Master Mariners Toast the Past — and Prepare for the Start Line
The Master Mariners Benevolent Association gathered on Friday, May 16, at the St. Francis Yacht Club for its annual Sponsors and Skippers Luncheon — an event that honors the individuals and organizations supporting the preservation of traditional sailing vessels on San Francisco Bay.
Continuing a long-standing tradition, the luncheon included the ceremonial presentation of sponsor flags to participating regatta skippers. Jim Cullen’s 47-foot schooner, Gold Star, was selected to fly the Latitude 38 flag. Gold Star also appears on the official 2025 Master Mariners merchandise.
A special moment during the luncheon was the presentation of lifetime membership to Randall von Wedel, recognizing his decades-long commitment to wooden boat sailing. Commodore Hans List made the presentation.
“I have enjoyed many Master Mariners events over the last 45 years,” von Wedel said, “starting with the annual regatta of 1980 aboard my Hurricane #8 — Gene Buck’s former Mahalo. We proudly sailed her with the original Egyptian cotton mainsail crafted by Pete Sutter.”
The 2025 Master Mariners Regatta is set for Saturday, May 24, with classic vessels racing across San Francisco Bay, followed by an awards dinner at the Encinal Yacht Club in Alameda.
The season continues with the Master Mariners Wooden Boat Show on Sunday, June 15, at the Corinthian Yacht Club in Tiburon. The day offers a unique opportunity to tour an impressive collection of classic boats and meet the people who maintain them. Admission is $20, and it’s open to the public
For full event details, visit sfmastermariners.org.
Join the Crew and Become a ‘Latitude 38’ Delivery Driver
Do you have one day a month to spare? Would you enjoy “hitting the road and the docks,” chatting with people along the way about sailing and boats — and getting paid for the pleasure? We’re looking for a driver to deliver our fresh-off-the-press monthly issues to our distributors. Imagine delivering these bundles of joy to sailors throughout the Bay Area. You will become everyone’s new best friend!
This particular vacancy is for the “S.F. Peninsula” route, which, after you’ve picked up your magazines in Mill Valley, starts at the Presidio and ends in Redwood City. We provide the vehicle. To apply, send your résumé and cover letter with sailing experience by email to Penny with “Latitude Driver” in the subject line. Please, no phone calls!
Latitude editor Tim Henry has done the East Bay delivery route a few times, and he always has a blast. Bringing the magazines to sailing businesses, marinas, chandleries, and other locations is an adventure — “dropping stacks of Latitude affords me the opportunity to explore the many nooks and crannies of the Bay’s shore that I’ve driven past a gazillion times, but rarely get out of my car and visit.”
Here’s a chance to get on board with the Bay Area’s favorite sailing magazine. And here are the contact details:
To apply, send your résumé and cover letter with sailing experience by email to [email protected] with “Latitude Driver” in the subject line. Please, no phone calls!
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Good Jibes #192: Cole Brauer on Learning to Sail around the World — Part 1
This week we chat with Cole Brauer about learning to sail around the world. During the Global Solo Challenge 2023–2024, Cole became the first woman from the US to race singlehanded around the world nonstop and unassisted, and also set a new around-the-world speed record for Class 40.
Tune in as Cole chats with Good Jibes host John Arndt and shares the story of her life-changing first offshore race, how she fell in love with sailing, the doors that open thanks to beer can racing, how to get yourself on more boats, and the best way to learn everything you need to know about sailing.
Here’s a sample of what you’ll hear in this episode:
- How Latitude 38 helped Cole get into the Pacific Cup
- How did Cole go from dinghy sailing to yacht sailing?
- Cole’s first-ever offshore experience in Hawaii
- Why yacht clubs are more welcoming than you may think
- Cole’s most demanding mentor
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!
Learn more about Cole on Instagram @ColeBrauerOceanRacing
‘Bayesian’ Salvage Underway While Investigations Continue
Earlier this month we reported that operations to salvage the superyacht Bayesian were scheduled to begin. The 184-ft Perini Navi sloop sank in August 2024 while anchored off Porticello, Sicily. Seven people died including the yacht’s owner and his 18-year-old daughter. This week, The Maritime Executive reported that salvors have now raised the vessel’s boom and plan to salvage the rest of the rigging, then “parbuckle the wreck and raise it out of the water.”
