Medium-Range Racing Forecast (Text Only)
The Bay’s Racing calendar is full, as in FULL, over the next few weeks, and we wanted to make sure you got a heads-up on some of the larger events coming down the pipe. We can’t imagine you’ve forgotten about any of them, but just in case you have, here’s a rundown:
The Finn Silver Cup — the class’s junior world championship — gets underway today at St. Francis YC, with 17 boats from as close as San Diego and as far away as Greece, Russia, Brazil and Australia. Over at San Francisco YC, Melges Race Week — the final stop on the three-regatta Melges California Cup — gets underway today also. Twelve Melges 24s have signed up. Thirteen Melges 32s have signed up also as the class gears up for both its September World Championships and the St. Francis YC’s Rolex Big Boat Series — a breath of grand prix air for the Bay in the next month.
Over at Richmond YC, the inaugural Richmond Riviera Regatta will get underway tomorrow. The charity event will be unique in that it will benefit not one — as is typically the case with benefit regattas — but four Bay Area charities: the Bay Area Rescue Mission, Youth Enrichment Strategies, Rubicon Programs and the Richmond Emergency Food Pantry. According to the event’s website, "the regatta is a chance to “give where we live.’"
When the weekend wraps-up, the racing won’t stop, and if you have the chance, you’ll definitely want to make time to visit Crissy Field, where the St. Francis YC’s 18-ft Skiff International Regatta has drawn a field of 16 boats! We can’t remember this regatta getting a turnout this big, and the crash-and-burn, on-the-edge-of-control nature of the racing makes it really fun to watch. The racing gets going on Sunday and finishes up on Thursday. One event the skiffs will be participating in is the Ronstan Bridge-to Bridge on Wedenesday afternoon, where they’ll line up against the kiters, boardsailors, and maybe even a few big boats for a sprint from the Gate to the Bay Bridge.
The following weekend, the Singlehanded Sailing Society’s Half Moon Bay Race, the San Francisco YC’s Great Schooner Race and the Berekely YC’s Sarcoma Cup will all get going on Saturday. The Schooner lineup includes Santana, and Yankee and there will be a morning parade along the Tiburon waterfront starting at 11 a.m. with the racing beginning at noon at the west end of Raccoon Strait. The schooners will race across the Bay to the City and back, finishing off Belvedere Cove at about 3 p.m. The Sarcoma Cup is moving over to Berkeley YC for its third-ever event, although previous host Richmond YC plus South Beach YC will be helping with the on-the water activitites. As has always been the case, 100% of the proceeds of the event will go toward funding sarcoma research, one of the least-funded cancer research areas. You’ll find all the pertinent details at the link above.
On August 27, the Finn Gold Cup — the class’s World Championship — gets underway for the 95 boats — sailed by past, present and future Olympians — from all over the sailing world who’ve signed up. Due to it’s immense size, the regatta will be staged over at Marina Bay Yacht Harbor in Richmond, although all the official ceremonies will be held at St. Francis YC.
The Labor Day weekend will feature a whole host of events including the Santa Cruz YC’s Windjammers Race that starts in the Bay on September 3, and takes a 70-mile run down one of the best racetracks in California. If you don’t have a ride for this one, and wish you did, we encourage you to check out a chance to crew on Bill Turpin’s R/P 77 Akela, which is as fast and as plush as they come. Turpin has auctioned off a spot on the race crew for a few years now, with the proceeds benefitting the local Big Brothers Big Sisters organization. Bid on it now, here. The following day, the Jazz Cup — South Beach YC’s annual run to Benicia — gets underway for a 20-plus mile downwinder.
That’s the medium-range racing forecast in a very small nutshell. Although we’d like to be at every one of these events in their entirety, there’s just no way to make that happen. So if you happen to hear any good stories or get any good photos from any of these events, please send them on in! We appreciate it, and want to remind you that all these events can be found in the ’10 Northern California Racing Calendar and YRA Master Schedule!