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Corinthian Spirit on Friday Nights

Corinthian YC’s Friday Night Races come to a close tonight with a non-counter race and series awards. One of the boats competing this season has absolutely blown everyone away with their level of dedication and perseverance in these races. The Catalina 27 Blue Ribbon is owned and crewed by four guys ranging in age from 27 to 36. About a year ago they pooled their money to buy this boat, and it has been a labor of love ever since.

Every Friday afternoon since April 27 they have rushed to San Francisco from their offices in Silicon Valley, quickly rigged the boat at Pier 39, and sprinted across the Bay to the Corinthian. They’ve never missed a start. Skipper Kevin Moore once even drove eight hours straight from San Diego to San Francisco just to make the race in time.

But there’s another miraculous thing about the Blue Ribbon boys that others might find inspirational: They have finished last in every single Friday Night Race this season, but they keep showing up . . . again, and again, and again. In fact, Blue Ribbon has had perfect attendance for both the spring and summer series. That’s 19 races in a row without a single miss . . . and 19 races without beating a single boat — except those that dropped out before finishing. Most people who are losing on such a consistent basis would have given up long ago — they would have lost their drive to compete — but not these guys. They are so eager to learn and improve their racing skills that they keep coming back, every single week. Even on the many occasions when the race committee boat was hauling in the final buoy as Blue Ribbon was inching toward the finish line they didn’t give up.

Their perseverance is paying off. Their starts are now much better, they’re getting a deeper understanding of the tides and currents, and their boat is little by little becoming more race ready, including the addition of a second-hand genoa, a new whisker pole, and their very first boom vang. Rumor has it that their efforts will be recognized at tonight’s awards ceremony with a special perseverance trophy.

For more on CYC’s Friday night series, see cyc.org/race/fnr.

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Today is the day that the September edition of Latitude 38 hits the streets all around the Bay Area, just in time for your Labor Day weekend reading pleasure!