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Warning: Latitude Spring Crew List Party Responsible for Sailing Friendships
Our Spring Crew List Party is shaping up to be a fun night with a roomful of sailors making new connections and rekindling friendships made at previous parties. Do you have your ticket yet? We hope so, because tickets must be purchased in advance. We will have no ticket sales at the door.
Wondering why you would go to the Crew List Party? Where to start! Rather than our trying to convince you, we’ll share feedback from sailors who have been to crew parties across the seasons.
Greg Clausen has spent decades on the water after attending a Latitude crew party: “This is a must-do for anyone wanting to sail the Bay. It’s how I was introduced to Bay Area sailing 30 years ago!!”
The crew list and crew parties work well in tandem — if you want to get onto a boat or find crew, sign up on the Crew List page, then meet in person at the party! Bill Crowley says, “I’m still sailing with crew I connected with on the Crew List over 10 years ago! It has been a great help to me!” Karen Miller worked the system equally well: “I had a longtime dream and thanks to the L38 Crew List, I’ve sailed the Baja Ha-Ha 2021, 2022, 2023! Twice with Myron and Marina on Mykonos!! Great fun and wonderful people.”
David Delaney had made a promising connection with Chad and Carolyn Carvey at a Crew List Party one year (pre-COVID), and later (post-COVID) used the Crew List to reconnect. “I joined them the next day in Brookings, Oregon, on August 28, and now we were enjoying the sunshine in the Pacific Northwest.”
A few years back (circa 2014) Rich Morse was still very new to sailing when he attended a Crew List Party and “felt like a fish out of water.” He says he must have looked the part as a Latitude staff member helped by introducing him to a fellow Alameda sailor, Natasha Pyle. Well, the “fish out of water” was now happily ensconced on the ocean with a delivery to Anacortes, Washington, followed by volunteering aboard Pegasus out of Berkeley Marina …
“Five years later I have about 7,500 ocean miles from Cabo to Canada and up the East Coast. You could say that the Crew List Party changed my life!”
You get the idea; now get your tickets!
See you on the 3rd. Details below:
Location: Bay View Boat Club, 489 Terry A Francois Blvd., San Francisco, CA 94158
Time: 6:00 p.m.–9:00 p.m.
Tickets: $10 (Tickets must be purchased in advance. We will have no ticket sales at the entry.)
- 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 onsite.
- Meet local sailing organizations and vendors who can help get you onto the water.
- Door prizes, sailing slideshows, and a lively sailing community
Whether you’re new to sailing or a seasoned pro, everyone is welcome — come as you are!
Admission Details
$10 per person. Includes entry, snacks, and a chance to win door prizes.
Want to get a head start? Sign up on our free online Crew List to connect with sailors before the event.
2025 Transpac Race Profile: Andy Schwenk and ‘Sir Edmund’
Currently there are 61 boats signed up for the 2025 Transpac. We’ll bring you profiles of participants between now and the July 1 start. The first one below is submitted by local multiple-Transpac racer Andy Schwenk.
Each summer, West Coast sailors have a choice in the quest for Hawaii. They can enter Pac Cup in even-numbered years and Transpac in the odd. There are also singlehanded competitions and Victoria to Maui; at least there used to be. Generally, skippers choose their crews in the fall and the winter and spend the spring getting the final details worked out.
The required list is extensive: raft, communication, safety equipment, radio and satellite navigation, grab bags, med kits, required tools and equipment, and, of course, plenty of meals to be organized. Most boats upgrade systems to include batteries and charging, maybe a watermaker and fishing gear — and why not a BBQ?
It is not uncommon for winning boats to spend thousands on professional weather routing and a new quiver of sails.
This year it’s Transpac, the Big Daddy of West Coast ocean racing, sailed in most odd-numbered years since about 1906, except for war years and a few other exceptions. The record for a monohull is 5 days 1 hour, a multihull 4 days 6 hours. The race is 2225 miles and the route isn’t arrow-straight, so figure 25 mph give or take — that’s just average,
In 2019 I skippered an Oyster 56, Quester, to second in our division. In 2021, my pirates and I aboard Spindrift V, a speedy Express 37, brought home another first-loser trophy. In 2023 I served as watch captain aboard David Moore’s Westerly, and legendary ocean racer Will Paxton was able to flog us into first overall.
