Richmond YC Races Women’s Sailing Champions League Final in Germany
From August 7 through 9, a team of four sailors from Richmond Yacht Club (RYC) represented their club, the West Coast and the United States at the Women’s Sailing Champions League Final in Kiel, northern Germany.
Kiel is one of the sailing capitals of Europe and the world; its official slogan is “Kiel: Sailing City.” The regatta was hosted by Kieler Yacht Club (KYC), and sailed on the Kieler Fjord in J/70s. Richmond YC, the sole American team competing, was represented by Julia Paxton (skipper), Renee Corpuz-Lahne, Katie Cornetta and Kathryn Dipple.
The Sailing League format is wildly popular and successful in Europe, having taken off in the past decade-plus. The teams sail short-course races (generally 10 to 20 minutes) in flights, meaning that not all of the boats in the regatta are racing at once. While it is a fleet-racing format, it naturally brings in elements of team and match racing.
The original concept was to give sailing a format similar to that of European soccer, with national leagues for sailing, promotion and relegation between divisions, and an international competition for the top qualified teams from each country.
The format was first popularized in Germany, and the soccer-inspired branding can be seen in how the names of the leagues mirror those of the European soccer leagues. For example, the first division of German soccer is the Bundesliga, and the second division is the 2. Bundesliga. The top continental club soccer competition in Europe is the “Champions League.” The sailing equivalent in Germany is the Segelbundesliga (sailing Bundesliga) and 2. Segelbundesliga (second Sailing Bundesliga), and the international competitions are the “Sailing Champions League” and “Women’s Sailing Champions League.”
The format has started to catch on with clubs on the West Coast of the United States, in no small part thanks to St. Francis Yacht Club racing director Felix Weidling, who is originally from Kiel. For the past several years, StFYC has hosted a Sailing League qualifier. The 2026 edition, covered in the July issue of Latitude, saw RYC win a berth at the Women’s Sailing Champions League Final, and San Francisco Yacht Club winning a berth at the Sailing Champions League final in October (also in Kiel).
In the Women’s Final, the RYC gave a strong account of themselves against the European clubs. The team from Richmond sailed in 12 races, each featuring six boats, and won two of them while finishing second in three others. Their final tally was 40 points, good for seventh out of 18 teams competing.
The regatta was won by Germany’s Hamburger Segel-Club (Hamburg Sailing Club), narrowly edging Oslo’s Konelig Norsk Seilforening (Royal Norwegian Yacht Club) by one point. German clubs were dominant in the regatta, with six of the top 10 finishers being German.
The format is continually growing in popularity in the US, with SFYC also hosting regattas in the format. SFYC’s team in the Youth Sailing Champions League Final in fall 2025 came one race away from winning that event, narrowly finishing behind Hamburg’s Norddeutscher Regatta Verein (Northern German Regatta Club). Now that the RYC team has continued the positive trend of West Coast teams competing in the format in Europe, we look forward to seeing how the format continues to grow in the US.
You can find the full results from the Women’s Sailing Champions League Final here.
Celebrate the Newly Reconstructed Docks and Recent Dredging at Berkeley Marina
Celebrate the newly reconstructed D & E docks and the recent dredging of the Berkeley Marina at the Berkeley Waterfront Showcase on Saturday, August 29, 10:30 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. at Doubletree Patio, Berkeley Marina.
The City of Berkeley has completed a multimillion-dollar replacement of Docks D & E, replacing the last remaining original dock system from the 1970s. The new docks feature a new entrance, gangway and concrete dock system consisting of 79 new slips for 35- to 46-ft boats.
The docks are serviced by all-new utilities including a new potable water system, 30- and 50-amp electrical hookups at each slip, and a new fire suppression system.
Important ADA improvements were incorporated into the new dock design. Recent improvements have made the Marina more accessible and reliable. The new docks have ADA slips and an accessible gangway. Nearby restrooms also received accessible upgrades.
During the event, you can:
• Attend the ribbon cutting ceremony for the following completed projects:
o D & E Docks
o Marina Dredging
o Electric vehicle charging stations at the Doubletree Hotel
• Take a guided tour of the D & E docks
• Learn about boater amenities and how to rent a slip at the Berkeley Marina
• Meet the waterfront community and take a peek inside their boats
• Bring kids to the Kids Zone for playtime and Bay-themed arts and crafts
• Enjoy light refreshments provided by the Doubletree Hotel
Meet at the patio of the Doubletree Hotel at 200 Marina Boulevard.
