News From Our Dock Box of Sailing Bits and Pieces
Rummaging through the dock box we found a few more news gems from the week. It starts with some big kids racing pro in SailGP and finishes with small kids starting youth sailing at SEA.
Dolphin Strikes SailGP
SailGP closed out its Southern Hemisphere season with only one full day of racing in New Zealand after dolphins took over the course on Saturday, causing organizers to cancel the opening day’s schedule. A dramatic day of racing followed on Sunday, which saw series leader Tom Slingsby steering into a mark to avoid a collision with Canada. The Aussies avoided injuries to the crew but not to the boat. It was a series-ending crash for Australia, leaving the home team, Black Foils New Zealand, to take top position for the weekend and the overall series. Taylor Canfield and TeamUSA continued with their learning curve, finishing in eighth place after the Sunday-only event.
SailGP now heads to race in the Northern Hemisphere, starting in Bermuda on May 4-5.
Watch the New Zealand race summary here:
Express 37 Crew List/Crew Training
Riding the rails used to be the life of a hobo, but it’s way more fun and has a lot more variety if you start riding the rail of an Express 37.
And who says they can’t find rail crew? Drew Harper of Spinnaker Sailing San Francisco worked with the Express 37 fleet to create a free development day for future Express 37 crew. They are at capacity for the participating boats, with 27 prospective crew signed up. If you need crew, or want to be crew, visit the Latitude 38 Crew Page. Sailor Yosh Hahn signed up on our crew list in 2018 and has since sailed 15,000 miles. She has a story in the upcoming April issue. Warning: You do risk getting wet!
Sequoia Yacht Club Is a Beer Can Racing Early Bird
Sequoia Yacht Club in Redwood City took immediate advantage of daylight saving time to start their Wednesday evening beer can series on March 20. The first night was blustery. The club’s race organizer, Peter Weigt, reported, “I’m not sure about you, but I’m still recovering from the baptism by fire from last Wednesday (and this weekend)! Man, that was more wind than Anja and I had bargained for! I want to personally thank all the boats participating in the ‘Oceanographic Seafloor Research’ conducted around 12 and the channel. Your checking the accurate depth with your keels is greatly appreciated. Joking aside, I hope you all had fun! Shall we do that again? I hear you scream: ‘YES!'”
Sequoia YC is holding their second beer can race of the season this evening. They have over 30 boats signed up, with a PHRF class and one-design classes for Open 5.70s and Merit 25s. Results from last week are here.
The 14th Annual West Coast Multihulls “Sea of Cortez Rally Around the Islands of Loreto” Is Coming May 5-9.
It is a BYOB event: Bring your own boat. Includes local cruising with potential fleet anchorages in Bahia Salinas, Playa Blanca, Isla Montserrate’s Yellowstone Beach, Agua Verde, and/or Honeymoon Cove, plus a Cinco de Mayo “Meet and Greet” at Marina Puerto Escondido. A $100 registration fee applies. Learn more here.
Sailing Education Adventures Classes Open 40th Season With a Historical Look at Its Road to Recovery
Sailing Education Adventures (SEA) is the Pacific Coast Yachting Association’s 2023 Garrett Horder Trophy recipient. SEA founder Jane Piereth was among the honored to represent and receive the trophy, but two decades ago the now 40-year-old community- and youth-sailing organization was on the ropes and struggling to survive. Barbara McVeigh and her husband Mark Miglio stepped up in 2006 to pull together a community of volunteers and continue its now affordable, accessible and award-winning youth and adult sailing programs. Barbara shared their story on SEA’s website.
Now is the time to sign up kids for SEA’s youth programs, which operate out of Loch Lomond Marina on the San Rafael Canal.
There’s so much more sailing ahead and we’re looking forward to sharing it all (well, as much as we can). To keep up, pick up our monthly print publication at a distributor near you — listed here. The April issue comes out on Friday!