, and a suggestion from Jim on SV Cheyenne that Suisun City has a 300-ft guest dock in the downtown basin. It’s a destination we’ve never tried. How about you?
Other nearby anchorages include Aquatic Park, Horseshoe Cove, Drake’s Bay, Half Moon Bay, Santa Cruz and Monterey. And the Delta remains a seemingly endless maze of options. Where will you go as the days get longer?
Thanks to our readers for the photos and the cruising destination suggestions.
Visit Naos Yachts for Full Sales and Service
Learning About the Beerfort Scale
Somewhere in the dark recesses of the Latitude 38 digital catacombs we came across the Beerfort scale, with a couple of riffs on the traditional Beaufort Scale for wind. The original Beaufort scale was developed in the early 1800s by Royal Navy officer Francis Beaufort as a way of measuring the wind speed based on observed conditions at sea or on land.
Our original post included links to other sources, none of which are working today. So we pass along the Beerfort scale on a Friday in advance of the beer can racing season. It is not necessary to have this memorized to get your California Boater Card, though if you have that, you know about BUI and to be careful with the Beerfort Scale.
Two variations on the theme are offered below:
Force 0: Sails hanging limp. Tiller tends itself.
Force 1: Beginning pressure on sails. If sheet is eased out, the tiller still tends itself.
Force 2: Sails flapping in the breeze, and boat drifting to leeward. Sheets must be tightened and one hand put on the tiller. As the wind fills the sails, the boat heels. Case of beer must be placed on cockpit floor.
Force 3: The beer may be knocked over and must be supported or held in hand.
Force 4: Empty bottles rolling against each other on cockpit floor. Must be thrown over side. [Webmistress’s note: Please don’t do this!]
Force 5: All beer streaming behind boat must be hauled in.
Force 6: Nobody can hold onto more than one beer at a time.
Force 7: The case of beer slides back and forth on cockpit floor. One person must be appointed to sit on it.
Force 8: Bottles can still be opened by one person. Beginning of difficulties pouring into the mouth without spilling.
Force 9: Bottle must be held with two hands. Only experts can get the cap off by themselves.
Force 10: Two people required to open bottles. Empties must be thrown to leeward only. (See Webmistress’s note above.) Very difficult to find mouth. Some teeth may be knocked loose.
Force 11: The beer tends to foam out of bottle. Very difficult to drink. Lips split and teeth fall out.
Force 12: All open bottles foam. Impossible to drink. Temporary abstinence may be required.
A similar Beerfort scale:
| Beaufort number | Wind Speed [mph] | Description | For Coarse Sailors | For use on land |
| 0 | 0-1 | Calm | Boats move sideways with tide. | Cigarette smoke gets in eyes. |
| 1 | 1 – 3 | Light air | Coarse yachtsmen hoist sail, then wind instantly drops. | Wet finger feels cold. |
| 2 | 4 – 7 | Light breeze | Tea towels blow off rigging. | Pubs close one window. |
| 3 | 8 – 12 | Gentle breeze | Coarse boats careen. Difficult to make tea underway. | Pubs close two windows. |
| 4 | 13 – 18 | Moderate breeze | Coarse boats lose mainsheet through block and have to go aground to recover it. | Beer froth blows off. |
| 5 | 19 – 24 | Fresh breeze | Coarse sailors get book on sailing from cabin and turn up bit on reefing. | Customers in pub gardens go inside bar. |
| 6 | 25 – 31 | Strong breeze | Coarse sailors try to double-reef and go aground. | Elderly customers have difficulty leaving pub. |
| 7 | 32 – 38 | Moderate gale | Coarse sailors rescued by launch. | Pub door cannot be opened against wind. |
| 8 | 39 – 46 | Fresh gale | Aaaaaaah!!! | Pub sign blows down. |
| 9 | 47 – 54 | Strong gale | Coarse sailors in public house. | Coarse sailors struck by falling sign. |
| 10-12 | Only of interest on TV | |||
We were also referred to more on “Coarse Sailing” in Michael Green’s book, The Art of Coarse Sailing, written way back in the ’40s.
You can see the actual Beaufort Scale here.
And with beer can racing just over a month away in most places, you can catch up on the Beer Can Ten Commandments here. To find a beer can race series in your area, pick up our annual racing calendar or have a look here.
Season Champions, Part III —The YRA and SSS
On November 16, sailors and organizers from the Yacht Racing Association got together at St. Francis Yacht Club for an end-of-the-year trophy party and prize-pickup gathering. In this final part of our annual three-part “Season Champions” series, we profile the 2024 YRA series winners.
YRA Offshore Series: Andy Newell continues to race and win in his Santana 35 Ahi. He also serves as the YRA’s offshore racing coordinator. As racers, he and his crew like a variety of venues. “We do pretty much everything we can fit in the calendar among the full-crew weekend races,” says Andy. “Among the Offshore Series races, my favorites are the ones where we actually go somewhere besides just around a buoy. That would be Half Moon Bay with the party at the end, and Drake’s Bay with the raft-up,” he said, commenting on the latter weekend-long event on August 10-11. “I see a pattern here. Farallones is fun, but the weather did not cooperate this year.”
The YRA Full-Crew Farallones Race had been scheduled for June 15. On June 14, Andy wrote in an email to the registered skippers, “As we suspected, NOAA has issued a gale warning for both 0-10 and 10-60 nm offshore through Sunday morning. This means that we will not be sending the fleet to the island but will instead use Course 2 and stay in the Bay.” Course 1, around the Farallones, is 58 miles, while Course 2, a Bay Tour, was 22.32.
“It really does take a village to campaign a boat that sails with eight crew,” says Andy. “Most of our 2024 roster made at least one offshore race: Alexey Sobolev, Bruce Boles, Cyril Collock, Darby Brown, Fernando Rosero, Hemang Mehta, Jeff Raby, Ian Kallen, Joe Dick, Mark Schieble, Tony Barker, Valerie Suzawa, Vijay Kesavan and Vincent Thivierge.
“In 2024, as is the case with any even-numbered Pacific Cup year, we got a bit lonely toward the end of the offshore season, since many of our usual players were doing the round trip to Kaneohe. Thanks to the hearty few that kept us company in the last couple of races.”
Nick Grebe’s Santa Cruz 37 Wildcard topped the PHRO1 Division. “The entire crew was ecstatic with our win this year,” says Nick. “It was a closely contested and hard-won series with lots of triumphs and frustrations. Consistency really was key. Showing up for every race and racing hard paid off, even without a lot of bullets and many frustrating ‘so-close’ finishes.
“We were bummed the weather didn’t cooperate for the Farallones Race, but completely agreed the RC made the right call there. A surprising number of Wildcard’s crew hasn’t been around those rocks yet!”
Read about the rest of the YRA and SSS champions here.
And in case you missed them, you can read “Season Champions” Part 1 here; and Part 2 here.
Learn to Race With Modern Sailing
