‘Maserati’ on Target for Record
After yet another collision with an Unidentified Floating Object and losing one of her rudders, Maserati is flying through the Indian Ocean, about to round the Cape of Good Hope, and over 500 nautical miles ahead of Gitana 13’s reference time for the ‘Tea Route’ from Hong Kong to London.
On the tenth day of their 40-something-day record attempt, Maserati "hit something at 20 knots of speed and we lost the rudder on the right-side hull," said Giovanni Soldini in a press release on January 28 (Maserati also sustained damage to a rudder in last year’s Transpac after hitting a UFO). "Luckily we have a spare one and it doesn’t seem like there is collateral damage. We are waiting for better weather conditions to replace the rudder." The MOD70 made her way toward a high-pressure system, seeking calm conditions to make repairs — they were still 587 miles ahead of Gitana 13’s reference time.
On January 29, the crew had successfully replaced their broken blade. "The assembly of the spare rudder went well," Soldini said. "We managed to install it on the first try and we didn’t lose much time. Maserati is back at 100% and we are happy." The trimaran is currently in a heavy low-pressure system with 40-knot winds and about 2000 miles east of Cape of Good Hope. Barring any further damage, Maserati hopes to be in London before March 1.
East Harbor Supported by the City
PG&E made a long-shot — and ill-recieved — proposal that the city of San Francisco consider getting rid of East Harbor, also known as Gashouse Cove, according to an article in the San Francisco Chronicle.
‘Fat chance’, said city officials (although that is not a direct quote).
The suggestion was part of ongoing discussions about cleaning up toxic soil from two fuel facilities "originally owned by companies that became part of PG&E when the utility incorporated in 1905" that were then destroyed by the 1906 quake, the Chronicle said. The article added that city officials believed the proposal was "an attempt by PG&E to avoid paying for a proper cleanup."
East Harbor is our kind of marina. You won’t find any megayachts there — the largest slip is 35 feet, making Gashouse Cove home to a fleet of small daysailers. With slip space and access already at a premium, East Harbor is one of many essential facilities for sailors on the Bay.
According to the Chronicle, the city of San Francisco wants to dredge the century-old toxic mud before renovating East Harbor, "even adding room for a few more boats." In a meeting with the Recreation and Park Commission almost two weeks ago, PG&E — which has been replacing toxic silt around the Marina for years — made their far-fetched suggestion.
While this might strike a nerve for sailors, we would like to urge calm. It is not uncommon for large corporations to test the waters (so to speak) when tens of millions of dollars are at stake. We’re happy that the city seems to be unwavering in its support of East Harbor, and we’ll continue to follow this story as (or if) it develops.
Isaacsons Citizens of the Year
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Glenn Isaacson, who races the Carl Schumacher-designed 40-ft daysailer Q on San Francisco Bay, and his wife Gaby were honored as Belvedere’s 2017 Citizens of the Year last week. Glenn, with Gaby’s support, has taken on management of the expansion project for the Belvedere-Tiburon Library. The couple donates sails on Q to help raise funds for charity, and they host out-of-towners who come to race at San Francisco Yacht Club. Gaby volunteers with the nonprofit 10,000 Degrees, which helps low-income youth with college.
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The Isaacsons discovered boats when they moved to Belvedere in the 1960s and bought a powerboat that they used to explore the Delta. Prior to Q, the Isaacsons owned the Express 37 Re-Quest and the 25-ft Pacific Clipper Seaquest, which Glenn described as being "like a teak Folkboat." They also own a New York 14-ft rowboat, Questli, and Glenn races Lido 14s on Belvedere Lagoon, a hidden sailing venue in the heart of the little city in Marin County. Although Gaby doesn’t race on Q, she’s an important part of the shore team — Liz Baylis says that Gaby’s sandwiches keep the crew happy.
The award came to our attention when we spotted the couple and their boat on the front page of the January 17 Ark, the Tiburon peninsula’s weekly newspaper.
February Racing Preview
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A trio of Bay Area midwinter series wrap up in February. The Sausalito Yacht Club/RegattaPRO Winter One Design Series will conclude with (conditions permitting) two races on February 10 west of the Berkeley Circle. The Berkeley Midwinters, on courses east of the One Design Series, will complete regular racing on February 10-11, following up with a Winners Race and awards on Sunday, February 25. The Corinthian Midwinters will conclude on the weekend of February 17-18. The Perry Cup Series for Mercurys, hosted by Monterey Peninsula YC, will wrap up on February 3.
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In SoCal (and beyond), the SCYA Midwinter Regatta will span 30 yacht clubs and two weekends (February 10-11 and 17-18). The Islands Race, co-hosted by Newport Harbor YC and San Diego YC on February 16-17, will take sailors on a 130-mile journey from Long Beach Harbor, around Catalina and San Clemente Islands, to San Diego.
The Singlehanded Sailing Society’s 2018 season, which started with the Three Bridge Fiasco last weekend, will continue on February 24 with another Bay tour, the SSS Corinthian Race, starting and finishing off the CYC deck. A skippers’ meeting will be held on February 21, 7:30 p.m., at Island YC in Alameda; that Wednesday will also be the deadline to sign up.
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Find many more regattas and sailing events in our online Calendar, to be updated tomorrow afternoon, and in the pages of Latitude 38. The February issue will be distributed tomorrow.
Get Rid of Your Old Sails This Week
"Do you have old Dacron, nylon and laminate (as long as they aren’t completely delaminated) sails that you’d like to see re-purposed rather than just taking up your storage space or bring hauled off to the dump?" writes Cam Tuttle of Tiburon Yacht Club. "Then you’ll want to bring them down to TYC this Saturday morning (then go racing in this weekend’s TYC Mott Midwinter Regatta).
"Jeff Wapner is a UC Santa Barbara sailing instructor, J/70 racer, and Founder and CEO of Paradise Is Divided into Blue and Green, which makes recycled products for the surf industry from used sails (Dacron, Kevlar and nylon plus anchor line and kiteboarding control lines)."
"The goals are to keep these out of landfills," says Wapner, "give them new life, and expose children to the activities that have helped shape my life (like surfing and sailing) in hopes that they will become more passionate and caring about the environment."
Jeff is swinging through the Bay Area and will be coming by TYC (off Paradise Drive on the east side of the Tiburon Peninsula) on Saturday morning, 10-10:30 a.m., to pick up donations. Email Cam and Jeff so that Jeff can plan to have sufficient sail-carrying capacity. Jeff will be in the Bay Area this Friday and Saturday, so if TYC is inconvenient email him to arrange a rendezvous.