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Momentum Building for Super 12s

Tennis has Wimbledon. Golf has the Masters. Horse racing has the Kentucky Derby. Most sports have a premier event that comes to personify, for better or worse, all of its participants. But sailing is different. It’s not merely a competitive sport. In addition to racing, there’s cruising, daysailing and vacation chartering, and there are all sorts of boats including dinghies, monohull keelboats and multihulls. 

We’d bet that many sailors feel that their particular way of enjoying the sport should be recognized as the purest expression of sailing. But what event gives the most compelling vision of sailing? Into the eclectic world of sailing events, ringmaster Tom Ehman has launched a new event called the San Francisco Yacht Racing Challenge. As described in his St. Francis Yacht Club talk on Wednesday, he sees it as the first ‘crowd-sourced’ yachting challenge of its kind.

Crowd sourcing sailing. The beautiful half-models of classic 12s served as a backdrop for Tom Ehman and some of the 100+ dreamers and doers attending Ehman’s San Francisco Yacht Racing Challenge presentation. Look for ‘Super 12’s on the water and on the wall soon.

latitude/John A.
©2015Latitude 38 Media, LLC

What has emerged from the input of many passionate sailors is an event that is energizing a growing cadre of boosters. A race that connects to the heart and soul of sailing’s heritage, presents the iconic beauty and elegance of sailing with a ‘modern classic design’, and pumps it all up with powerful performance and competitive crews in some of the most challenging course-racing conditions in the world – San Francisco Bay.

Judging by the enthusiastic response of the gathered crowd at the St. Francis meeting, and the ever-growing cast of volunteers, supporters and prospective teams, Ehman’s vision is capturing the momentum needed for takeoff. The boats, Bruce Farr-designed ‘Super-12s’ have a heart-tugging beauty. These new monohulls will be built to strict one-design rules to ensure a competition of sailor against sailor, rather than bank account vs. bank account. The rule, as currently drafted, eliminates essentially all modern electronic crutches, and allows only a Windex, VHF radio, compass and depth sounder, thus requiring all sailors to reacquaint themselves with the elements: the motion of the ocean, and intuitive tactical decisions that have ruled sailboat races for eons.  

Although we have not yet seen the complete design specs, our understanding is that the new Farr-designed Super 12s will be in the 70-ft range. 

Farr Yacht Design
©Latitude 38 Media, LLC

Nationality rules will appeal to those who like to root for countries rather than corporations, and each crew of twelve will be required to include men, women and youth. 

Although the first keel has not yet been laid for this class, plans are well underway, and the first races are tentatively scheduled for July 2017. But whenever the first starting gun of the San Francisco Yacht Racing Challenge is fired, there will undoubtedly be many sailors captivated by the drama of this exciting new fleet under sail.

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Among possible candidates for the ‘face’ of this year’s Ta-Ta are Kurt and Katie Braun of the Deerfoot 74 Interlude.