ILCA Sailors Recap Totally Dinghy Experience
Richmond Yacht Club hosted the 2026 Totally Dinghy regatta on October 10. Among the various fleets were the 14-boat ILCA 6 fleet and the 16-boat ILCA 7 fleet. David LaPier (ILCA 6) and Colin Brochard (ILCA 7) sent us their accounts of the event. You can find the full results here.
ILCA 6: Written by David LaPier
The seasons are changing, but San Francisco Bay provided one more glorious day of racing in Richmond, with temperatures in the high 60s and a crisp sea breeze at 15 to 20 mph. The tide turned from the last of the flood into early ebb as the day progressed, allowing for a heathy chop that placed a premium on boat speed and handling. The ILCA 6s and 4s started together. Eighteen boats hit the line for the first race.
Neil Marcellini, an outstanding kiteboarder and 470 and 29er sailor, decided to take a walk on the slow side, easily winning the ILCA 6s with superior speed and a memorable port-tack start. Your correspondent, David LaPier, was second, followed by Chris Boome, Marcel Sloan and Toshi Takayanagi. The top youth sailor, Ethan Mooiweer from Tahoe YC, finished sixth.
It was a challenging day for the race committee, with one race abandoned due to a drifting weather mark out in deep water. They did a great job keeping the line fair with the changing tide, and getting in plenty of great races. The northern side of the Berkeley Circle is always interesting. Getting off the line on starboard early was generally a safe bet, but there were plenty of opportunities on the right-hand side of the course if you picked your spots with occasional veers and somewhat smoother water. For me, sailing in lots of space so I could keep the boat moving with the bow down, staying on the lifted tack, picking smooth spots to tack while keeping speed, and not overstanding worked well, as did getting out to practice on Friday to prepare and shake off some rust. If I may offer one tip: If it’s windy, don’t jibe within 5 minutes of your start. Tack around and avoid capsizing. It’s a big bummer to tip over then hear the horn go off for your start, and it broke my heart to see it happen Saturday more than once.
It was great seeing friends while cleaning up after the races in the warm Richmond Riviera sunshine. Lots of folks crowded the deck upstairs at the club for a happy awards presentation and endless pizza. The great people and volunteers at RYC helped make it special. The day ended with a happy farewell gathering for Courtney Clamp, who is a damn good sailor and better friend. We wish her all the best on her round-the-world sailing adventures next year.
ILCA 7: Written by Colin Brochard
Excitement for the 2026 Totally Dinghy spiked the night before the event when Al pointed out we had 41 ILCA sign-ups across the three rigs. RYC seems to be becoming the center of mass for the NorCal fleet, so most of the usual suspects signed up, along with a handful of out-of-towners. Kudos to the Tahoe sailors who made the trip!
As promised, the Bay delivered a steady breeze in the mid- to high teens, clocking right throughout the day, while the tide flooded, slacked, and then ebbed as the afternoon wore on. Conditions were defined by a steep, confused chop that seemed to come from three directions at once (the South Bay, the Slot and a bit from the straits). This made for exceptionally physical sailing.
The local race committee didn’t take it easy on us, setting a very long course. So long, in fact, that on the first race of the day, a handful of the top guys decided they’d had enough and rounded the wrong weather mark instead of continuing to the red buoys! I kid. Nevertheless, having been burned at the Tahoe Fleet Champs by sailing the wrong course, yours truly studied the course sheet diligently the night before and capitalized on their misfortune, rounding the correct top mark in first and barely holding off Emilio and Elliot on the downwind leg.
My legs were already toast after what felt like a 20-minute beat in race one, and the RC signaled a two-lapper for race two. The breeze built and continued to clock right. Julian and I managed to catch a couple of shifts, rounding the top mark in first and second. Very quickly, I was swallowed up on the run by several sailors, including James Espey and Stephen Bourdow, who demonstrated serious downwind prowess in very tricky surfing conditions. Near the top of the second beat, my legs gave out completely, and I was content to finish wherever I landed. Alas, it was not meant to be; the weather mark had gone adrift near an upside-down I-14, forcing the RC to abandon the race. A lot of hard hiking for nothing!
From there, it became a pure war of attrition. The final two races were sailed in angry chop as the tide began to ebb. The fleet thinned out as bodies and gear gave up the ghost, separating the wheat from the chaff in grueling conditions. James, Julian, Stephen and Al simply sailed away from the rest of us in both races. To be honest, they were so far ahead I can’t tell you exactly what happened, but by all accounts Bourdow turned back the clock and put on an absolute master class with two bullets. Pretty inspiring stuff. In the end Julian won the day by finishing in the top four every race.
Time to pop some Advil and build a hiking bench.