‘Sharkey’ Crew Build Family Tradition With the Great Vallejo Race
On May 2 and 3, the two legs of the 2026 Great Vallejo Race were hosted by Vallejo Yacht Club. In what is billed by the hosts as the official start of San Francisco Bay’s summer racing season, 81 boats competed across 19 divisions, a mix of PHRF and one-design racing. Saturday saw boats race from the Berkeley Circle up to Vallejo, and Sunday’s race was a return to the main part of the Bay. (We have a full report in this month’s Latitude 38.) This week (post-printing and -delivery), we received a few photos from Kate Molitor, who co-skippered for the race with Andrea Cabito aboard the J/105 Sharkey.
“We came in first on Saturday,” Kate told us. Sharkey’s crew included four Encinal Yacht Club junior sailors, all of whom are 7 years old!
Overall, Sharkey placed second in her division after losing a tiebreaker to Yellowfin. “… [B]ut we loved getting the chance to introduce our littles to racing and look forward to continuing this new family tradition for years to come,” Kate added.
You can read the full report on this year’s Great Vallejo Race here.
Do You Have Plans To Hoist Your Sails for Summer Sailstice?
What are your sailing plans? It’s just two weeks until the summer solstice starts your summer sailing with the Summer Sailstice celebration. A look at the map shows sailors across the country posting personal plans, events, races and whatever they feel like doing with a sailboat on the weekend of June 20. If you have access to a sailboat, the summer is the time to use it — days are long and the sun is high. Of course, the Bay may be cool and windy, though just right for a brisk sailing adventure.
While Summer Sailstice aims to connect the global world of sailing, it’s really about sailing locally while thinking globally. You see all the ways people sail across the country while you hoist your sails locally. This helps the world “see” sailing in the way most of us do it most of the time. That could be at Shoreline Lake in Mountain View or in the 22-mile King Harbor to Long Beach Race in Southern California.
Summer Sailstice highlights events like the Master Mariners Wooden Boat Show at the Corinthian Yacht Club on Sunday of Summer Sailstice weekend, or Island Yacht Club’s summer Island Nights Friday Night beer can racing. People also post their individual plans like Steve Washburn, who’s planning to sail his Cal 29 Honu to Catalina Island for a three-day birthday celebration for his son.
Remember — it’s all about the sailing. Taking an ILCA (Laser) out on the Bay or at Shoreline Lake in Mountain View is how so many sailors started sailing. Some can’t give it up and are still sailing them today. ILCAs were unveiled at the New York Boat Show in 1971, with about 223,000 of them built since then. ILCAs will be racing at the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028. They’re a great way to start and keep sailing.
The St. Francis Yacht Club will be putting youth sailors to the test as they compete in the annual two-day Junior Heavy Weather Regatta over Summer Sailstice weekend, June 20–21. They’ll be racing in RS Tera (Pro and Sport) and Optimist (Red, White, Blue and Green) fleets in the summer’s high winds along the San Francisco Bay Cityfront. If they can sail, so can you!
Summer sailing starts with Summer Sailstice weekend, and there are many events like those above to join. If you’ve got an event or if just want to sail solo or with friends and family, you can add your plans to the Summer Sailstice map. We can’t all be together, but we can all sail “together” because there’s plenty of room on the Bay and ocean.
There are prizes, and you can order the 2026 burgee, but most of all, don’t be left at the dock on Summer Sailstice. Starting with summer, sailing is habit-forming, and that’s a good thing.
Visit Antioch Marina, the Gateway to the Delta
Larry McCullough Explains How You’re Paying County Property Taxes on Sales Taxes
On page 31 of the current, June, issue of Latitude 38, reader Larry McCullough explains his pursuit of understanding California’s byzantine world of the property taxes paid on boats. His findings, shared below, don’t look good:
I finally received my “Findings of Facts” from the appeals board. I won on the valuation, the penalty and the interest, but I did not win, as expected, on the addition of sales tax being added every year.
For my 2024 assessment hearing, the valuation was lowered quite a bit to where I am supposed to receive over $2,000 back from the County. They reached their decision on December 5 and I still have not received my refund.
The 2023 appeal was much more detailed because it involved the 10% penalty and interest. The County tried three times to delay my hearing and decision; the latest attempt was just last week [in late March] when they emailed me the following: “Because the December 12, 2025 hearing occurred within 180 days of the expiration of the two-year period for your case, Property Tax Rule 325(b) requires a written agreement to extend the two-year period to 180 days.”
