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News of the YRA Encinal Regatta, PICYA Lipton Cup and More
YRA Encinal Regatta (2nd Half Opener) Postponed
“With the spiraling caseloads in most Bay Area counties, we feel the responsible and safe course of action is to postpone the Encinal Regatta,” announced the Yacht Racing Association of San Francisco Bay yesterday evening. “We were really hoping we could get YRA racers back out on the Bay and ocean this summer, but we need to do so in a safe and responsible way. We’re hoping we can reschedule the regatta to a date in late August or early September. But of course, all is contingent on when we feel it’s safe for the YRA racers to sail in an unpredictable pandemic.” The Encinal Regatta (formerly called the 2nd Half Opener) had been scheduled for July 25-26.
Update from St. Francis Yacht Club
StFYC has canceled all of their races, including kiteboarding and windsurfing, through August 1. They were to have hosted the Laser North Americans on September 2-6, but that is also canceled. Check their racing calendar at www.stfyc.com/racing to stay up to date. The Rolex Big Boat Series, planned for September 17-20, is still in the works.
PICYA Lipton Cup Canceled
On July 10, Ted Floyd of Encinal Yacht Club and Andrew Lorenzen of South Beach YC sent the following message to the 10 yacht club teams registered for the Lipton Cup on August 7-9: “Lipton Cup competitors, it is our unfortunate duty to inform you that the 2020 Lipton Cup on San Francisco Bay has been canceled. We are instead looking forward to carrying your registrations over to the 2021 event, which will be planned around its traditional weekend in June. Please stay tuned for information on the 2021 event that will be shared with you later in the year.”
US Multihull Championship
The United States Formula 18 Association (USF18) and US Sailing have postponed the 2020 F18 Americas and US Multihull Championship, originally scheduled for September 26-October 2, hosted by San Diego Yacht Club and Mission Bay Yacht Club. Organizers from USF18, US Sailing, Mission Bay YC and SDYC are exploring dates to reschedule this combined championship in 2021.
Corpus Christi Yacht Club in Texas plans to host the 2021 Hobie Formula Wave and US Multihull Championship on November 1-5, 2021. The US Multihull Championship awards the Hobie Alter Trophy.
No Opti Worlds in 2020
The Optimist Class has canceled the 2020 Optimist World Championship. The Opti Worlds had been scheduled for July 1-11 in Riva del Garda, Italy. When that was called off due to COVID-19, the class considered offers from Brazil, Hong Kong and Spain to host the Worlds. However, with international travel still so fraught, the class has called off the championship for this year. Read more at www.optiworld.org/default/news/new/text/2020-optimist-world-championship-cancelled.
Shorthanded Sailing
Here’s something you can do: Tune in to the Yacht Racing Association’s Shorthanded Sailing Seminar. As the pandemic drags on, sailing solo or with just one other person has become even more appealing than it already was. Learn more about it on Tuesday, July 21, 7-9:30 p.m. Speakers will be San Francisco Bay shorthanded sailors Lori Tewksbury, Express 27 Hang 20; Jim Quanci, Cal 40 Green Buffalo; and Bob Johnston, Alerion 38 Surprise! Quanci and Johnston are vets of the Singlehanded Transpacific Race. Tewksbury had been preparing for a doublehanded Pacific Cup this year. There’ll be opportunities for Q&A. The $20 registration fee “helps support the YRA during this difficult racing season and will help us keep the lights on until we can get back to a full racing season.”
Get more info and sign up here: http://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/event?llr=sgtisacab&oeidk=a07eh6vozmoffd64b16.
Weather Forecasting for Mariners
And, while we’re on the topic of online learning, Chris Landsea, branch chief of the Tropical Analysis and Forecasting Branch at the National Hurricane Center, advises us that “The two Forecasting for Mariners webinars that the National Hurricane Center hosted last week are now available as recordings on our YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/nwsnhc).”
My advice is lets get some more shorthanded or singlehanded racing going which will in part help the economic pandemic which has just only begun….!