The Latest News for Yacht Racers From the YRA

Save the Dates

The Yacht Racing Association of San Francisco Bay has scheduled their Year-End Trophy Party for Saturday, November 19. All awards from the YRA’s 2022 racing season will be handed out at the party. If you raced with the YRA this year, plan on coming out to share a beer and swap racing tales, and to pick up any awards you might have won. Location TBA. Latitude 38 plans to cover the YRA champions in our January issue.

The YRA’s Doublehanded Midwinters will start the next day, on Sunday, November 20. The series will continue on December 18, January 22 and February 26. Look for registration to open soon on Jibeset.

And plan ahead to add May 6-7, 2023, to your calendar for the Great Vallejo Race. New for next year, the YRA is planning a team trophy, with four boats per team.

Race Committees Need Volunteers

The YRA will host a virtual Race Committee Workshop on Wednesday, October 19, 7-9 p.m., led by Jeff Zarwell, the US Sailing Area G ARO. Register here.

“Serving on a race committee is a great way to give back to the sport of sailboat racing. It gives you additional perspective regarding the work it takes to pull off a regatta,” writes the YRA. “This virtual workshop will be an excellent opportunity for anyone looking to get more involved in race management and working on race committees. Jeff will take participants through the various jobs race committee volunteers can expect to take on, and best practices for the various race committee duties. After the workshop, participants will have the opportunity to join race committees for upcoming races, getting hands-on experience.”

2023 YRA Schedule Deadlines

If you’re in charge of your club or association’s 2023 race schedule, please send your event details to Laura Muñoz at the YRA no later than October 24. Email your info to [email protected]. This will facilitate your marine event permit with the Coast Guard and it will get your race(s) into the 2023 Northern California Sailing Calendar. The YRA’s final calendar meeting will be on October 26 to review the dates.

The deadline for advertising in the calendar will be November 4. Please contact Nicki Bennett to reserve your ad space: (415) 383-8200 ext. 109 or [email protected].

PHRF Certificates

The YRA will begin issuing 2023 PHRF Certificates starting on December 1. If you need a 2022 PHRF Certificate, you have only a couple of weeks left to get it. The next PHRF Committee meeting is scheduled for October 24. If your boat needs a new rating, please send its information in to the YRA office by Thursday, October 20.

Looking Back at 2022

In 2022, the YRA issued more PHRF certificates than in any recent year since 2016. However, attendance in individual regattas and races was down. We speculate that the field has been becoming ever more diluted, with so many diverse races. Now that COVID restrictions have lifted, the calendar is as full as ever. And more events seem to pop up each year.