A Glimpse at November’s Midwinters

On November 5 the Golden Gate Yacht Club, defenders of the America’s Cup, defended their position as the organizers of one of the most popular and well-run midwinter series on San Francisco Bay. The 46th annual Manuel Fagundes Seaweed Soup Regatta kicked off with 55 boats racing in four PHRF and three one-design divisions. The defender of the (Seaweed Soup) Cup, the 8-Meter Yucca, was not racing, as skipper Hank Easom instead trotted out his new steed, the 36-ft Sabre Spirit Serenade.

The first of the new season’s Sausalito YC Chili Midwinters followed the next day. The faster boats were given a twice-around windward/leeward course around drop marks; the slower divisions sailed just one lap. Both days of that weekend offered pleasant weather and adequate wind.

The Berkeley Midwinters were held in similarly pleasant weather the following weekend, after postponements on both days to wait for the wind to settle. BYC offers separate series on Saturday and Sunday; racers can register for both for a discount. The racing venue is the former Olympic Circle, which doesn’t really work anymore since some of the marks are missing and silting has rendered portions of the Circle too shallow for keelboats. Instead BYC has been running windward/leeward courses around inflatable marks.

Conflicting with the BYC on Saturday, but in the deeper water to the west, is the RegattaPRO Winter One Design series, with two-race days. Registration this year is through the Sausalito YC website. SYC assists in the series with assets and volunteers. J/105, J/120, J/70, J/24, Melges 24 and Moore 24 classes were seen looping the marks.

On the same day, farther south near Treasure Island, Encinal YC held the first two of their Jack Frost Series races. "After racing, join us for complimentary clam chowder while you watch video of the day’s sailing back at the club," promise the organizers. "We award a prize each day to the race winner in each division or class." EYC’s website makes the very good point that midwinter racing is usually very mild (except when a storm front passes through) and gives sailors an incentive to get out on the water during winter, keeping their boats in sailing form and their skills intact.

That Sunday, the 13th, the Alameda-based Island YC hosted their first Island Days race in a series held entirely on the relatively protected waters of the Oakland-Alameda Estuary.

The good luck with dry weather ran out for races held on the third Saturday of the month. Vallejo YC’s first Tiny Robbins Midwinter race of the season attracted only three boats, whose crews braved the rain. South Beach YC’s Island Fever race fared better, with about half the 24 registered boats making the start.

All of the above series except the Jack Frost continue in December, plus Richmond YC’s Small Boat Midwinters will begin on the first weekend of the month. For specific dates of these and many more midwinter series, please see our Calendar.

‘Lectronic Latitude has Friday off, and Latitude 38’s office will be closed tomorrow and Friday. From our crew to yours, Happy Thanksgiving!