The upgraded infrastructure is an important asset to Berkeley and its waterfront community, serving boaters for decades to come.
Getting to the Berkeley Waterfront:
By Car — Park for free at the D & E parking lot along Spinnaker Way.
By Boat — Free four-hour day slips available on a first-come, first-served basis. Contact the
Berkeley Marina Office at (510) 981-6740 or [email protected] to check availability or ask about accessibility.
By Bicycle — A Bay Wheels/Lyft bike rack is available for bikeshare dropoff and pickup at the J and K parking lot on University Avenue.
By Bus — The Doubletree Hotel can also be reached by bus via AC Transit Line 51B. The hotel is a seven-minute walk from the University Avenue and Marina Boulevard bus stop.
Dock Your Boat! Live Your Dream!
San Juan Island YC Hosts Shaw Island Classic
The Shaw Island Classic, hosted by the San Juan Island Yacht Club, is notorious for light winds, strong currents and obstacles such as rocks, reefs and ferries. Luckily the scenery is gorgeous, and racers love a challenge, which makes this race a fun day on the water.
Saturday, August 8, was another glorious summer day in the Pacific Northwest for this unique race that starts and ends in Friday Harbor, rounding Shaw Island in either direction, with a mid-course boat recording times in case no one finishes the full course.
Light southerly winds at noon made for a pileup at the start, with some boats drifting backward over the line. “The start was pretty drifty, but out past Turn Island the sailing was great, allowing us to carry the chute all the way into Wasp Passage,” said Bill Symes, skipper of Starfire, a Blanchard Senior Knockabout placing first in the PHRF-D division.
After clearing the harbor, most of the 38 boats in the fleet attempted a counterclockwise course, betting there was enough wind to make it to Turn Island and through the roiling currents there, then catch the flood in Upright Channel.
This bet paid off, and the counterclockwise boats stretched out in Upright Channel on a flood current, with spinnakers swelling like giant, colorful balloons on a steady southerly blow until reaching the “hole” at Hankin Point.
Stephanie Campbell, skipper of Wild Rumpus, a Santa Cruz 27 placing first in the PHRF-B division and first overall on corrected time, described the “…high of escaping the starting-area mayhem and breaking free into great breeze, and then the low of getting stuck in a hole on the Shaw Island shore [Hankin Point] before … a nice easy kite run down Cayou Channel.”
Campbell added that after making it through narrow, rocky Wasp Passage, “…[We] turned the corner and saw that the lead clockwise boat, Boomer, was coming in hot with their kite up, and giving it everything they had at the finish! We really just wanted to cross the line in front of them, regardless of how the numbers worked out.” Boomer, a Martin 242 skippered by Chris White, placed first in the PHRF-C division.
The Shaw Island Classic uses ratings to allow different models and sizes of boats to compete fairly against each other. A slower boat can win on corrected time even if a faster boat crosses the finish line first, meaning the racing advantage can shift quickly.
This dynamic played out dramatically in the Multihull division, with Sunrise, a Hobie Cat 16, racing against Kelòna, a F-32SR. Kelòna, skippered by Nige Oswald, finished first on elapsed time in 2:48:05, but second in the Multihull division on corrected time.
The Shaw Island racers know their competition, as most have entered this race for many years, and in some cases, over multiple generations. Our younger sailors were showing their skills this year, particularly in the Multihull division, with crew from the Friday Harbor High School sailing team rising to the challenge of a tricky course with variable winds.
“Around Shaw was the last time I sailed Sunrise before I leave to start my first year of college, and though I am very sad, it also feels like almost the perfect send-off. So many of the boats I sailed against consisted of my friends, coaches, teammates, mentors and competitors from previous races,” said Else Ranker, skipper of Sunrise. They placed first in the Multihull division on corrected time.
The Perseverance Award, honoring Wally Lum, who has sailed in every Shaw Island Classic, goes to the last boat to cross the finish line before the deadline, and comes with a bottle of champagne. This year’s winner was Juans 2B, a San Juan 21 skippered by Paul Von Stubbe.
Spirits were high as racers gathered at the SJIYC clubhouse overlooking the harbor for post-race banter and a hearty lasagna dinner served by the first mates. “It was a great, fun day with friends and sunshine, and we were really grateful that it worked out in our favor at the end,” added Stephanie Campbell.