This year the plan is 49 feet of ocean-racing fury, Sir Edmund. She’s Chuck Burns-designed, Nova Scotia-built, cold-molded Port Orford cedar over ½ inch of foam. Her twin carbon spars are configured as a ketch for this regatta. During the last Delta Ditch run we had six sails pulling at once.
The crew of seven, with the exception of one, are Bay area all-stars. Cindy Evans will step off her Express 34 Joy Ride to trim spinnaker and grease winches. Mark Jordan, a sought-after Bay Area sailing instructor, will navigate and cover mid-deck. Scott Watkins will handle foredeck, both of them. Cyril Kollock is engineer and mainsail trim, both of them. Lisa Wilson will be shanghaied away from her beloved Express 37 Spindrift V to cover the pit and galley duties. Mike Schiltz will leave the rainy PNW behind to skipper the starboard watch and make sure we have plenty of coffee. The crew is split into two three-person teams, with Lisa floating between to make sure no one is asleep at the wheel.
Mastering both the navigation software and the hardware on deck to run numerous barber haulers, after guys and strings associated with two spinnakers at once will keep the team busy.
Of course, getting to sail by ol’ Diamond Head under moonshine or sunshine and enjoying the legendary aloha hospitality of Hawaii YC is only half the story.
Once the last ukulele has left the dock and the last supercharged pineapple beverage has been consumed, so starts the journey home. Something reminds me that it can be a lively experience as well. More about the 2025 Transpac here.
Andy Schwenk is a busy marine surveyor and yacht-delivery captain in the Bay. Now with 57 1/2 transpacific voyages under his keel, he’s looking forward to another round in the old whale pasture.
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Short Sightings: SailGP, El Toros, Marine Mammals and Congressional Cup
SailGP Kicks Off California Tour This Weekend in L.A.
SailGP will be launching its two-weekend California tour in the Port of Los Angeles this weekend, March15–16, before it heads north for SailGP San Francisco the following weekend. This is the first time SailGP has staged events on consecutive weekends, making a challenging turnaround for the shore crew.
The course inside the Port of Los Angeles harbor requires tight, close-quarters racing — if there’s breeze (the current forecast looks light). The road show then moves north to race off the San Francisco Cityfront on March 22–23.
The current event leaders, after three of the 14 events happening in season five, are Great Britain in first with 27 points, followed by Australia with 24 points, and Spain at 20 points. The US team has yet to get up to speed and is languishing in 11th place out of the 12 teams on the tour. Purchase your grandstand seats here.
El Toro Regatta Moves Dates
It’s always something. The original Lake Washington SC El Toro Nationals conflicted with ceremonies for high school and college graduations, requiring a change in dates. The new dates will have the El Toro Nationals held June 26–29. There is a Thursday practice day in advance of the three-day regatta.
The class is also looking forward to the April 6 Richmond YC #4 and the April 26 Bullship Race from Sausalito across the Bay to San Francisco, and has also been invited to the Whiskeytown Regatta on May 24 and 25 for good, warm weather, flat water, and moderate-wind racing. We also noticed a competitive-looking El Toro in classifieds here.
Two-time Champion Chris Poole Returning for 60th Annual Congressional Cup
The Long Beach Yacht Club Congressional Cup will be celebrating its 60th anniversary during the April 30 to May 4 event. They’ve confirmed 10 skippers coming from seven countries, including defending champion, USA’s Chris Poole and his Riptide Racing team. Riptide Racing has won the last two editions and is looking to repeat for a third consecutive win. As usual, there will be some strong competition, including past winner Johnie Berntsson from Sweden (Berntsson Sailing Team) and Switzerland’s Eric Monnin (Capvis Swiss Match Race Team), keen to secure his first Congressional Cup win.
