Sausalito Boat Show Starts Friday — See You There!
We’re looking forward to seeing you at the Sausalito Boat Show, which runs this Friday through Sunday at Clipper Yacht Harbor. We’ll be there to meet and chat with our readers, and hand out the new October issue of Latitude 38 (there’s nothing like the real thing!). We’re also looking forward to checking out new sailboats from Beneteau, Bavaria, Lagoon, Dufour, Jeanneau, Excess and Hanse. Besides sailing on the Bay, Sausalito will likely be one of the coolest places to be on the warm weekend ahead.
Latitude 38 will be in booth 105 alongside many other Bay Area marine vendors, including our friends at Compass Canvas, Helmut’s Marine, Trident Funding and many more that you can find listed here.
The show is more than boats and marine gear. There are four bands scheduled to play, food trucks, and sailors who will be cooling off when you hit the target in the KKMI dunk tank. Warm up your pitching arm! (Psst … scuttlebutt says our own Nicki Bennett will be lining up with the ladies for a dunk on Sunday.)
Just ahead of happy hour at 4 p.m. on Friday, Latitude 38 publisher John Arndt will be speaking about the past, present and future of sailing and Latitude 38. Latitude 38 has shared the stories of amazing West Coast sailors since 1977. John will be sharing some stories of the past plus the start and evolution of Latitude 38 and the challenges and opportunities for sailing. Come to the seminar, then plan to stay for the fun-raising, fundraising charitable happy hour, Waves of Opportunity, running from 5-7 p.m. and sponsored by Helmut’s Marine. There’ll also be seminars covering rigging, engine maintenance, electronics and more, running Friday through Sunday.
A bonus seminar on Sunday is presented by swimmer Amy Appelhans Gubser, who is one of only six people to have swum between the Golden Gate Bridge and the Farallones. She is the first person to have started the swim from the Golden Gate Bridge and headed out to the Farallones. The 55-year-old grandmother from Pacifica did the 30-mile swim this past May in 17 hours, without a wetsuit or shark cage. You can see the full schedule and reserve seats for the seminars here.
Where: Clipper Yacht Harbor, 310 Harbor Drive, near Fish Restaurant, in Sausalito.
When: Show hours are Friday, October 4, and Saturday, October 5, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday, October 6, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
If you’ve been missing the social side of sailing, this is a great place to reconnect with sailors, sailboats, sailing exhibits, and entertainment, all along the shoreline of one of the Bay Area’s most revered nautical waterfronts. You can learn more and buy tickets online here (kids 15 and under are free). We look forward to seeing you at the show.
Good Jibes #159: Brock de Lappe on Cleaning Up the Oakland-Alameda Estuary
This week’s host, John Arndt, is joined by Brock de Lappe to talk about his work in showcasing the beauty of the Oakland-Alameda Estuary once again. Brock is a sailor and racer who served as harbormaster for Alameda Marina and the Oakland Marinas from 2011 until 2022. Following retirement, Brock continues to do part-time marine consulting and remains a strong advocate for the protection of the Oakland-Alameda Estuary.
Hear about Brock’s sailing life, what the life of a harbormaster is like, how we can return the Oakland-Alameda Estuary to its former glory, the biggest issues for marinas today, how to properly deal with boats at the end of their lives, and the time Brock was frozen in ice for three days in Antarctica.
Here’s a sample of what we discuss in the episode:
- What it takes to maintain a marina
- Dealing with unclear jurisdiction
- Raising sunken tugboats
- Fundraising to clean the Estuary
- Life as a harbormaster
- Partnering with CalRecycle
- A harrowing tale at a regatta
Learn more at IHeartOaklandAlamedaEstuary.com.
Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and your other favorite podcast spots — follow and leave a 5-star review if you’re feeling the Good Jibes!
Come See Naos Yachts at the Sausalito Boat Show
INEOS Britannia Takes the Lead in Another Crucial Day of America’s Cup Racing
It has been a “Groundhog Day” series, with each boat winning a race each day until the British broke the logjam in brutal, wave-smashing conditions again in Barcelona. Following a day of carnage in which Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli pulled off a miraculous win after tearing apart their boat with a deep-dive plunge, INEOS Britannia bounced back to take two crucial wins to reach Match Point with a 6-4 lead in a best-of-13 series for the Louis Vuitton Cup.
