July Racing Preview
June 29, 2016
– West Coast and Hawaii
How — and where — do they sleep when they're 'off-watch'? Just one of the many questions we hope to answer in the August issue of Latitude 38.
© 2018 Nick Reid
|
A finisher will no doubt complete the Race to Alaska in very early July. So far, the Bay Area team on Randy Miller's Marstrom 32 cat is ripping up the race course like the MAD Dogs they are. We'll have an update in 'Lectronic on Friday and/or next week.
Meanwhile, we're looking forward to the start of this year's trio of races to Hawaii. The 23 solo sailors in the Singlehanded TransPac will depart the West Coast first, with a July 2 start off Corinthian YC in Tiburon. They'll cross a finish line just outside of Hanalei Bay on the north shore of Kauai. Read our profiles of the racers in the June issue of Latitude 38.
Next will be an island-to-island passage: the Vic-Maui Race, in which 40 botdeparts from Victoria Harbour, BC, on July 7-11.
The Pacific Cup will jump off the mainland on July 11-15, bound for Kaneohe Bay on the east shore of Oahu. To support the racers' prep, Richmond YC will host a 'Pacific Cup Village' from July 2 until the starts, with big parties and events beginning on July 5. A Pac Cup Preview is included in the July issue of Latitude 38, coming out on Friday, July 1.
Max Klink's Knierim 65 Caro (foreground) and the Aussie R/P 52 Scarlet Runner at the start of the Latitude 38 Division in the 2014 Pacific Cup. The Aussies won overall, won the Latitude 38 Performance award and won First Place ORR.
Photo Latitude / Ross
© 2018 Latitude 38 Media, LLC
|
Within San Francisco Bay, the YRA is offering up another party weekend, revolving around July 9's Westpoint Regatta. The weekend will kick off with a pre-race party on Friday night. Treasure Island will run the start of a downwind sail with the flood current to Redwood City, where Sequoia YC will host the Island Time Party in the "tropics" of San Francisco Bay. SeqYC will also host a breakfast on Sunday morning.
Bob Comstock, chair of the High Sierra Regatta, writes, "The lake is completely full, the marks are laid and the regatta team is ready to host one of the premier regattas on the West Coast. We now have five races. China Peak Mountain Resort is hosting a fantastic party with a buffet dinner, dancing, videos of the day's racing and a couple of bars to support thirsty sailors. A shuttle from the registration tent departs every 30 minutes from 5 p.m. onward. For lodging please call China Peak (559) 233-1200 or Lakeshore Resort (559) 893-3193." The dates are July 9-10 for centerboarders and July 16-17 for keelboats. "There are 126 boats registered in all classes for this event. The forest service limits the number of boats to 150. So there's 24 spots left," wrote Laser District 24 secretary Stephen Aguilar yesterday. See www.fresnoyachtclub.org/high-sierra-regatta.
More regattas of note in July:
On July 9, Sausalito YC will host PICYA's Lipton Cup, a collection of races between yacht clubs, and SFYC will run the Hart Nunes Regatta for Mercurys.
On July 16, Bay View Boat Club in San Francisco will host the 32nd Plastic Classic and Courcours d'Elegance. SFYC in Belvedere will run the Midnight Moonlight Maritime Marathon to Carquinez Strait and back.
Berkeley YC will host the Santa Cruz 27 Nationals on July 22-24, and Santa Cruz YC will host the Santana 22 Nationals on July 29-31.
On July 29, the 81-miles King Harbor Race will depart from Santa Barbara. See www.sbyc.org.
YRA's Second Half Opener closes out the month on July 30-31, with a race out to Point Bonita and down the Estuary to the finish, party and raft-up at Encinal YC.
We don't have room to list all the worthy events here, so please do check our Calendar for much more. The online Calendar page will be updated on Friday, and will also be found in the July 1 issue of Latitude 38.
- latitude / chris
|