The Latest Yacht Racing Updates
Bay Area Beer Can Racing
We’ll lead off with some good news: “A muffled cheer may be heard around the docks,” writes the Corinthian Yacht Club in Tiburon. “The Coast Guard has resumed permitting of racing on the Bay (subject to local health regulations). So put on your best mask, take a swig of hand sanitizer*, collect your crew from around the house, and sign up. We’re reopening Friday night racing starting the 26th, tentatively!” Sign up at https://race.cyc.org/fnr/foryou.
(*But, um, you know better than to swig hand sanitizer, right? It goes on your… hands.)
Any other Bay Area beer cans getting ready to roll? Email the racing editor here.
The Latest from the YRA
“All June OYRA races are canceled,” advises Laura Muñoz, executive director of the Yacht Racing Association of San Francisco Bay. The OYRA is the offshore arm of the YRA. OYRA races in June were to have been the Farallones Race on June 13 and the Half Moon Bay Race on June 27. The OYRA has no races scheduled for July on account of the Pacific Cup (long since canceled).
The YRA’s Westpoint Regatta is canceled too. In normal years, the Westpoint Regatta sails from Treasure Island, with the start run by Treasure Island YC, to Redwood City. Sequoia YC presides over the finish and throws a big party. SeqYC and Westpoint Harbor host the arriving boats.
But there’s hope yet. “We are still going forward with the Encinal Regatta at the end of July,” added Laura. That’s the regatta better known for decades as the 2nd Half Opener. “We’re not sure what the race will look like yet, but we are planning on having a race.”
News from SoCal
The J/70 World Championship, scheduled to be held at the California Yacht Club in 2020, has been postponed to August 7-15, 2021.
Balboa Yacht Club has postponed the 54th Governor’s Cup Youth International Match Race Championship until next summer. They’d been planning to host it on July 20-25, 2020, in Newport Beach. The 2021 dates will be July 19-24.
The Governor’s Cup steering committee chair, Andy Rose, said, “It was a very tough vote for all of us. But, after a thorough briefing by BYC fleet surgeon and internationally prominent neurosurgeon Dr. Rob Bray on the COVID-19 situation, and extensive communication with invitees and coaches, we determined that holding or postponing the Cup until later in the year was not feasible.”
And Beyond
Although the more famous Chicago-Mackinac Race was canceled, Bayview YC in Detroit plans to host the Bayview Mackinac Race, starting on July 11. The 204-mile course sails up Lake Huron to Mackinac Island.
The Viper 640 Class has canceled the 2020 North American Championship. Noroton YC in Darien, CT, was to have hosted the Women’s NAs on September 26-28, followed by the Open Championship on September 30-October 4.
The 50th Sunfish Worlds, to be hosted by Sarasota Sailing Squadron in Florida, have been postponed until late April or May 2021. The 2020 Sunfish World Championship had been planned for October 18-24. The 2021 Worlds had been planned for Lake Garda, Italy. Instead, Lake Garda will host the championship in 2022. See www.sunfishclass.org.