We went back and forth, and they told me that I basically had to accept Rule 325(b). I told them that I was away from my home and records but I believe that I checked the box when I filed the appeal two years ago and that I’d check when I get home. The next day, the Findings of Facts (FoF) was in my inbox!
Read the complete Letter here.
Where Do You Get Your Foreign‑Berthed Boat Insurance?
Finding insurance for an old boat can be challenging. Add to the mix a foreign berth and it becomes even trickier. Alec Hansen of Sausalito is buying a (nearly) 60-year-old boat in Italy and is having trouble finding suitable insurance. He wrote to us, hoping the Latitude community brain trust could help him.
I’m a US sailor purchasing a 37-ft 1967 Alpa 11 in Italy (to be berthed in Palermo). This is a classic John Illingworth design, and beautifully maintained. I’m looking for hull and liability insurance suitable for a US resident with a foreign‑berthed vessel, and I’m finding that many US brokers decline due to age, low hull value and Mediterranean navigation. And Italian brokers claim that laws prohibit coverage for US citizens without official Italian residency.
If any readers have insured an older sailboat in Europe while maintaining US residency, I’d love to hear which brokers or underwriters were willing to write the policy, and what coverage structure worked for you.
Cruising area: Italy, Malta, Tunisia, France, possibly Spain and Greece. Hull value: €15,500 [approx. $18,000 USD]. Looking for: €15,500 agreed value hull plus €1M liability.
Any firsthand experience or recommendations would be greatly appreciated! Thank you. — Alec Hansen.
If you can help Alec, let us know in the comments below, or drop us a line at at [email protected] and we’ll connect you.
Registration for the 2027 Transpac Is Now Open
While we’re gearing up for and looking forward to the start of this year’s Pacific Cup race, the Transpacific Yacht Club has announced the 2027 Transpac. This will be the 54th running of the 2,225-mile legendary ocean race that has been held biennially since 1906. Registrations for next year’s race opened on Monday, June 1. Eleven boats are already signed up.
The race will have three starts: July 6, July 8 and July 10, 2027. The staggered start brings fast and slow boats closer together at the finish, meaning spectators and supporters can celebrate all finishers, as well as creating an exciting race to the line for the crews. It also helps the Honolulu team who staff the finish line, greet the boats, handle post-race inspections and state clearance, and host the parties. And with a July 18 full moon, competitors can enjoy a gradual increase of moonlight each night for the bulk of their time racing offshore.
“I know and love this race,” says TPYC commodore Alan Andrews on the race webpage. “I’ve competed in 17 Transpacs to Honolulu and Tahiti, on boats that have ranged from a Cal 40 to the Andrews Magnitude 80.”
Registration is now open for monohull and multihull yachts that meet the requirements in the NOR, including US Sailing’s Safety Equipment Requirements (SER) for ocean races — vessels must be completely self-sufficient for extended periods of time, capable of withstanding heavy storms, and prepared to meet serious emergencies without the expectation of outside assistance.
New for Transpac 2027 is an Open Monohull Division for monohulls with more vertical lift than ORR allows, up to fully foiling, provided they meet the other monohull requirements, such as US Sailing’s SER stability and construction requirements. Open Monohulls are eligible for the Barn Door, fastest monohull elapsed time and monohull course record trophies.
“Transpac is one of the best offshore races in the world. A race toward the tropics with trade-wind sailing near the finish and a special Hawaiian Aloha welcome awaiting is a sublime experience, and TPYC and all of its volunteers look to build on 120 years of experience to make this Transpac even better,” Andrews adds.
Important Dates:
Standard entry fee deadline | March 5, 2027
Late entry fee deadline | May 28, 2027
Initial inspection deadline | June 4, 2027
Rating data due | June 11, 2027
Person in Charge Meeting and Aloha Send-Off Party | July 3, 2027
First Start | July 6, 2027
Second Start | July 8, 2027
Third Start | July 10, 2027
For more information or to register, visit http://transpacyc.com.
First organized by the Transpacific Yacht Club (TPYC) in 1906, the Transpacific Yacht Race or Transpac is an offshore sailing race from Point Fermin in Los Angeles to Diamond Head, just east of Honolulu, a distance of 2,225 miles. This is among the world’s great ocean races, and biennially attracts some of the world’s fastest sailing yachts, some of its most talented offshore racing sailors and a wide variety of offshore sailing adventurers.
Westwind Yacht Management — Washing, Waxing and Varnishing
Westwind Yacht Management: Premiere Yacht & Fleet services for the San Francisco Bay Area.