‘Loca Motion’ Wins 2026 Express 37 Nationals
The 2026 Express 37 National Championship was sailed at Richmond Yacht Club between October 2 and 4. Similar to the Ultimate 20 North Americans sailed at RYC at the same time, a boat from Monterey Peninsula Yacht Club (Mark Chaffey and Heidi Hall’s Loca Motion) came out victorious. Hall and Chaffey share their reflections on the regatta:
Loca Motion arrived back home in Monterey last night just before midnight, after a fogbound and windy trip down the coast from the Express 37 Nationals on San Francisco Bay, hosted by the Richmond Yacht Club. What a pleasure it was to join the eight other E37s for three days of competitive racing!
Several newer members of the fleet also participated, including Pazzo Express and Main Squeeze, trying to get an edge on the seasoned veterans such as Expeditious and Loca Motion, who have been racing the boats for decades. Some outstanding qualities of the E37 fleet are the friendly vibe among the competitors, and for us out-of-towners, the deep experience of the Bay Area sailors who joined our crew.
The regatta began with a distance race taking Alcatraz to port after a postponement to allow the NW breeze to pick up. The perennial E37 dilemma is which sail to use; there is a big gap between the 155% #1 and the 95% #3, and making the wrong choice can be disastrous. We opted for the #1, considering the flat water and full crew weight, and thinking that it was better to be overpowered in gusts than underpowered in lulls.
It was a good choice, and the rest of the fleet also went with their #1s. Beating up toward the Alcatraz green bell buoy it was a choice between seeking relief from the mild flood current behind Alcatraz or going for more breeze and more adverse current farther out in the channel. Loca was pretty even with Golden Moon, but they correctly opted for more current relief, placing them several boat lengths ahead when we converged at the Alcatraz buoy.
The breeze was now gusting to 18 knots, and we were overpowered, bucking and rolling with the big sail. We managed to keep with Golden Moon on the short reach across the island, highly motivated to get our spinnaker set organized after observing that our competition was all ready to go as we neared the south tip of the island. Both boats set perfectly, but Golden Moon immediately jibed for the finish before we were ready, and we lost several more boat lengths before we could follow. Drag racing to the line, we managed to pull through to leeward and eke out a close win. A great way to start a regatta!
On day two the winds were again nonexistent to light in the morning, and racing was delayed for a more consistent northwest breeze to fill in. Loca Motion was fortunate to get out on the fleet early in the next several races, and the old sailing maxim of the rich getting richer certainly held as we were able to sail in clear air and minimize our number of tacks to the windward mark.
Day three brought similar conditions, with the race committee having to contend with a persistent high-pressure bubble over the Bay Area and only very light onshore flow developing in the afternoon. To get in two races, the course was shortened, which placed a premium on starting and getting out early into clear air. With nine big boats and a moderate-length line, the starts were very challenging, especially in lighter wind speeds.
Leading the regatta, we did not want to get tangled up in a foul! In the last race Spindrift V had a great start above us and rolled us to windward, forcing us to tack away and also duck Pazzo Express. The extra tacks cost us, and Spindrift V got out well in front and never looked back. If they had, they would have seen Golden Moon give us a taste of our own medicine, rolling us downwind just before the finish and putting us in third place. Our earlier successes carried the day, however, and we held on to the regatta win and the highly coveted E37 Nationals timepiece trophy.
The race committee is to be commended for doing a great job in the challenging wind conditions and completing five competitive races, and Lisa Wilson and the RYC for hosting a great regatta. Best of all, we raced in shorts for all three days! How often can you say that in San Francisco?
You can find the full results of the 2026 Express 37 Nationals here.