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Racing Into February

San Francisco Bay Area

The Singlehanded Sailing Society will follow up last Saturday’s massive Three Bridge Fiasco with their second race of the 2023 season, the Corinthian Race for singlehanders and doublehanders. The Bay tour course on Saturday, February 25, will start and finish at Golden Gate Yacht Club on the Cityfront, not at the Corinthian in Belvedere Cove. Up until COVID, the SSS ran this popular race off the CYC race deck. They moved it to the Cityfront during the pandemic lockdowns because volunteers didn’t have to actually go inside the clubhouse at GGYC  — they could set up in the parking area out front. We expect registration to open soon on Jibeset.

SSS Race Committee SUV
Last year’s SSS Corinthian race committee volunteers (Joe Balderrama, Sam McFadden and Matt Beall, with some assistance from Noah and Peet). They rigged a VHF antenna on the roof of the SUV. Last year, only one boat finished the light-air race. David Schumann and Trevor Baylis completed the 18-mile tour in a bit less than five hours on the SeaCart 30 trimaran Bottle Rocket.

The SSS has integrated boats with powered winches back into the divisions with all manual winches. Boats with powered winches had been sailing in their own separate but too-tiny divisions during the past couple of years.

Blackaller buoy rounding
In Saturday’s Three Bridge Fiasco, the competitors battle one another to round Blackaller Buoy to starboard. But a few chose to sail around the mob and rounded the mark to port. In the Corinthian Race, the SSS determines the course — it’s not skippers’ choice. Another major difference: We’d expect around 100+ entries for the Corinthian. The Three Bridge got 309. We have a post elsewhere in this ‘Lectronic edition about the Fiasco. We’ll include much more in the March issue of Latitude 38.
© 2023 Latitude 38 Media LLC / Chris

Southern California

In Los Angeles, the Santa Monica Windjammers YC will host the Super Bowl Charity Regatta on February 4 (the “Super Bowl,” which is apparently some sort of American football match, will be held on Sunday, February 12, so there’s no conflict).

Newport Harbor YC and San Diego YC will launch the 2023 offshore season with the Islands Race on February 24-25. The race will depart from Long Beach Harbor. The course passes Santa Catalina and San Clemente Islands to port before finishing at Point Loma. The total course measures approximately 142 miles. Says SDYC, “What better way to spend a weekend in February than with a view of the Pacific for miles, a chilled ocean breeze, and well-earned bragging rights at the finish line?” Last year’s race brought out a record 42 boats. Among the entries this year is 2021’s overall winner, Buzz Blackett’s Richmond-based Antrim 27C ‘io.

Islands Race start
A scene from the start of last year’s Islands Race.
© 2023 Islands Race

Midwinters North and South

Midwinter racing continues throughout the Bay Area. Some clubs hope to make up races missed due to storms in December and January. See our Calendar and click the Midwinter Series tab for a long list and the latest updates, or go to the Calendar starting on page 10 of Latitude 38.

In Southern California, the SCYA Midwinter Regatta sprawls across three weekends, February 4-5, 18-19 and 25-26 at 25 Central/Southern California venues from Morro Bay to San Diego. (SCYA stands for the Southern California Yachting Association.) As we post this story, there’s something wacky going on with the SCYA’s website. It was fine last week. Hopefully they’ll fix it shortly.

Behind the PHRF Curtain

Seadon Wijsen of North Sails will pull back the curtain on PHRF ratings in a first-event-of-the-year presentation in Corinthian Yacht Club’s Speaker Series. The sailmaker and yacht racing tactician grew up sailing in the Bay Area and has numerous championships to his credit. The Speaker Series is free, in-person, and open to the public in CYC’s ballroom in Tiburon. Reservations are strongly suggested (email [email protected]). The bar will open at 6:15 and the talk will begin at 7 p.m.

Be sure to pick up a copy of the 2023 Northern California Sailing Calendar and YRA Master Schedule, if you haven’t already gotten one. You can also view it online or download it at www.latitude38.com/issues/2023-sailing-calendar-yra-master-schedule.

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