2025 Season Champs Features Extra: YRA Doublehanded Non-Spinnaker

With the February 2026 edition of Latitude 38 out now, the “Season Champs” feature is officially wrapped up. We received so many submissions from the winners of different fleets this year that we didn’t have room for all of them in the print magazine, so over the next few weeks we will be posting in ‘Lectronic Latitude the submissions that we couldn’t fit into the magazine. Today we are focusing on Jim Carlsen, who won the YRA Doublehanded Series Non-Spinnaker Division in his S&S 30 Free.

“After an inauspicious start to the YRA Doublehanded Non-Spinnaker Division with a first race recording of a DNF due to an equipment failure, Free was able to recover and follow up with four bullets to win the season. There are numerous reasons for our success; the first and most important was my crew, Jim Bilafer. Jim runs the boat, trimming, calling tactics, and keeping Free in the ‘groove.’ My contribution is to steer and go where I’m told.

“Our best race was, by far, the Bonita Blitz. Perfect conditions and Jim’s knowledge of working the Marin shore proved to be a winning combination. Also, big contributors to our winning season were our sails, designed and built by David Hodges of Ullman Sails in Santa Cruz, and our rigging and tuning by Scott Easom in Point Richmond.”

“If you haven’t tried the YRA Doublehanded Series, either Spinnaker or Non-Spinnaker Division, you owe it to yourself to come out. The YRA does an excellent job with great race committee work and really interesting and challenging courses.”

You can read the final print edition of the “Season Champs” feature in the February Latitude 38, and you can find the first two parts of the 2025 “Season Champions” features in the December and January issues.