The Windsurf Wing Slalom Storms the Cityfront
The St. Francis Yacht Club Friday night Windsurf Slalom series adds one more dimension to the Bay Area racing scene. You could argue that sailing has always been two-dimensional, with boats moving left and right on the surface of the water. With the addition of foils there’s now a third dimension, and, with the addition of wing foiling boards, there’s a new way to foil. Chris Ray sent in some shots of last Friday’s action, which started off the beach at Crissy Field in San Francisco, running a unique course adapted to wing-foiling slalom racing.
The first-ever 2021 one-race-per-month summer series ended this past Friday, with Stefaans Viljoen taking first place in the Wing Sail division and David Wells taking first in the Windsurf division. You can see complete results here.
Given the ever-increasing number of wings and foils on the Bay, we only expect it to get more crowded and competitive as course, wings, foils and sailors all sharpen their blades and their skills.
September’s Caption Contest(!)
Welcome to September’s Caption Contest(!). And we say a big “thank you” to Allyn Schafer for sharing this excellent shot that he captured right here on the Bay.
Remember to check out September’s Latitude 38 for last month’s winning and top ten comments.
Skippers Wanted: US Coast Guard-Licensed Captains for Charters and Private Lessons
Wanted: US Coast Guard-licensed captains for charters and private lessons. For power & sail. Hourly rate from $50 up. Weekend and weekday work available.
1160 Brickyard Cove Road, Suite 21, Richmond, California 94801 • (510) 236-2633 • [email protected]
The New Crew List — Live and Online
The recent Crew List Party at the Bay Model in Sausalito may have been one of the largest in its 40-plus-year history, and was held to do what it’s always done: connect prospective crew members with prospective skippers. It was large because so many people want to go sailing.
It was also a chance to announce the launch of our redesigned, new online Crew List page, which is the digital version of making connections at a Crew List Party. Not everyone can make the party, and we can’t party all the time, so getting your skipper or crew information entered in the Crew List is the next best thing.
You’ll find categories for both skippers and crew who want to daysail on the Bay, race on the Bay, cruise the coast, cruise Mexico, or just sail any style and anywhere.
When you enter your information you can add photos of yourself or your boat and include information on your sailing résumé. Don’t worry if your sailing résumé is a bit thin — there are loads of people who want to share sailing and help you add more miles to your sailing experience. As always, honesty is the best policy.
The recent boom in the boat market has meant lots of boat sales, and many buyers are new sailors looking for new crew. We’ve got a story in our upcoming October issue on a young woman who took an oceanography course in college just over five years ago; she crewed in the Transpac race this summer and now has her own boat on which she’s planning to do the next Transpac in 2023. Once you jump in, things can move quickly!
Speaking of the crew lists and parties, last Wednesday we wrote that we would draw names from the lists of sailors who signed up on the new Crew List page before 8 p.m. that night, and we have some winners to announce.
Congratulations to Cherie Meyer, Doug Moler, and Ron Kopito who have each won a Latitude 38 hat!
If you’re a skipper and want some folks to help share the work and the pleasures of sailing the Bay or sailing over the horizon, we particularly urge you to add your name. The crew list is there to help owners of boats that sit too idle for too long because they can’t find crew. The primary shortage in the Bay Area isn’t boats, breeze or sunny sailing days — it’s time. Time to find and organize a crew. The crew list can’t solve all these problems, but we think it will save you some precious time and help everyone sail more.
Add your name to the list and see where it takes you.
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Coastal Cleanup Coming to a Community Near You
Last year’s California Coastal Cleanup Day became a COVID-safer DIY Coastal Cleanup month. (Volunteers were invited to go out and pick up trash in their own area every or any Saturday in September.) This year is looking more like pre-pandemic years, with Cleanup Day on Saturday, September 18, in addition to a month-long push. “We’re hiking out to preserve the Bay we love, by spending a few hours volunteering in this year’s cleanup effort,” writes Ros de Vries of Island Yacht Club.
Treasure Island
“Island Yacht Club is joining forces with the Sailing Science Center, the Treasure Island Yacht Club, the Treasure Island Sailing Center, One Treasure Island, the Stanford Sailing Team and the Cal Sailing Team,” advises Ros.
“We will be meeting on Treasure Island and cleaning up from 9:30 a.m. to noon. The Sailing Science Center will provide gloves, trash bags and water to people who have signed up. Volunteers are welcome to enjoy lunch together at Aracely Cafe afterward. Be ready to get some light exercise and meet new friends!” Sign up here.
South Bay
“The historic South Bay Yacht Club of San Jose/Alviso is ready to remove the last of our 1960s-era rotten docks,” writes Dean McCully. “After almost five decades of faithful service from the old docks, it’s time to let the old docks retire and head off to their final resting place (at the bottom of the San Jose dump). So on Saturday, September 18, 9 a.m.-noon, Coastal Cleanup Day, we are gathering a big team of volunteers to chop up the old docks, then haul them out of the marsh for disposal. We need at least 50 volunteers to tear the old docks out. It should only take a couple of hours, so we expect to be finished by noon-ish.”
A BBQ lunch will follow the labor for the hard-working volunteers. Find more info and maps and RSVP here: http://www.regathon.com/habitat.
Learn about the history of South Bay YC here: https://sites.google.com/site/sbycalviso/history.
California Delta
Although not strictly “the Coast,” the California Delta is an estuary that feeds into San Francisco Bay. The farther upstream we can catch the trash the better. Many locations are available for the Delta Waterway Cleanup from 9 a.m. to noon. They include:
- Sacramento County – Sacramento River Front Promenade and Levee near Tower Bridge
- Yolo County – Broderick Boat Ramp in West Sacramento
- San Joaquin County – Buckley Cove in Stockton
- Solano County – Sacramento River levee near Helen Madere Memorial Bridge in Rio Vista
- Contra Costa County – Bethel Island
Register online for yourself or your group.
And Many More …
Cleanup sites abound throughout California. Find a site near you and check county COVID guidelines here: https://www.coastal.ca.gov/publiced/ccd/ccd.html. Not in California? Coastal Cleanup Day is actually international. Learn more here.