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.