Try Singlehanding in the “Sort of Singlehanded North Bay Race”
The “Sort of Singlehanded North Bay Race” coming up this weekend on Saturday, April 26, allows you to bring a “ghost.” It’s not unusual for long-distance singlehanded racers to hallucinate while crossing oceans, but it is unusual for singlehanded races to actually have two people aboard. The reason the local Singlehanded Sailing Society allows this is to give first-time singlehanders some extra hands just in case they’re needed. If you have not raced singledhanded, this is a good opportunity to try it. For just this one event, you can “singlehand” with another person aboard who can help you in an emergency, or help post-race with docking — they just cannot touch any controls during the race.
The race does not count for the series; it’s just a low-key run to find out what racing singlehanded is like.
The SSS reached out to a couple of folks for some insights into their upcoming weekend sailing plans.
Jay McCutchen with the Santa Cruz 27 Surf Rat reported he’s racing after installing a tiller pilot and is planning to use the race to sort out its use for future singlehanded sailing. Besides singlehanding a Hobie 14 when younger, he’s done a couple of singlehanded races starting last year with the 2024 Sorta Singlehanded and Vallejo 1-2. When asked what other kinds of racing he’s done, he reported, “Skipper for Hobie 16 and International FJ racing, crew for keelboat on S.F. Bay and coastal racing.” And who’s his ghost? He says, “Alexis, my wife, is signed up as ghost. As a very competitive person she’ll be plenty entertained as tactician and with critique of my performance.”
After this race what might Jay sail? The next SSS races he hopes to do are the SSS Half Moon Bay and Drake’s Bay races.
Another racer planning to be out there this weekend is Jeff Froula aboard his Cape Dory 27 Pelican. His plan is to get out there with his kid to introduce him to racing. Jeff reports this will be his fourth singlehanded race. Asked how he’ll keep the “ghost” entertained, he replied, “I’ll be the ghost and my kid will be the captain. I’ll be yelling at him to keep him entertained.”
Regarding the rest of the SSS season, Jeff says, “I’ll aim to do all the races for SSS scheduled for each month.”
If you’ve thought about trying singlehanded racing, this coming Saturday is for you. The race allows the extra hands aboard but they are there just in case they’re needed. You are supposed to race the whole race without any help from your ghost so you’ll be sailing as if you’re sailing alone. This may be one of the few times your hallucination will actually talk back or laugh at you.
The first gun is at 10:55 and there are just three possible courses between six and 11 miles long. Read the Race Instructions here. You can sign up here. And don’t forget: Your ghost will want a sandwich too.