Lookin’ Good in a Knarr
The San Francisco Knarr fleet is one of the most active, most competitive, most beautiful and longest-lived fleets on the Bay. They’ve been sailing on the Bay for more than 50 years and regularly field fleets of 15-20+ boats.
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We caught this photo of Hans Williams’ Knarr #107 Aurora (aka Eos) as she was lookin’ good sailing back into San Francisco Yacht Club on Friday evening.
$500 Reward for Lost Rudder in South Bay
On Saturday, Emmanuel Candes was sailing with some friends in the South Bay on his Antrim 27 Nonno when suddenly, he lost his steering. Literally. "The gudgeon plate that holds the rudder and tiller to the transom snapped," said Candes. Rudderless, the boat struggled to find its path in rough waters, trying to navigate adversity with no clear direction. Candes and his crew acted quickly: "We had no control. We took the sails down immediately and set up the outboard motor. But by then the rudder was way out of sight."
Candes said that the rudder and tiller — still attached to each other — floated away as he and his crew got control of the boat. Candes, the chair of the Department of Statistics at Stanford, believes there’s a high probability that his steering floated toward the marshy swamps surrounding the east end of the Dumbarton Bridge, an area notorious for collecting South Bay flotsam.
The tiller is wood, and is about four feet long and attached by an aluminum plate to the rudder, which has a white top and burgundy bottom. "I love my rudder," Candes said. "I would happily pay someone $500 if they found it." If you stumble across the lost rudder of the Nonno, please contact Professor Candes by email, or call (626) 318-9159.
Pac52s Ready to Rumble
All four of the new Pac 52 box-rule class boats are now in San Diego in preparation for the start of their first season, which will kick off with San Diego Yacht Club’s Yachting Cup on May 5-7.
Manouch Moshayedi’s Rio 52, Tom Holthus’ BadPak and Frank Slootman’s Bay Area-based Invisible Hand were designed by Judel/Vrolijk in Germany; Victor Wild’s Fox, which was on the water first and sailing last year in St. Francis YC’s Rolex Big Boat Series, was designed by Botin Partners in Spain.
BadPak raced in SDYC’s Opening Day Race on April 22. This was the first time that two of the Pac52s lined up against each other because Fox raced as well. Fox finished fourth overall out of 40 boats and one foiling kite, and BadPak came in eighth.
The plan is for the four boats to practice on Thursday, May 4, followed by a Pac52 inaugural party on Thursday evening before the start of official racing at Yachting Cup on Friday.
From Humble Beginnings
Larry Ellison once told a story about his first sail aboard a Lido 14 that he naively took out the Gate. He reportedly said to himself, "If God lets me back in alive, I will never do this again." He told this story on the steps of San Francisco City Hall after winning the America’s Cup.
If you know Larry, please tell him that he has a chance to relive his humble beginnings and win more silver by entering the 60th Anniversary Lido 14 National Class Championship. The goal is to get 60 boats on the line at Balboa Yacht Club in Newport Beach, August 11-13, 2017. As it says in the Schock newsletter, "It’s exciting to see a boat, which was designed, built and named after Lido Island still out sailing. It can be said that the Lido 14 class kicked off the era of modern sailing." Indeed; just ask Larry.
Enter at www.balboayachtclub.com.