Skip to content

April Racing Preview — or Not!

Normally in this slot we would post a look ahead to next month’s racing calendar highlights. Instead, we’ll continue with the updates we’ve been filing since that fateful Friday the 13th.

Tokyo Olympics

The dates are set for the 2021 Summer Games: July 23-August 8. All of the nation spots will remain intact; athlete selection not necessarily so. American sailors had already completed the qualifying process for sailing events except for men’s and women’s 470. A bit of trivia: The modern Olympics (which date back to 1896) have never been held in an odd year. The Berlin Games were canceled in 1916 due to WWI, and four Olympiads (two summer and two winter) were canceled during WWII.

Sail Check

Among the numerous outlets offering educational videos to inform us — and, frankly, help us pass the time — is Quantum Sails. They offer a series of sailing videos called Sail Check, enabling you to check your own sails in the safety of your own home or boat.

This week’s live content includes:

An In-Depth Look at Code Zeros: Your Questions Answered
With Adrien De Belloy
Tuesday, March 31, 9 a.m. PDT
On Facebook Live

Ask Me Anything: The One-Design Starting Process
With Scott Nixon
Wednesday, March 31, 11 a.m. PDT
US Sailing’s Starboard Portal

How to Build an Onboard Sail Repair Kit
With Andrew LaPlant
Thursday, April 2, 12 noon PDT
On Facebook Live

Beer Cans via Zoom?

We’ve ‘attended’ a staff meeting via Zoom (with six participants) and a TGIF happy hour on the same platform (with four participants). But a virtual beer can race? For a series that usually draws a couple hundred people? We can only imagine the chaos! But what the hey, it could be fun.

Wednesday night beer can
RYC’s Wednesday night races are super-casual, starting and finishing off the club’s seawall in Richmond Harbor. Taking newbies, non-sailors and kids along for the ride is encouraged.
© 2020 Latitude 38 Media LLC / Chris

That’s what the ever-effervescent Cinde Lou Delmas of Another Girl has proposed as a placeholder for Richmond Yacht Club’s popular Wednesday night races, due to begin on April 1. Some of her suggestions: “How about if we all meet at 6:30 p.m. on Zoom every Wednesday and bring our cocktails, tea, food, and just hang out together? Fun to find out what people are doing and to check in with each other. Think winging it the first time might be the winner. We can all decide — love a racing rules discussion; we have some judges who can share their knowledge. How about an open, honest conversation about PHRF ratings? We have a lot of heroic members on the front lines, maybe getting them, if available to share their stories.”

With beer can season here — and yet not — what is your club doing in lieu of actually congregating? (Email us here, or comment below. Please include your full name, boat name and model if any, your hailing port and club name.)

Boating Banned

Back in the twenty-teens, this could have been construed as an early April Fool’s joke. But it’s no joke. Palm Beach County, FL, is now closed to boating. “Effective immediately, all boat ramps and marinas will be closed to all recreational boating activities to include boat launching, in/out storage activities, and boat rentals in Palm Beach County until further notice,” reads the official notice.

“Licensed commercial fishermen who provide food for restaurants and markets, commercial marine operations, and support services are permitted to operate.

“This order is necessary in response to people gathering in large groups on the sandbars, Intracoastal lands and waterways without observing social distancing to prevent community spread of COVID-19. Marina supply, fueling and service activities necessary to support commercial fishing and commercial marine operations may continue to operate.

“Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office and other law enforcement agencies will be enforcing the closures and monitoring waterways.”

God forbid this should happen in California! Mind your Ps and Qs, folks.

1 Comment

  1. Helen Horn 4 years ago

    It happened in California , by Friday night all ramps on the coast closed to all but commercial vessels. Unless you’re already in a harbor berth, sport fishing etc.isnt happening. Then there’s the shark off Capitola.

Leave a Comment




Sponsored Post
Washing, waxing, varnishing. Serving the entire Bay Area for more than 25 years. “Boat looks great. Please pass my thanks to those who did the work."
BOLO for a Stolen Boat
Richmond Yacht Club reports that a Boston Whaler and its trailer were taken by vehicle from the dry boat storage yard over the weekend, sometime between Friday evening and Sunday evening.
Get Latitude 38 at Home
Now offering a Shelter-in-Place special. Three months is just a ‘sip’ of Latitude 38. You can read at home while you sip on whatever you like.