It came down to just a couple of tiny mistakes by Luna Rossa to swing the pendulum in favor of INEOS Britannia as the Italians lost their rudder, smashing into a particularly massive wave that sent them into a power slide. They had been struggling with a smaller jib through much of the first race.
With the race incredibly even at this point, Luna Rossa went for a tack to the starboard marker and bore away hard at over 50 knots. Shortly after, though, the silver-hulled boat went into a sudden nosedive that brought the boat to an immediate halt.
Onboard cameras caught pieces of fairing around the jib-track area on the port side coming off through the sheer velocity of the impact, and Luna Rossa was forced to go head to wind as they tried to assess the damage. Their race over, the crew were quickly out of their cockpits with helmsman Jimmy Spithill the first on the scene to inspect the damage.
In order to take the win, INEOS Britannia was required to sail on and complete the course. But after two laps, while the British were on the fifth leg, the Italians announced their retirement and Chief Umpire Richard Slater awarded the race win to the British.
Immediately, Luna Rossa’s superb on-water support team and technicians jumped into action and boarded the yacht with reels of carbon fiber sheeting to effect repairs. In the second race, with the gusts up around 23 knots, Luna Rossa made no mistakes up and down the final two legs, covering loosely and flying virtually in a straight line to the finish with a magnificent win, crossing the line 16 seconds ahead!
“The important thing was that the guys were able to effect a repair to allow us to race that second race. It was quite a large open area so it would’ve been a huge performance hit if the guys weren’t able to fix it,” LRPP’s Spithill said. “The team has really been under some pressure a few times now and every time it feels like we’re responding even better.”
Unfortunately for the Italians, the jubilation from yesterday was short-lived as the momentum has flipped back to the Brits, who are in Match Point
The Italians spent the afternoon looking for flatter spots on the water (which were few and far between) to jibe or tack in as the sea state was more than lumpy gravy. It was a “nightmare with the waves,” Ainslie said. “We managed to keep these boats foiling in top-end, difficult conditions.”
Francesco Bruni, Jimmy Spithill’s co-helmsman aboard Luna Rossa, admitted, “We made a little mistake losing the grip on the rudder.” But he continued, “Every race is important. We know how good we are and honestly, I don’t feel any pressure!”
With solid breezes over the past three days of racing in the Louis Vuitton Cup Final, a very different weather scene will be setting in by Friday, so any advantage the British may feel will probably be lost as the Italians now have their back against the wall. To make matters worse, two of the British “wins” were due to breakdowns on Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli.
There is definitely more volume in Britannia, which, compared to the sleek, metallic, silver torpedo-shaped hull of the Italians’ Red Moon makes their boat look more like a destroyer for the “dark side” or a Mississippi River barge. As Sir Ben Ainslie commented, it is “… bloody hard to sail these boats in these waves!”
The day before, which ended with both teams locked at 4-4, the changing conditions had provided a real opportunity to capitalize on any weakness they could exploit. These teams are in extremely evenly matched boats, with only minor variables evident in terms of outright speed on specific legs of the course.
Barcelona is buzzing right now. Fanzones at Plaça del Mar and Bogatell have seen huge crowds passionately cheering for their teams, as around the world fans have been treated to some of the most spectacular racing seen anywhere on the planet, ever.
Yesterday’s top speed, recorded by INEOS Britannia on a bear-away — 55.6 knots — was the fastest recorded speed in an official race in America’s Cup history. When will we see that beaten?
Weird, Unknown Diesel Creature Redux
Readers of my August 14 ‘Lectronic Latitude, Finding a Weird, Unknown Creature Living Inside My Fuel Tank, might want to know what that creature-like “thing” in the photos was that clogged my diesel fuel line.
Was it a real living worm or slug-like creature capable of living on its own in my diesel tank? Or, if not, what was it?
I turned over a small specimen sample of the “thing” to Greg Nelson, a chemist at Peak Analytical, Inc. in Golden, Colorado. Peak is a high-tech operation using technologies like gas chromatography, infrared and electron spectroscopy, and other analytical tools that allow chemical characterization of unknowns followed by identification using library searching against a database of over 200,000 references.
Without getting into the technical woods, here are the results and observations from Peak Analytical:
- The unknown material was received as a viscous/gelatinous semisolid material that, under a stereomicroscope, appeared to be HOMOGENEOUS WITHOUT ORDERED STRUCTURE. Living independent creatures must have a means of ingestion and excretion. The homogeneous specimen did not show such a structure.
