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Cruising and Racing at Treasure Island on New Year’s Day

San Francisco Bay east of Treasure Island was unusually busy for a Wednesday afternoon — but it was business as usual for New Year’s Day. About the time that a race was starting there, another group was cruising into Clipper Cove, an anchorage sheltered by Yerba Buena Island to the south and Treasure Island to the north. 

The Race Out

The very casual race was courtesy of the Master Mariners Benevolent Association. The MMBA’s tradition is to race from TI to Point San Pablo Yacht Club, where the sailors celebrate the New Year with a chili cook-off and potluck.

Red Spaulding 33
We spotted this pretty red Spaulding 33 seemingly adrift east of Angel Island.
© 2025 Latitude 38 Media LLC / Chris
Spaulding 33 crew
From the vantage point of an Alerion 38 under power, we asked Auroral’s three-man crew if they needed a tow. But they were sailing by choice, not necessity.
© 2025 Latitude 38 Media LLC / Chris
Island Clipper Bolero
Tim Murison’s 44-ft Island Clipper Bolero had just started the New Year’s Day Race when we crossed wakes. The (not so) scenic eastern shore of Treasure Island is in the background.
© 2025 Latitude 38 Media LLC / Chris
Farida and Black Witch
Farida and Black Witch started overlapped. Farida is a 1960 Atkins Ingrid 38 owned by Mike and Sue Proudfoot. Black Witch is Sandee Swanson’s 1949 36-ft Winslow sloop.
© 2025 Latitude 38 Media LLC / Chris
Water Witch
The Egelstons’ sleek and elegant 56-ft P-Class cutter Water Witch started soon after.
© 2025 Latitude 38 Media LLC / Chris
Bear Boat
Mark Harris and Hans Hansen on the Bear Boat Velerosa approach the start line.
© 2025 Latitude 38 Media LLC / Chris

The Cruise In

Following the brief pause to take pictures of the New Year’s Day Race start, we on Bob Johnston’s Richmond Yacht Club-based Alerion 38 Surprise! entered Clipper Cove and tied up to the Farallone Clipper Hana. The cruise-in was even more casual than the race, with no Organizing Authority. It’s basically just a group of friends rafting up, also for a potluck, including holiday leftovers. The big hits of this potluck were Stephen Buckingham’s Louisiana-style crab chowder and Rachel Porter’s homemade San Francisco sourdough bread. This was the ninth year of the gathering.

Sailors eating aboard bows of rafted-up boats.
These sailors were enjoying a New Year’s Day feast on the foredeck of Brigadoon, the anchor boat. She’s a Ted Hood 37, a fiberglass boat with teak topsides and a swing keel. She’s berthed in Sausalito’s Richardson Bay Marina.
© 2025 Latitude 38 Media LLC / Chris

Richard vonEhrenkrook, the ringleader of the cruise-in, had planned to come on his Cal 20, Can O’Whoopass, out of San Francisco YC, but Atom Farrell, who owns Brigadoon, invited Richard and crew to join him. Richard told us that Brigadoon’s keel goes from 4 feet, 6 inches to 9 feet. “She’s bluewater-capable, but we’re not afraid of getting out of Clipper Cove.”

A wave goodbye from Mais Oui
Mais Oui casts off. She’s a Sausalito-based Morris 34 sailed by Brewster Kahle and Mary Austin. Dave Wilhite’s Richmond-based 40-ish-ft-long 2000 Dragonfly 1200 trimaran Symphony waits to take Mais Oui’s place in the raft-up. With her amas deployed she’s 27 feet wide, but they fold up, making her beam just 11 feet, so that she can fit in an ordinary boat slip.
© 2025 Latitude 38 Media LLC / Chris

The weather forecast we heard on KCBS that morning called for “bright skies with some overcast.” Well, which is it? Turns out it was mostly overcast, with little to no breeze midday, but a decent (though cold) northeasterly later in the afternoon. These conditions made for mostly motoring to Clipper Cove, but allowed for a nice sail back to various Bay Area homeports.

Raft-up
At 2:45 p.m., the raft-up started to break up. Note the small carbon-fiber canoe. Stephen had paddled out in it from Treasure Island carrying a large, steaming pot of spicy crab chowder to share with the cruisers.
© 2025 Latitude 38 Media LLC / Chris

3 Comments

  1. Susan Flieder 1 month ago

    Wow! Wish I was there for the spicy crab chowder!

  2. milly Biller 1 month ago

    What a great little event ! We had our annual Gin Fizz party at the Inverness Yacht Club .

  3. Rich Holden 1 month ago

    Meanwhile, in the Treasure Island YC Clubhouse, there was Hot Clam Chowder and “fixins” for after the annual “Round TI” cruise that went by the rafted fleet. Enjoyment for all in Clipper Cove.

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