The Proof Is in the Plates
Earlier this month, we asked the Latitude Nation to share their sailing license plates.
Here’s one from Paul and Chrissy Kaplan. “[This was the] very first generation of vanity plates,” Chrissy wrote. “We think this is the 10th vehicle, at least, that has worn this plate. Never giving it up!”
“I’d like to remain anonymous,” said this next entry. ‘I was swiftly punished for having a vanity plate by a certain sailmaker who said it doesn’t say Singlehand but Snugglehound!
“The Arizona license plate is on my truck,” wrote David Allocco of the Capri 22 Summer Nights in Phoenix.
“Someone in Kansas had the same idea,” David added.
Jeff Chamberlain wrote: “Well, it’s not so much a ‘plate’, as a license plate holder, but I thought I’d send it along anyway.”
And finally, we saw the rear end of the plate that got this whole thread started.
Thanks for playing license to sail, everyone. Don’t worry — like baseball (or cricket), the game never really ends. If you have or have seen a sailing plate, please let us know by emailing us here.
Masters Regatta, Campbell Cup
News from latitudes a bit farther south crossed the Racing Desk at Latitude 38 this week.
International Masters Regatta
The only international team at the 2019 International Masters Regatta headed back north with the win after three days of tough, competitive racing. Andy Roy and his Canadian team grabbed the lead after the first day of the regatta and wouldn’t budge for the remainder of the weekend. The win, Roy attests, is due to clean starts and even better crew work.
San Diego Yacht Club hosted the regatta on October 18-20. An invited group of 11 North American master skippers battled one another in a rotation of J/105s. What makes them ‘Masters’? In addition to their sailing acumen, participating skippers must be over the age of 60. (Crew must be 45 or older.) The International Masters Regatta can be seen as a rite of passage, a reward and recognition after long sailing careers.
This year’s 11 teams enjoyed three beautiful days of sailing in breezes up to 13 knots each day. By the last race, whitecaps and extra chop ruffled the South Bay course. Andy Roy of Royal Canadian YC in Toronto finished first overall with 41 points. Scott Harris, Coronado YC, followed in second with 47 points. Chuck Sinks, SDYC, came in third with 49 points.
Next up for SDYC is the Sir Thomas Lipton Challenge Cup starting today. The 11 yacht clubs that battled for the title in 2018 return to South San Diego Bay for a rematch in the J/105s. In the running are San Diego (2018 winners), Balboa, California, Chicago, Coronado, Long Beach, Newport Harbor, Royal Vancouver, San Francisco, St. Francis and Southwestern YCs.
Campbell Cup
Add one degree of latitude to the north and subtract 5 knots from the wind speed and you get Long Beach YC’s Campbell Cup. Joel Ronning’s Santa Cruz 70 Catapult finished ahead of his two competitors with a solid 2-1-1-1-1 score to win the Campbell Cup perpetual trophy. Meanwhile, Mick and Marlene Shlens defended their championship title aboard Blade II over a half dozen Farr 40 competitors, battling through lead changes at both windward marks and downwind gates.
Ten teams turned out to race in this year’s Campbell Cup, originally organized in 2006 by LBYC member Mike Campbell. Campbell successfully campaigned two 70-footers:Victoria, designed by Alan Andrews, and the Kernan 70 Peligroso. He created the fall regatta to spotlight big-boat racing. When Campbell passed away two years later, the event was renamed for him.
Conditions were mild for the two-day regatta, with idyllic temperatures and southwesterly breeze topping just 8 knots on Sunday. “It would have been a good day for golf,” said the Minneapolis-based Ronning. But Long Beach is one of his favorite venues to sail. A second-place finisher in Transpac 2017, Ronning admitted he prefers sailing around the cans to bluewater racing. He hopes to encourage other West Coast 70 owners to come out and play. He says he’ll return to the West Coast next year for the Hot Rum Series and Yachting Cup.
Marlene Shlens, co-owner of Blade II, gave credit for their win to “our outstanding crew and a great tactician who was really on his game,” referring to Peter Isler.
Next up on LBYC’s schedule of regattas is the third and final weekend of the California Dreamin’ match race series, to be sailed in Catalina 37s on November 2-3.