The aim of the salvage operation is to find evidence of why the vessel sank. A report shared by SNP Ship Management Private Limited indicates the vessel’s extra-tall mast may have been a large factor in its sudden knockdown during the storm. “The vessel did not experience flooding until after the force of the wind on the bare mast heeled Bayesian over far enough for water to come flooding in over the rail — not through a side door nearer the waterline, a scenario proposed by the vessel’s builder,” the report said. The operation is both time-consuming and dangerous. On May 9, a Dutch commercial diver died while attempting to remove Bayesian’s boom with a cutting torch. This incident is now also under investigation.
Bayesian sank in 165 feet of water after being hit by strong winds, with some reports suggesting a waterspout. Investigations by the UK Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) have collected physical and documentary evidence about the yacht and the weather conditions on the night of the sinking. A team at the University of Southampton’s Wolfson Unit for Marine Technology has been engaged to analyze the data.
The MAIB concluded that, based on Bayesian’s design and configuration at the time of the incident, “[T]he vessel would have been vulnerable to capsizing when exposed to wind gusts of as little as 63 knots on the beam.”
Simulations of the conditions confirmed that a mesocyclonic supercell had passed over the area with possible surface wind speeds above 87 knots. It was also found that the mast itself, the tallest aluminum mast in the world, “accounted for about 50 percent of the total wind heeling moment on the vessel.”
The ship heeled over in less than 15 seconds. The MAIB investigations determined that “[I]n the assumed loss condition, once Bayesian heeled over to an angle greater than 70.6° (the angle of vanishing stability) there was no chance of a return to an even keel.”
The Bayesian crew are currently under a criminal investigation.
2025 BVI Spring Regatta Delivers Again
“This year’s BVI Spring Regatta brought something different — wind!” smiled Ron Boehm, owner/skipper of Little Wing, his Perry Antrim 52 cat. “Little Wing likes wind; this year we added a new North jib and a Neil Pryde code 0 to our wardrobe; we were anxious to see how they worked.”
Boehm, a long-time I-14 sailor from Santa Barbara, keeps Little Wing in St. Croix and races her regularly over the winter in Caribbean regattas. At BVI Spring Regatta this year, Little Wing finished second in the Cruising Multihull class, beaten by longtime rival from the Dominican Republic, La Novia, a Leopard 50 that swept the class with all bullets.
“Over the weekend, we used just the new jib and a single reef, and we traded line honors with La Novia; over 30-40 races in the last four years, the two boats have proven to be fairly close to even, although Little Wing owes La Novia a significant amount of time!” Boehm noted. “The BVI Spring Regatta, with its round-the-island formats, great parties, and enough time to visit both new and familiar anchorages and snorkeling sites, is the Little Wing crew’s favorite Caribbean regatta.”
BVI Spring Regatta welcomed some 80+ boats, including a 10-strong VX One fleet, which duked it out on three courses, taking in the stunning BVI islands as marks and rounding points. The earlier part of the weeklong event highlights the Sailing Festival, which includes the Round Tortola Race and Scrub Island Invitational, followed by the three-day Spring Regatta. The breeze this year was all-consuming with a solid 25-30 knots+, abating on Saturday and Sunday to a solid 20+. Carnage ensued for sure, but sailors by definition love breeze, and the epic post-race parties served to temper the high energy necessary to make good on the racecourse.
Racing BVI Spring Regatta for the first time this year was a group who sail out of Marina del Rey in Los Angeles. Calling themselves Team Phoenix in consideration of friends and family who lost so much in the L.A. fires earlier this year, and racing on a chartered Harmony 52, they enjoyed the warm turquoise waters and friendly atmosphere at Nanny Cay Resort & Marina, which offered a much-needed respite from a devastating winter.
Don’t Miss the Master Mariners Regatta May 24
