Extreme Catamaran Sailing in San Diego
Like last year, the GC32 catamarans of the Extreme Sailing Series have come to San Diego for some high-level stadium-style racing. And also like last year, an American team has joined the small fleet. The Element Spark Compass crew consists of US match racing champion Taylor Canfield, Sam Hallowell, John Wallace, Matt Noble and Mateo Vargas. Matt Noble is a scion of the Richmond Yacht Club junior sailing program. Fellow Californian Mateo Vargas, a Laser champion, sailed for Stanford. John Craig, former racing manager of St. Francis Yacht Club and the PRO of America’s Cup 34 in San Francisco, is serving as PRO in San Diego.
An extensive race village is set up on Harbor Island for spectators, and admission is free. Can’t get to San Diego or get away from the office to watch in person? There’s an app for that (find it here).
In addition to the GC32 racing, there’s an Element Sports Kite Boarding Invitational, O’pen BIC youth sailing and Go SeaQuest on-the-water simulators.
Racing was off to a slow start yesterday, as the breeze played hard to get. John Craig postponed until 3 p.m. He extended the deadline and got in six races. Series frontrunners Alinghi took four wins to lead the San Diego Act. The event continues through Sunday.
Los Cabos will host the final Act on November 29-December 2, and a Mexican team has also joined the fleet for these last two events of the series. Get caught up with the Extreme Sailing Series at www.extremesailingseries.com.