Complete results and photos are posted at the club’s website at http://sjiyc.com/shaw
Cruising the Bay for a Good Meal
The Bay is a fabulous place to sail, but unlike in many parts of the world, the idea of cruising or going for a day trip to a destination can be more challenging. It’s hard to find a guest dock, and also hard to find legal anchorages. When you do anchor, there aren’t many welcoming places to tie up a dinghy. However, the obstacles don’t make it impossible. We’ve tried to keep the Boat-In Dining page on our website updated, most often with the help of readers who let us know of changes.
Reader Tyler Backman, who sails his Wyliecat 30 Sylkye and his Sage 17 Goshawk, let us know of some more updates. He passed along that both Assemble Restaurant and Black Star Pirate BBQ in Richmond have closed permanently. The Black Star Pirate BBQ location has now been replaced by a new restaurant called Sailing Goat. He added, “However, I think it should be marked with a (!) for ‘watch your depth.’ The marina [where] it is located, Point San Pablo Harbor, is completely silted in and all vessels sit on exposed mud at low tide, so many sailboats can only go there briefly during really high tides.”
He also let us know that the famed Trident Restaurant on Bridgeway in Sausalito has closed. Part of the restaurant’s history is its former celebrity patrons, which included the Rolling Stones, Joan Baez, Clint Eastwood, Jerry Garcia and Janis Joplin (and likely many more). Richardson Bay off Sausalito has been cleared of permanent anchor-outs, but it does still allow anchoring for up to 72 hours, making it a good destination for local cruisers or those passing through. You can see the designated anchoring area on the chart here.
San Francisco, Jack London Square in Oakland, Treasure Island and Redwood City continue to have good spots to dine not far from the shore. Finding good places to anchor or tie up can be a challenge in the Bay Area, but we still think the sailing and cruising are just as good as when Jack London was cruising these waters over 100 years ago.
If you have some suggestions or updates for our Boat-In Dining page, let us know here. Or share some of your favorite Bay Area cruising destinations (which may not be in the Bay) in our comments below.
If you’ve got a boat, why not do some exploring? If someone was passing through from the PacNW on their way to the Ha-Ha, where would you suggest they visit in the Bay Area?
‘Adventure Cat’: Over Three Decades of Charter Sailing on San Francisco Bay
“To me, it’s a love story,” said Pam Simonson, one of the founders of Adventure Cat Sailing Charters, which is celebrating its 35th anniversary this year.
“I started sailing at a young age and fell in love with it. I liked the idea of being on the water — the wind in my hair and going fast. When I met Jay on one of our early dates, I said, ‘Let’s go sailing.'” Jay Gardner quickly fell for both Pam and sailing. Years later, after racing beneath the Golden Gate Bridge, Jay remembers stepping ashore and thinking, “That’s so much fun. I wish there was a way to share that.”
An idea took shape over breakfast aboard Pam and Jay’s liveaboard boat Ingwe in the mid-1980s. Along with friend and future partner Hans Corfin, they began sketching out a business. With no commercially available boat that fit their vision or budget, the partners built their own. “I said something to the effect of, ‘We should build a big catamaran.’
“And Hans, bless him, made the mistake of saying, ‘Yeah, we ought to.’ He didn’t pooh-pooh the idea.” Retired naval officer and business professor Chris Christensen later helped the trio refine the concept into a workable business plan.
Financing proved far more difficult. Banks, the Small Business Administration and even California energy-efficiency loan programs all turned them down. Instead, Pam and Jay took out a second mortgage on their home and spent 10,000 man-hours over 17 months building Adventure Cat from scratch. Everything except the aluminum mast, backup diesel engines and propellers was built by the partners.
Jay said the partners decided early on to build the boat from scratch rather than convert an existing vessel, as few large domestically built catamarans existed at the time. They adapted a Kurt Hughes Sailing Designs cat already operating on Lake Tahoe, expediting USCG approval as a sister-ship design. A cardboard scale model helped refine the layout before Hughes finalized the plans.
The entire endeavor required tremendous faith. Nobody drew a salary. “The banks all said no. The state of California and their energy-efficiency loans said no. Everybody that we talked to said no. But Pam was the only one that said yes,” Jay said. For him, the business never stopped being a love story.
Latitude 38 Baja Ha-Ha Fall Crew Party — Get Your Tickets Now
