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Archive for December 2017

Midwinter Rewards

December 22, 2017
One of the rewards of having a sailboat on San Francisco Bay is a hike to the top of Angel Island any time you want. The forecast looks good for the week ahead, and it’s an excellent time to tie up at the docks in Ayala Cove and work off your Christmas binge with a hike to the peak.  More »

Spirited Banderas Bay Blast

December 20, 2017
Last week’s Banderas Bay Blast generated almost 40,000 pesos in donations for school lunches and supplies for kids who need assistance. The racing was spirited, even though the hype was that it was a “non-serious” regatta. More »

Straws Suck

It’s a well-used comment but still so appropriate. Like most single-use plastic items (water bottles, etc.) straws literally and truly suck. We are reminded too often when we get a drink and kick ourselves for forgetting to say "skip the straw." More »

Gabart Crushes Record

December 18, 2017
François Gabart finishes a speedy solo lap of the planet. © 2017 Macif Course au Large Yesterday afternoon, after 42 days, 16 hours and 40 minutes at sea, 34-year-old sailor François Gabart shattered the solo round-the-world record, knocking nearly six and a half days off countryman Thomas Coville’s already impressive record from last year aboard Sodebo Ultim’. More »

Beer Can Racing Year-Round

The start of the BYC Chowder on Sunday, in pleasant weather after Saturday’s blow. © Berkeley Yacht Club offers two seasons of beer can races — summer (April-September) is for Friday Night Races and winter (October-March) is Chowder time on Sundays. More »

How Was Your Windy Weekend?

Well, since you asked for readers’ observations about this windy weekend, here’s one sailor’s perspective: Saturday approached its boisterous expectations, although the wind wasn’t particularly noteworthy for SF Bay; its strength was less than on a typical summer afternoon. More »

A Latitude Far, Far Away

December 15, 2017
In honor of the release of Star Wars, Episode VIII today, we wanted to share a story from Howard Macken of Sutter Sails, who wrote the following for the September 1983 (Vol. More »

Capsize at Cape Horn

While much of the sailing world has been focused on François Gabart and his incredible round-the-world record attempt, it’s been easy to overlook fellow French multihull sailor Yves le Blevec. The skipper of the Ultim’ trimaran Actual, le Blevec left France on November 24 to embark on a similar — though very different — voyage. More »