A Historical 2026 Round the Rocks Race Report
Greg Nelsen, winner of the Singlehanded Division of the Round the Rocks Race on his Azzura 31 Outsider, wrote us asking why we didn’t give coverage of the 132-boat fleet that raced way back on March 28. Good question! We thought we had because Andy Schwenk of Sir Edmund had sent us a great report. It turns out it was buried under lots of bits and bytes in the metaverse. Almost two months can feel like ancient history in 24-hour CNN news cycle created by recently passed sailor Ted Turner, though it’s still fun to read the story of a great day of racing. (Erik Simonson’s photo from the event did make our May cover — there’s just nothing on the race on the inside!) Take it away, Andy:
Any time you don’t think you have enough crew to participate in sailboat racing on San Francisco Bay, surf on over to the Singlehanded Sailing Society website and think again. Either step aboard and let ’er rip by your lonesome, or find one measly person that can put up with you for a four- or five-hour jaunt around these tactical juggernauts.
March 28 featured the SSS [Singlehanded Sailing Society] first race of the season, Round the Rocks. With a name like that, you would assume it’s brought to you by a local boatyard.
I can guarantee that when the race committee calls you with less than 48 hours to the start to confirm exactly how much depth you need to accommodate the draft of your vessel to compete in a regatta with the word “Rocks” in the title, this could be a memorable event, but for entirely different reasons than would require a boatyard’s intervention.
We started in the vicinity of Southampton Shoal and set sail for Blossom Rock. The first lesson we relearned was to be aware of the geographical location of that destination and the amount of current ebbing out of the South Bay. A straight line is always the shortest course, rather than overstanding and practically needing a spinnaker to get down to the rhumb line.
Vessels rounded to starboard and set sail for Little Harding. Second lesson, relearned again. Those vessels that turned at the mark and headed to Little Harding riding the outgoing current did much better than those that sailed to the Cityfront and then ended up overstood and practically had to set spinnakers to get down to the rhumb line.
East Brother was the next rock to round, and spinnakers blossomed down Raccoon Strait. The current was strongest in the middle, so vessels chose a side and none played the foul current better than Raven, skippered by John Kernot, as he pulled a classic “horizon job” on the fleet. After exiting Raccoon Strait, he slipped up the beach along the way to East Brother and did a masterful series of jibes to further capitalize on an astounding lead. A short beat with a profound amount of positive current brought the fleet to Richmond YC for a warm welcome, including the fancy kind of wieners.
The mighty Sun Dragon was only 35 minutes behind on corrected time. Kangaroo Jockey slipped in for third overall, ably assisted by former legendary Bay sailor Mark Howe aboard. If the podium had a fourth space, it would be occupied by two masts as the schooner Sir Edmund held on for fourth.
Of course, what regatta would be complete on San Francisco Bay without a Cal 40 in the top five? Congrats to the Bay Shaman, Bart Hackworth, falling out of a Moore 24 and into his new ocean whip. Then a venerable Wyliecat 39 with Paulling and Roche at the control line, yes, singular. For all those who question whether PHRF can work, check out that lineup. The outlier is a C&C 115 (37 feet) with electric winches leading the way, a modern 35 rocket ship in second, a 27-ft sportboat holding onto third, a schooner … a what? Who are those guys in fourth? Fifth, a crab-crushing Cal 40, and then a wing-sailed, locally produced 39-ft catboat.
If you have a yacht and you like having fun, come sailing ‘round the Devil’s Teeth, the race that launched the organization: Singlehanded Farallones, May 23.
If you’re looking for some more recent racing news shorts:
- Paul Cayard continued his magical winning ways in 2026 by winning the just-completed Etchells Worlds in San Diego with James Mayo and Ben Lamb aboard Magpie against a 76-boat fleet. This is John Mayo’s third Etchells World Championship win in a row. Complete results here.
- Less current is the month-old news that Cayard was honored as the winner of the 2026 Magnus Olsson Prize at the end of April.
- SailGP just announced it is returning to San Francisco Bay on April 3–4 for the 2027 season, after the 13-event tour starts in Victoria Harbour, Hong Kong, on January 23–24, 2027.
Cayard continues to be on a roll that began when he started sailing!