Breezing into January

The clever race organizers at Corinthian Yacht Club have already written this story for us: "East Coast Freezes . . . West Coast Breezes. Now that Old Man Winter has the Eastern Seaboard firmly in his grip, the sailors out there have put away their boats and are busily spending the next five months arguing about which of their snow-locked sailing venues is the center of sailing. Meanwhile, we on the more favored coast are out sailing every darned day. One of our favorite winter events is the Corinthian Midwinters. 2018 is our ‘Back to School’ edition, so we invite you to sign up for a ‘master class’ in boathandling, current prediction and wind watching." The CYC Midwinters will be held on January 20-21 and February 17-18. On tap are daily trophies and kegs, and Friday and Saturday evening events, guest speakers and more. Timely entries will be named on the official race shirt.

Farther up the Tiburon Peninsula, Tiburon YC’s Bob & Esther Mott Midwinters, a three-day, six-race series, will start on January 6. Most Midwinter Series got underway in November or December; you can see a long list here.

Although it’s limited to singlehanders and doublehanders (with well over 300 entries), the Singlehanded Sailing Society’s Three Bridge Fiasco has been the largest yacht race in the USA for several years. In 2018, the Fiasco will be held on January 27. Which way to round the three marks and how to cope with the huge ebb will no doubt be burning topics of conversation at many a yachtie New Year’s Eve party.

Three Bridge Fiasco is a bucket-list item for many sailors; unfortunately, another bucket-list item will not be held in 2018. If you were saving up your pennies to go to Key West in January, be advised that there will be no Key West Race Week. However, Key West Cuba Race Week, aka the Conch Republic Cup, is on —despite a cooling of diplomatic relations — with a January 26 start.