Midwinter Racing Preview

November is looming and thus so is the midwinter racing season. Blessed as we are on the West Coast, we just keep on sailing all year round, while boats in other parts of the country are already hauled out and shrink-wrapped for the winter. Many Tahoe-based boats, whose skippers are not content to miss out, have trailered down to sea level for the season. 

You’ll find a long list of midwinter series in Calendar in the November issue of Latitude 38, which will hit the docks tomorrow, but here are just a few of the most popular: 

• Golden Gate Yacht Club’s Manuel Fagundes Seaweed Soup Regatta will begin this Saturday, with racing on the Cityfront.
• Sausalito YC’s Chili Midwinters will kick off this Sunday.
• Encinal YC’s Jack Frost Series will start on Saturday the 12th on the main Bay north of Treasure Island.
• Berkeley YC has already been sailing Chowder Series races every Sunday; those will take a break on the second weekend of the month for the Midwinter Series. BYC actually offers two separate series — one on Saturdays and one on Sundays — with a discounted fee for entering both. For the third year in a row, shorthanded divisions will be offered on Sunday.
• On Saturdays of the same weekends, RegattaPRO, with assistance from SYC, offers one-design racing in the deep water west of the BYC Midwinters.
• Island YC’s Island Days on the Estuary will start on Sunday, November 13.
• South Beach YC’s Island Fever Midwinters will kick off on Saturday, November 19.
• Sequoia YC, in Redwood City, offers two series: the Winter Series will begin this Saturday, and the first Redwood Cup pursuit race will be held on the 19th.
• Richmond YC’s Small Boat Midwinters will begin on the first weekend of December.
• Corinthian YC’s two-weekend Midwinters will be held on January 21-22 and February 18-19, with big parties on both Saturday nights back at the historic clubhouse in downtown Tiburon.

As you can see, there’s something for everyone’s schedule in locations all over the Bay Area. Hoping to break into racing aboard someone else’s boat? We recommend signing up on Latitude 38’s free online Crew List. The summer winds are past, and conditions (at least between storms) are usually the most mellow of the year, a perfect time to learn the racing ropes.