Monterey Peninsula Yacht Club Hosts 2026 Mercury Nationals
Last weekend, Monterey Peninsula Yacht Club hosted the 2026 Mercury Nationals. Jack McAleer shares his account:
Race One
Eleven boats completed the opening race. Ben Mitchell and Scott Easom won by a comfortable margin, a result that reflected the benefit of their practice session the previous day. Dave Morris and Patrick Whitmarsh finished second, just ahead of Randy Hecht and John Buestad.
Race Two
As the northwest breeze built over a moderate west-northwest swell, the conditions began to take a toll. At the start of Race Two, the rudder on #541 failed, forcing Mitchell and Easom to accept a tow back to the harbor. Morris and Whitmarsh were next to retire when their mast broke right above the deck at the beginning of the second weather leg.
Dave West and Chris Krueger won Race Two. Christopher Gould and his son followed, with Hecht and Buestad taking third.
Race Three
Although the wind and swell had increased, conditions remained moderate as the nine remaining Mercurys prepared for Race Three. Principal Race Officer Dick Clark selected a longer course with three windward legs; the first two were followed by a leeward gate, and the final leg by a run to the finish.
By the time the leaders began the third windward leg, gusts had risen above 15 knots, and the swell had reached heights not commonly encountered by Mercury sailors. Four of the nine boats headed for the harbor, and the course was shortened to finish at the end of the third weather leg.
Two of the five top finishers represented the Silver Fleet.
The second day brought sunny skies, a decreasing swell and a northwest breeze that peaked at about 10 knots. Nine Mercurys returned for the final two races, including #504, sailed by Morris and Whitmarsh with a replacement mast.
West and Krueger led the standings with nine points, followed by Dair and Ibold with 11.
Race Four
Spread evenly across the starting line, the fleet began a two-lap windward-leeward course. Near the finish, Dair placed a tight cover on West, allowing Morris to pass. Dair finished first and West third, leaving the two boats tied atop the standings going into the final race.
Race Five and Final Results
The championship leaders kept their distance during the prestart. In the final seconds, Dair approached the committee-boat end of the line while West was nearest the pin. After the starting signal, the race committee displayed the X flag and hailed West as OCS.
Dair and Ibold finished second, while West and Krueger placed fifth. The result gave Dair and Ibold the championship by three points.
Overall Championship
- Greg Dair and Kaelyn Ibold
- Dave West and Chris Krueger
- Christopher Gould and son
Silver Fleet
- Chris Davis and Frank Volker
- Tom and Katy Priest
The Jack & Jill Trophy went to Greg Dair and Kaelyn Ibold.
Many thanks to Principal Race Officer Dick Clark and the Monterey Peninsula Yacht Club team.
Santa Cruz Sea Lion Joins Race Crew
It appears just about anyone, or any being, can get a spot on a race boat in Santa Cruz. Joe Altmann and his crew were at the start line when a sea lion jumped onto the stern platform and stayed there for the whole race, “much to the amusement of everyone.”
Susan Altmann sent us the photo below.
Joe fills in the details. “Just before the start of the recent Tuesday night race in Santa Cruz, we had an extra passenger hop aboard our Catalina 320, Simpatico. Once the race started, we had to finish with the same crew as we started, so he sailed the whole race with us.”
The informal Tuesday night racing has been taking place in Santa Cruz for a few years, Joe tells us. It is not sponsored by the yacht club, but the fleet is usually more than 20 boats across three divisions. “Spinnaker, A fleet (usually the bigger boats),” Joe continues, “and B fleet, each with their own start time. It’s great fun sailing Monterey Bay.”
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How a One-Design Fleet Became a Family
Whenever Randall Rasicot called out a maneuver, I would jump.
“Vang!”
“Starboard twing to lifeline!”
Even now, hearing the skipper who taught me how to race, I automatically leap into action.
“An inch to the right!”
“Watch the doorjamb!”
Today, we aren’t sailing. The crew from J/24 Flight is moving a giant wooden sculpture, 8 feet across and weighing as much as a piano, through the threshold of Rasicot’s new house. It’s one of three times this summer that the J/24 fleet has helped each other move.
“With the J/24s, it’s kind of insane. We’ve all become family. We go to each other’s birthdays, each other’s weddings, everybody’s helping each other move,” says Jasper Van Vliet, skipper of Evil Octopus. “That has very little to do with sailing sometimes.”
Emmy Duckworth raced Thistles for years, but here in the Bay Area? “I started sailing with J/24s, and within a day it was like I’d been there the entire time.”
“For me, it’s always been about the fleet,” Ellie Tubman says. “Sailing is more about being with people and chatting on the boat and figuring out something together. It’s teamwork at the end of the day.”
Carrying a heavy dresser up a flight of stairs and playing real-life Tetris around a tight corner with your tactician may not be how most crews practice for a regatta. This land-based teamwork with San Francisco Bay J/24 Fleet 17 sets it apart as something far beyond just a one-design class. It’s just an extension of what crew means.
Helmut’s Marine Service Connects Bay Area Trade Students With Marine Careers
Helmut’s Marine Service, Inc., a Volvo Penta Power Center and the factory-authorized Volvo Penta distributor for the Southwest, hosted Chart Your Course on Saturday, September 26, at the Sausalito Boat Show. The program gave local high school students in technical, trade and career-readiness programs a free day at the show to meet working marine professionals and get a glimpse into careers most of them never knew existed.
Students were referred by six Bay Area schools and youth programs. Each student received free admission and a Chart Your Course passport. They then set off to visit eight participating marine businesses, collecting a stamp after each conversation. Completed passports went into a prize raffle at the Helmut’s Marine Service booth.
“These are skilled, hands-on, well-paying jobs, and the people doing them genuinely love the work,” said Nadine Urciuoli, vice president of Helmut’s Marine Service, Inc. “Most students have never been shown that a path into the marine trades exists. Chart Your Course puts them in front of the people who do this work every day.”
Students came from the Marin County Office of Education’s Regional Occupational Program (ROP), Petaluma High School’s PHASE Automotive program, Spaulding Marine Center, Canal Alliance and Marin Foster Care Association. They represented high schools in the Novato, San Rafael, Tamalpais and Petaluma districts. Participating were Helmut’s Marine Service, Inc., Silver Seas Yachts, Call of the Sea, H&M Marine, Safe Harbor Marina Bay Yacht Harbor, Safe Harbor Sausalito, Cruiser Services and Modern Sailing School & Club.
“This connected me more to auto and gave me an interest in diesel,” said a senior at San Marin High School who already works on boats. “What surprised me was how there are not a lot of newcomers in the marine industry.” He said employers told him they need people who understand the electrical systems on newer marine engines.
One participating high school instructor said his program’s transportation, repair and manufacturing courses already cover many of the skills marine repair requires. Another educator put it simply: “They have to see it to be it.”
Employers see the program as a direct answer to the industry’s hiring problem. “Our company will not be able to survive without developing the next generation of craftspeople, and this is a great step toward seeing this happen,” said Paul Kaplan, Safe Harbor’s Regional Business Development officer.
“Developing a local workforce helps overcome one of our largest obstacles: attracting team members from outside the Bay Area, given the cost and shortage of housing.”
Sausalito Boat Show manager Mitch Perkins said the program fits the show’s mission. “We want to build the industry and promote the lifestyle. Showing young people this wonderful world is critical to its future.” Perkins added, “A strong pipeline would foster vibrancy and keep the waterfront a place for industry as well as recreation.”
Both employers and students who responded to a post-event survey said they would take part again.
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