ASA Courses at Modern Sailing
Latitude 38 Publisher Speaks at St. Francis Yacht Club
St. Francis Yacht Club has a long-held tradition of hosting weekly Yachting Luncheon speakers on Wednesdays. The talks are open to all sailors. Just stop by the Front Desk to obtain a white guest card, supported by your own credit card. Such a ‘White Card’ confers one day of Guest Membership, including the ability to host your own guests and purchase lunch, drinks, dinner or items from our gift store. You can enjoy a buffet lunch overlooking the Bay while listening to a wide variety of speakers in the club’s Grill Room. Most talks connect to sailing, but not all. Over the past couple of years, they’ve gone digital, upgrading the technical facilities in the Grill Room to a full-on studio with multiple screens, multiple cameras and a control room. Pretty impressive. Thus all their talks are viewable live on Facebook. Past talks are all archived on the St. Francis website.
In the ‘old days’ you could go in to speak, stumble through your talk, and slip out into the world remaining in relative obscurity. Not any longer. Since Latitude publisher John Arndt was invited to speak by tireless luncheon organizer Ron Young, his talk this past Wednesday just won’t fade into history. The talk covered a bit of Latitude 38’s history, but mostly (except when he lost his train of thought) focused on trends, challenges and opportunities facing the sailing community.
We’ve posted the video below in which, somehow, the Facebook algorithm selected image randomly shows the article we wrote in our 500th issue in February about the Evolution of the Bay’s Waterfront. Be forewarned — if you click on the link below, Mark Zuckerberg will know what you’re watching and you’ll likely be fed more sailing videos and advertising. It could be worse — there are sketchier things to click on. As of this morning 415 people have already wasted a perfectly good hour watching it, including kite and windsurfing videographer Joe Kool and my brother Steve. Thanks guys.
In October the St. Francis schedule also included a talk by Aaron Wangenheim on the Delta Ditch Run; another by Annemarie Scholte on “Victorian Snobbery, Rivalry, the Rise of a Young Nation – Founding America’s Cup”; and Steven Ujifusa speaking on how “19th Century American Dynasties Battled for the Tea and Opium Trades”. Coming up on October 30 are Tom Andrews and Walt Bilofsky, board members of the TI Museum, and Mirian Saez of TIDA on the “Treasure Island Museum — A Tribute to Beauty on San Francisco Bay”. On November 6 they’ll have a Rhode Island doctor and mistress to a mob boss, Barbara Roberts, MD, talking on “Which Matters Most — The Hippocratic or Juror’s Oath?” She’s also a Narragansett Bay J/30 sailor. The luncheon starts at noon and speakers kick in at 12:30. To learn more visit here.
Disclaimer: So as not to tarnish the reputations of the rest of the excellent Latitude 38 crew, we should note the opinions expressed are solely those of the publisher and are subject to change if he ever grows up.
Correction: This story originally said talks were open to members of yacht clubs only but has been updated to say it is open to anyone who wants to attend and get a guest card at the front desk.
Your New Home in Tiburon
Tiburon 2 Bed/1 Bath Condo for Sale: $759,000
Open House This Sunday, October 27, 2-4 p.m.: 10 Andrew Drive #60
- Easy drive to 3 yacht clubs/marinas on the Tiburon Peninsula.
- New paint and carpet.
- Upgraded dual-pane windows, slider.
- Silestone kitchen counters; upgraded drawer fronts & cupboard doors.
- Lots of storage.
- Living room & master bedroom open to a large private deck.
- View of Mt. Tam from master bedroom.
- In-unit high-efficiency washer/dryer.
- 1 reserved carport space w/additional open parking; spacious storage room.
- Large community pool and pleasant pool area.
- Excellent Reed District schools.
- Close to Cove Shopping Center, Blackie’s Pasture, bike path, Ring Mountain trails, Richardson Bay waterfront.
- Convenient location, quick access to 101, bus and shuttle to the Tiburon ferry.
- Must be owner-occupied for at least 2 years.
- Available now. $759,000. Tiburon Hill Estates. HOA dues $482.
View at www.cbone.me/node/1274125
Contact Michelle Steinhart, Coldwell Banker
Michelle.Steinhart@cbnorcal.com, (415) 531-1384
Cal RE #00957034