A Preview of December Midwinter Racing (and More)
Midwinter Racing for Small Boats
A few more Midwinter Series join the fun in December. To present this much-shorter-than-usual monthly preview, we’ll ‘borrow’ (steal?) from the Nash Flash, a feature of the Bull Session, which is the email newsletter of the El Toro International Yacht Racing Association.
“Registration is now open for the 2023-2024 Richmond Yacht Club Small Boat Midwinters,” writes El Toro sailor Gordie Nash. “Race dates are first Sundays of the month: December 3, January 7, February 4 and March 3.” RYC will run the racing on three course areas for monohull centerboard dinghies, plus Wylie Wabbits, Thistles, Ultimate 20s and Mercurys. “Now is the time to get ready for this weekend’s start of the winter series racing. Can you believe it is December already? This is a great opportunity to get out on the water with lots of old friends and a few younger sailors as well.” Learn more and register here: www.regattanetwork.com/event/27198.
“Then it’s time for the Lake Merritt Winter Series,” continues the Nash Flash. “Flat water, light, shifty winds, a nice quiet lake to sail on.” The full schedule is: Saturday, December 9; Sunday, January 14; Saturday, February 10; and Sunday, March 10. “All races to be sailed on beautiful Lake Merritt in the heart of downtown Oakland. Enter Lakeside Park on Bellevue at Grand Avenue. Proceed to Sailboat House launch area.” Lake Merritt Sailing Club doesn’t have a website; for more info, call Commodore Denis Hazlewood at (707) 338-6955. In-person registration will begin at 9:30 each morning.
More Midwinters
Additional Midwinter Series will begin in January. We’ll preview those in a late-December post. Many more kicked off in November, but you can still join the fun. See the Calendar section of Latitude 38, or view the corresponding web page at www.latitude38.com/calendar.
Planning for Next Summer’s Pacific Cup
Did you mark your 2024 calendar for July 15? If so, you may be one of the hundreds of sailors planning to participate in next summer’s Pacific Cup. And if you’re planning to race, you’ll want to mark your 2023 calendar for Sunday, December 3. That’s the date of Pacific Offshore Academy #1. Berkeley YC will host the seminar from 12:30 to 5:30 p.m. The fee will be $25 (that includes one drink ticket good at the BYC bar). Topics and presenters will include:
- Offshore Rigging, Scott Easom
- Electrical, Eric Steinberg
- Communications Gear, Eric Steinberg and Michael Moradzadeh
- Inspections and the PCER [equipment requirements], Jim Quanci
- Boat Weighing and Ratings, Buzz Blackett
- Container Logistics, Katie Cornetta
- Offshore Sail Selection, Seadon Wijsen
See more details and register at https://pacificcup.org/POA1.
Celebrating 2023
In addition to this being the holiday season, we’re also in the thick of awards season. So we’d like to remind the hundreds of people who sailed in a Singlehanded Sailing Society race this year that the SSS will hold their annual awards presentation at Richmond YC on Sunday, December 10, from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. Hope to see you there!