Latitude 38’s October Magazine Is Out Today!
“It’s the most wonderful time of the year.” Thanks for the inspiration, Andy Williams. As we’re sitting here at our desks, with October less than 24 hours away, we can hear the sound of Christmas music wafting in from a nearby room. Around the world, countries celebrate Christmas in myriad ways, and some not at all. But in this case, we’re hearing the sounds of early celebration due to some Filipino friends’ love of the festive season. In case you didn’t know, in the Philippines people start celebrating Christmas at the onset of September, the first of the “‘ber” months. That gives them four full months to sing and decorate, and enjoy the festivities.
So what does all this have to do with Latitude 38, and sailing? Absolutely nothing! However, we can tie in a little celebration of our own. This month we’re celebrating the one-year anniversary of our Good Jibes podcast by giving away five Spracht BoneHead Sport headsets. Just sign up for our weekly Good Jibes newsletter to enter. Five winners will be drawn at random from people who sign up from October 1 to October 31. The BoneHead bone-conduction headsets go around your ears, not in them, so if needed, you can hear what’s going on around you while you listen to your Good Jibes podcast or your favorite sailing songs. Sign up here.
In this month’s issue…
Baja Ha-Ha XXVIII Snapshot
What’s the difference between a race and a rally? In a rally there are no losers, and you can only “win” a rally when everybody wins. That doesn’t mean all Baja Ha-Ha rally participants are only into cruising. Joining this year’s rally are the extended ORMA 60 trimaran Tritium and the Cal 40 Azure, which won its class in this year’s Pacific Cup to Hawaii and took second in class in this year’s Rolex Big Boat Series. For the Baja Ha-Ha, the racing rulebook is put away and the BBQ goes onto the stern rail.
Folkboats — 80 Years and Celebrating
“Everybody on three… One, two three — Folkboats forever!” Sean Svendsen led the chant: “Folkboats forever! Folkboats forever!” On Labor Day weekend, the most stalwart San Francisco Bay Folkboat Association members assembled on the Richmond Yacht Club patio to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the Folkboat design. In addition to Sean, the son of sailing legend Svend Svendsen, the list of attendees read like a Who’s Who of the Bay Area Folkboat hall of fame. Sean was far from the only second-generation Folkboat champion in attendance. As the SF Bay Folkboat Association’s website notes, “The Nordic Folkboat has been sailed and raced on San Francisco Bay for 65 years, making it one of the oldest continuously active one-design fleets on the Bay.”
Sierra Wind — ‘The Pleasures and Pains of Paradise’
After enjoying an extra year in Mexico to wait out COVID restrictions, Sierra Wind set sail across the great Pacific Ocean, departing from Puerto Vallarta in early March 2022, along with four buddy boats: Kismet, Sky Pond, Hold Fast and Bula. A few weeks later, other Sea of Cortez amigos on Sauce-Sea, Indy, and Wastrel also joined us in the Pacific. For the long passage, Eitan and I were accompanied by Martin and Simone, a young couple from Denmark whom we had met through Facebook. Of the group, Sierra Wind was the first to leave, on March 4. Everyone else was too superstitious to begin a voyage on a Friday…
Also in the October issue:
- Letters: A Love Letter to My Coronado 25; The Difference Between Offshore Racing and Cruising; And Don’t Even Talk About Wood; and many more.
- Sightings: Nonstop Sailing — The Pacific Cup Detour; Phasing Out Paper Nav. Charts; Aborted Delivery — Red Flag Return; and other stories.
- Max Ebb: The Climate Regression.
- World of Chartering: Exploring the Caribbean Islands.
- Racing Sheet: Jazz Cup; Drake’s Bay Races, the Ultimate 20 North Americans; Santa Cruz 27 Nationals; and a host of other West Coast races.
- Loose Lips: Check out the September 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 October 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.