- Spectrographic analysis, using a large data base indicated the specimen to be a mixture of organic compounds. Likely an ADHESIVE COMPONENT, OR A SURFACTANT. An adhesive may have slowly failed over time and collected in the filter. Surfactants are chemical additives, designed to reduce the surface tension between two liquids. Another possibility is that certain components of commercial fuel delivery use absorbent polymers which remove harmful fluids, such as water, from fuel.
It appears that “it” was not an independent living entity like a worm or slug.
The original aluminum diesel tank in my sailboat was replaced with a polyurethane tank 30 years ago. One possibility: Adhesive material within the tank became dislodged while motoring into moderate seas, clogging the fuel line.
Or, if the diesel conditioner I used contained a surfactant, its action may have created a congealed gel-like substance that clogged the fuel line.
Do You Have Your Copy of the October Latitude 38?
October’s Latitude 38 is off the press and on the newsstands. Do you have your copy yet? If not, here’s a sample of what’s inside …
Rolex Big Boat Series — Building Thrills
Rather the opposite of last year’s edition, the conditions at the 2024 Rolex Big Boat Series ramped up each of the four days of racing, September 12–15. Thursday was the sunniest day and made for pretty pictures. Saturday was the grayest day — the fog never did lift — and freezing cold. And Sunday was full-on madness with big winds and waves. Crew on the Express 37 Pazzo Express (a maiden RBBS team) noted a gust of 38 knots.
Baja Ha-Ha XXX — Who’s Going? Pt. II
After the successful Latitude 38 Fall Crew List Party and Baja Ha-Ha Mexico Cruising Seminar at Spaulding Marine Center on September 4, the migration of Mexico-bound cruisers continues toward San Diego. More than 120 boats are signed up and heading south with the annual migration of humpbacks and other whale species.
Pre-Marriage Racing Program — Not Recommended for Everyone
Taylor Joosten, a keelboat sailor in Seattle, and her friend JD were fortunate to gain the use of a J/80 for the Sloop Tavern Yacht Club’s Monday night beer can races. They were short a crew for one of the races, so JD brought one of his roommates, David. Taylor assigned him to the middle of the boat, the usual spot for beginners. He politely nodded and smiled as she explained how to launch and gather the spinnaker while they motored to the starting area. Things went wrong during the first takedown as voices were raised and nearby boats screamed for room.
Second Annual Sausalito Boat Show
Last year, history was made in the Bay Area’s saltiest city. In just a few short months, a grassroots coalition of marine businesses came together to put on the inaugural Sausalito Boat Show at Clipper Yacht Harbor. It was a tremendous achievement and an all-around super-fun event. We here at Latitude 38 were thrilled to be shoulder to shoulder with our friends, readers and a public curious about boating at a first event.
What else is featured in this month’s issue?
Letters: The People I’d Like to Thank … [from Tony English]; A Lot to Say About Max Ebb’s “Overdue” from the August Issue; Riding the Free Oakland Estuary Shuttle; and other readers’ letters.
Sightings: Sea Scouts Keep Calm, Sail On; Around Americas’ Voyage Completes Second Leg; The Hannig Cup Raises Money and Spirits; and other stories.
Feature Stories: Rolex Big Boat Series Thrills; Baja Ha-Ha — Who’s Going?; Melges 24 World Championship; Pre-Marriage Racing Program.
Max Ebb: “Scallops on the Bay”
Racing Sheet: Championships (Knarrs, RS Aeros, Stars) are interspersed with local classics (Jazz Cup, three YRA races, SSS Half Moon Bay), rivalries (the Cornerstone Cup and Veeder Cup), and new regattas (the freshman Boss of the Estuary Beer Cans and the sophomore Big Windward Leeward). Box Scores includes results from many beer can series, with more to come next month.
Changes in Latitudes: With reports this month on Noctiluca’s post-Ha-Ha activities; Grace’s trip south for the Lane family’s first extended adventure; the end of an era and passing of the torch for Geja; and some “tasty” Cruise Notes, especially if you’re a shark!
Loose Lips: A wrap-up of September’s Caption Contest(!).
All the latest in sailboats and sailboat gear for sale, Classy Classifieds.
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