The 30th Annual Baja Ha-Ha Kicks Off From San Diego
The night before the Baja Ha-Ha Costume Kick-Off Party in San Diego it actually rained. But everything got better from there. Everyone awoke to an increasingly sunny day, so the skippers’ meeting and party went off without a hitch.
The hundreds of cruisers sailing south on the 131 signed-up boats all appeared revved up and ready to go.
This morning dawned a sunny 73 degrees, and the 131 boats of the 30th Baja Ha-Ha were set and ready to cast off. The starting boat was a Bali 40 catamaran supplied by West Coast Multihulls with about 12 guests aboard to give the final send-off and blast the horns and wave to the passing fleet as they headed south.
You can follow the the 30th Baja Ha-Ha fleet as they make their way south, here.
Also see the full list of registered boats here.
And … more photos here:
Sailing Photographer Louis Kruk Is Finalist in 2024 Yacht Racing Image Award
Across his 79 years, West Coast sailor Louis Kruk has spent a lot of time racing yachts all over the world. He was a regular crew member aboard the maxi yacht Kialoa,which campaigned from 1956 to 1989. Alongside his crew duties, Louis would spend his time taking photographs that ended up in various sailing publications, including Latitude 38. This evolved into regular photographic assignments covering major yacht racing events. Two years ago we featured Louis in ‘Lectronic Latitude when one of his images was a finalist in the Mirabaud Yacht Racing Image contest and exhibition. This year Louis has entered the15th edition of the Yacht Racing Image Award, and he is again a finalist.
The photo was captured as Velsheda “seriously buries the bow of the boat while the crew is on the bow actively preparing the spinnaker for deployment” during last month’s J Class World Championships in Barcelona.
“On the day I took my image, Wednesday, October 9, I was accompanied in the RIB photo boat, by just two other photographers, Sharon Green and Jason Ludlow,” Louis tells us. “This is where the waters get muddied a bit. The GBR photographer Jason Ludlow entered an image relatively similar to mine. He curiously cropped his in a 1-2 format, while mine is the customary 2-3. Jason used a shutter speed of 1/1000, mine, hoping to freeze/detail the motion of the splashing of the water…1/3200.”
Louis is one of only three US photographers to reach the Yacht Racing Image Award finals, the other two being Meredith Rogers and Phil Uhl.
Winners are awarded across three categories: Yacht Racing Image Award (main prize), selected by an international jury; Public Award, selected by the number of votes on the internet; and Yacht Racing Forum Award, based on the votes of delegates attending World Sailing’s annual conference and those of visitors to METSTRADE (a marine equipment trade show held in Europe each year).
We’re a little late to the party, but you can still vote for Louis’s photo until November 12. Vote here.
Dream Yacht — More Destinations, More Choice
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The Moore 24 Biff & Trixie Perpetual Trophy
In the spirit of being more inclusive, Santa Cruz Yacht Club has rebranded the Jack and Jill Regatta as the Mix and Match Bring a Friend Regatta. An enthusiastic turnout of 34 teams, ranging from Santana 22s to a Santa Cruz 50, took up the challenge to sail doublehanded or double-date on September 28. More than 40 women were racing. Everyone was ecstatic to see so many new racers out on beautiful Monterey Bay.
Since 1987, the Moore 24 Biff & Trixie Perpetual Trophy has been coveted by many, won by few. Chris Watts has won it the most times. He graciously donated this new version after the original trophy collapsed under the weight of memorabilia history.
SCYC gave the Moore 24s a separate division start. The race was part of the 2024 Doublehanded Moore 24 Roadmaster Series. Nine doublehanded Moores and one Family/Friends Moore competed in challenging, shifty, light winds on the 7.29-mile course.
Chris Watts and Karen Loutenzheiser had the best start on Watts Moore…, and they led the first lap. It looked like another easy repeat winning performance, like they had in 2022 and 2023. Mackenzie Cook and I had fun chasing them down on Nobody’s Girl. We eventually passed them on the second lap, with a few favorable wind shifts, avoiding kelp. Mackenzie did an absolutely amazing job calling tactics and trimming our very old sails to maximize mojo for us to finish first with a surprisingly substantial lead.
Seven of the teams had won the race in the past and were looking to take home the perpetual trophy. Peter Phelan invited Kaylan Kelson for her first race on a Moore to finish third on Ngellew Fejj. Hilary Hill sailed brilliantly with her dad Scott Walecka on Adios, finishing fourth.
Beau Vrolyk graciously lent Scarlet to Burleigh Charlton and Marina Fennel. They had a great comeback after an OCS [over early at the start] to finish fifth. Peter Schoen sailed a tight race with Betsy Weller on Mooretician, finishing sixth. Scott Nelson and Sara S. on Lowly Worm 2.0 in seventh had never sailed together before. Finishing eighth were Matt Dini and Margaret Kroll on Penguin.
Greg Hood finished second in the Friends Foursome division on UnMoore’d — he had so many new friends that wanted to race with him. Tom Lewin and his 7-year-old son Max did an outstanding job, winning the Family/Spinnaker Division on Philippe Kahn’s J/100 Pegasus. (See complete results here.)
A special shout-out to PRO Bob DeWitt, regatta chair Kris North, scorer Hilarie DeGroot, Kelli and Dan Cook for the appetizers, and all of the other wonderful volunteers who made this event such an epic success. Every team received a trophy or a prize in recognition of their accomplishment of sailing outside of their comfort zone. I encourage all of you to take a friend or your family out sailing soon. It really is a simple pleasure that can be quite transformative!
Readers — Check out the Racing Sheet report on this regatta in the November issue of Latitude 38. — ed.
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Where Are the Sailing Films at the Ocean Film Festival?
If you love sailing and the sea, the annual Ocean Film Festival at Fort Mason in San Francisco is a great event at which you can watch wildlife, surfing, scuba diving and many other aspects of the oceans. But it always feels short on sailing. We just want to put that out there to all the sailing videographers, so they can submit their films for consideration before the December 31 deadline.
The Ocean Film Festival asked us to spread the word to all the ocean-lovers we know. To us, that means sailors. The 22nd Annual International Ocean Film Festival will run from April 11-13, 2025, at the Cowell Theater, Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture in San Francisco.
One of our favorite films last year was Blue Whales: Return of the Giants, with most of it filmed in the Sea of Cortez.
The festival says they consider films of all genres focusing on the many varied aspects of the big, blue ocean. Competitive award categories include Animation, Conservation, Coastal and Island Cultures, DEI, Environment, Female Filmmaker, Golden Gate (recognition of a local Bay Area filmmaker), Marine Life, Ocean Sports, Science and Exploration, and Shorts. Do they mean board shorts?
Westwind Yacht Management — Washing, Waxing and Varnishing
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