
Kicking Off a Happy New Year With Sunny Sunday Sailing
After the mostly rainy, gray, foggy holidays, we went down to the boat on Sunday to dry it out and head over to top up the fuel tank at Clipper Yacht Harbor. We’re told a low diesel fuel tank in the winter can let water condense inside, so it’s better to keep it full. Is that right?
We weren’t the only ones taking advantage of a sunny January day. The Bay had many patient, determined racers trying to finish the popular YRA Doublehanded Midwinters #3, and others trying to finish up the Sausalito Chili Midwinters #3. The day delivered it all — except wind. But flat water in warm sunshine is welcome in the middle of winter.

The Sausalito Yacht Club has 30 boats competing on the Knox course for their five-race midwinters starting in November and ending in March. You can see Sausalito YC Chili Midwinter results here.

The Alerion 41 Ilaria was one of 34 boats signed up for this year’s YRA Doublehanded Series racing on the San Francisco Cityfront. It was flat water and light air, so just nine boats managed to finish. Unfortunately, Ilaria wasn’t one that made it to the finish line, but they did make it out onto the Bay for a beautiful day.

Jeff Berman caught the intensity of yesterday’s Bay racing in the photo above. It looks calm, but you can bet that onboard there was intense effort and concentration.


Everyone who started the Sausalito Chili Midwinters managed to finish. But it did take persistence. National Biscuit kept the chute aloft long enough to round the last mark and head to the finish line.

While fueling up at Clipper Yacht Harbor, we noticed these three Spaulding-built Pelicans looking nice and awaiting their next chance to sail.

Sailing in the new year started on a sunny note, with many good days of racing and sailing ahead. The Singlehanded Sailing Society’s Three Bridge Fiasco on January 25 is always a good one for single- and doublehanders and already has 185 boats signed up. San Diego is preparing for Etchells mania, starting with the Bill Bennett Cup on January 18-19. (More on the Etchells later.) If you’re looking to find the next event or series to join, check Latitude 38’s 2025 racing calendar, where you’ll find enough events to fill your sails for the entire year.
Note — for some very odd reason we managed to get 11 out of 12 months labeled right — October ended up being October 2024! It’s so often the big print that gets missed in proofreading. We trust by the time we get to October, everyone will know that it’s a typo and they haven’t suddenly traveled back in time.
But for now, the weather looks sunny for all of next weekend’s midwinters. We just need to pray for enough wind.