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Latitude 38 August Issue Out Today

Can you believe it’s already August? We were just getting into the swing of July! Fortunately, although the month may have changed, the Northern Hemisphere is still due several more weeks of summer, and in many regions, many more weeks of warmth and sunshine. Hopefully you’ll be able to make the most of the season and enjoy a good number of days (and nights, for some) on the water.

The start of August also heralds the latest issue of Latitude 38. If you didn’t wake early and hotfoot it to your local distribution point today, here’s a preview of what you will find inside when you do get your copy…

Pacific Cup 2022 Hinges on the North-South Split

After an extended break since the last edition of the Pacific Cup in 2018, the race from San Francisco to Oahu’s Kaneohe Bay is back and as good as ever. Sixty boats took on this marathon 2,070-mile ocean crossing beginning on July 4. While the first two days of starts were punctuated by light air just offshore of California, the Thursday and Friday starters found much more favorable conditions, which allowed them to more quickly reach away from the coast.

The brightly colored Riptide 41 Blue glowed in the tropical sunshine off Oahu.
© 2022 Ronnie Simpson

Rocket Surgery

As improbable as it may sound, The Red Rocket may return someday to a race course near you. At least if Bruce Schwab has anything to say about it. Those who know the Mull 42 Improbable‘s story may have their doubts. Racing again after 50-plus years? Come on. But they will also allow that, when it comes to Improbable, anything is possible.

Conceived in 1969 by Warwick “Commodore” Tompkins, with input from his A-Team crew of mostly Bay Area hotshots (among them Dave Wahle, Skip Allan, Kim Desenberg, Danny Daniels and a 22-year-old Kiwi kid named Ron Holland), the idea was to build a manageable-size boat maximized for downwind racing, with no regard for the then-in-use CCA rule or that newfangled IOR thing.

August issue - man with model boat
Commodore Tompkins with a model of Improbable back in the day.
© 2022 Commodore Tompkins

How To Build a Fleet

It might have started with a conversation. I was sailing a Holder 20 back then, my first boat that wasn’t technically a dinghy. “Cool boat,” my friend Carlton said, looking at Fear Knot sitting in the Morro Bay Yacht Club yard, “Nice lines. Looks fast.”

“Yeah. I like it,” I remember saying. “But what Mark and I really want is a Santa Cruz 27. It’s like the father of ultralights. Started the whole thing, and some can be found for about the same price as this Holder 20. But, unfortunately, the club hoist can’t handle them.”

It’s true. Ever since Mark Hilden and I realized that the Santa Cruz 27 packed the most bang for the buck, we’d wanted one. And now we have one, and there are three other SC27s that have joined us.

Janina, Mistress Quickly, Gotcha and Lady Santa Barbara at the start of the MBYC race.
© 2022 Dan Hack

Also in the August issue:

  • Letters: A Storybook Ending; Lighten Up, People; The Blooper Heyday; This Year’s Winners of the Race to Alaska; and more.
  • Racing Sheet: YRA Westpoint Regatta; BAMA Doublehanded Farallones; OYRA Race Committee’s Choice; El Toro North Americans; and other racing news.
  • Sightings: The Honeys’ Last Encore With Illusion; Palo Alto Teen’s Solo Atlantic Crossing; and other stories.
  • Max Ebb: Ride It Hard and Put It Away Wet.
  • Changes In Latitudes: Eliana — The Experience of a Lifetime; Althea — The Longest 90 Seconds of My Life; plus stories from other cruising sailors and a tasty aperitif of Cruise Notes.
  • Loose Lips: Check out the July Caption Contest(!) winner and top 10 comments.
  • The sailboat owners and buyers’ bible, Classy Classifieds.

If you’ve subscribed to Latitude 38, you should receive your August issue in the mail any minute now. If you haven’t subscribed, you’re missing out. But you can pick up your copy from your favorite distributor.

August issue & crew party flyer
Ask Brandy at Tradewinds Sailing Center about September’s Latitude 38 Crew List Party when you pick up your copy of the August issue.
© 2022 Robert Boynton

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