June 2020

The San Francisco-based wearer of many hats — Martin Machado — has been cruising the Bay for the past few years, combining sailing with chances to paint landscapes.

The widespread ramifications of the COVID-19 pandemic forced scores of South Pacific-bound sailors to slam on their brakes and abruptly postpone their long-anticipated travels to French Polynesia and beyond.

I headed off on an adventure, sailing as crew and assistant watch leader in the 2019-2020 Clipper Round the World Yacht Race, an ocean yacht race for amateur sailors. I participated in Leg 5, with the original scheduled route from Australia to China.

During the many behavior changes required by the COVID situation, I found myself spending a lot more time on the couch. The 2019 Baja Ha-Ha was over and in the books, but apparently there was still one boat that needed to bash her way home.

Whenever two sailboats are in sight of each other and sailing in the same direction, they are, by definition, racing. I've had a number of these encounters recently during my socially distant singlehanded sails out on the Bay. But it's not the same. I miss real racing.

Welcome to the shortest Racing Sheet in recorded history. Included here are reports on an UnRegatta and a Pickup Game. PSSA's Santa Barbara Island Race is the only sanctioned event covered in these pages.