A Full Weekend of Sailing

This past weekend saw full-on sailing with plenty of options for everyone. Despite the Bay Area’s notorious reputation for heavy summer winds and fog, last weekend presented a full spectrum of conditions. The Friday night beer can races had sunshine and nice breezes, the Saturday start for the OYRA race to Half Moon Bay and the Singlehanded TransPac started in gentle, sunny southwesterlies, while the Encinal Yacht Club Summer Sailstice small-boat regatta had warm, 6- to 8-knot winds on the Estuary. Sunday was a different story: sunny, cooler and breezier, with the central Bay whipped up in whitecaps. It was a good day for the Master Mariners Wooden Boat Show.  

There was an amazing collection of some of the Bay Area’s most beautiful classics gathered for the wooden boat show. If you’ve never experienced the rich, old-school soul of sailing, this was the place to do it. While there’s been loads of progress in yacht design and construction, when you step aboard a wooden classic, you’re reminded that it’s impossible to reproduce the heart of a wooden sailboat in fiberglass, metal or carbon. 

The annual gathering of wooden boats also produces a raft of winners for the upkeep of these stunners. This year, the awards went to:

— Peter Haywood and Ivan Poutiatine, Elizabeth Muir, Best in Show.  

— John and Gena Egelston, Water Witch; Corinthian Trophy (sweat equity).

— Jennifer Hinkel, Quessant; Al Lutz Trophy (most improved in the last year).

— Water Witch; People’s Choice.

It was an award-winning weekend for sailing and, happily, there’s another ahead.