Past winners include numerous famous names from the racing world, including Ted Turner (USA), Dennis Conner (USA), Rod Davis (NZL), Harold Cudmore (GBR), Peter Gilmour (AUS), Chris Dickson (NZL), Terry Hutchinson (USA), Gavin Brady (NZL), Dean Barker (NZL), Francesco Bruni (ITA), Taylor Canfield (USA), Johnie Berntsson (SWE), and Ian Williams (GBR). Learn more about the 2025 Congressional Cup here.
ABYC Educators and Industry Forum
There are many opportunities for careers in the marine trades, as the maritime industry has a shortage of skilled workers. Many new initiatives are starting up to address the shortage and provide opportunity for future careers in the industry.
The American Boat and Yacht Council (ABYC) is inviting members of the industry to an online Educator Forum. The event will bring together educators, school administrators and industry leaders to discuss the future of marine workforce development. Attendees will gain valuable insights from the executive director of SkillsUSA on how businesses can collaborate with local schools to create a verified talent pipeline of career-ready students. You can learn more and register for the event here, or email Sarah Devlin at [email protected].
Marine Mammal Survey
The Marine Mammal Advisory Group, a coalition of stakeholders established to collaborate on the protection of biodiversity, has been working with The Ocean Race and IMOCA to survey marine mammal collisions. They are reaching out to the sailing and boating community to participate in this vital work of identifying collision hotspots by taking part in the survey. Their goal is to protect marine life, improve crew safety, and enlist sailors to be part of raising awareness and finding solutions. Connect with the survey here.
If any of this action makes you want to get a bigger, faster, or just different boat, remember to list your current boat for sale in the Classy Classifieds — April print issue deadline is tomorrow, Saturday, March 15, at 5 p.m.
‘Salty Dancer’ — Mexico to Costa Rica, Part 1
In December 2023, during a blow off Puerto Escondido, Salty Dancer’s mooring lines parted in the wee hours and she started drifting toward shore. Somehow missing 60-some other boats in the anchorage, the boat ended up on the rocky south breakwater. No one was aboard at the time — owner “J” Mills had flown home for the holidays just a week earlier. Luckily, one of the marina guards saw it happen, and he and the marina staff got the boat off by daybreak. She was towed to the MPE Boatyard, where she underwent repairs. When J finally returned in March, the boat, a Jeanneau 44DS, was ready to go again, and, with a new crew, he picked up where he had left off in his planned circumnavigation.
Danna, my yet-to-know crew, joined me in Puerto Escondido and we slowly cruised south through the islands and anchorages on our way to La Paz. I had made that trip many times during my previous four years in the Sea of Cortez after the 2006 Ha-Ha, but it was all still like new. We spent a week in La Paz visiting with friends and enjoying that vibrant bay and city, and then sailed south to Bahia de los Muertos, another wonderful anchorage along the inside coast of Baja, with two beachfront restaurants that we just couldn’t seem to get enough of.
From there we crossed over to Mazatlán to pick up two more crew, Diane and Margaret. The Old Town part of Mazatlán was as picturesque and fun as I recalled from my previous voyage there in 2009, but with a few more pizza places and somewhat fewer local food restaurants. Still, a wonderful place to explore as we waited for the big solar eclipse event on April 8. And it was well worth the wait, celebrating the stark transition from morning light to dusk in the middle of the day with a wonderful group of cruisers on the docks at the Marina Mazatlán. The sky grew dark, lights came on all around the marina, the dogs and the cruisers bayed at the moon as it blacked out the sun, and we all watched in awe as the light slowly returned to the world as the moon moved on. Mazatlán was literally at the epicenter of the lunar track, so it was indeed a “total” eclipse.
We departed the marina that afternoon as the sun returned, and started an overnight passage to Isla Isabela, home to the blue-footed booby and a truly wild frigate bird nesting ground. This isolated little island is a protected nature preserve, and there were a number of ecological study groups there. I had heard that a permit was needed, but none was requested during our two days there.
Discover the Magic of Owl Harbor
