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The Rare Gem that Is the Dutch Shoe Marathon

There aren’t many dinghy regattas that bring in hundreds of boats, have a mix of juniors and seniors, and sail the entire length of a bay over several hours. But that, in a nutshell, is the Dutch Shoe Marathon. Friday saw the 47th running of what, by the numbers, is one of SoCal’s biggest regattas. Starting at Shelter Island, finishing in Coronado, and mixing it up with whatever commercial and Navy traffic might be transiting San Diego Bay, the Dutch Shoe has four divisions: A, B, and C Fleets, as well as the seniors.

A mere smattering of Sabots on San Diego Bay from a few years ago.
© 2019 San Diego Yacht Club

Paige Tillson, an 11-year-old C Fleeter from Mission Bay Yacht Club, came in first in the nearly 200-boat fleet, and held a solid lead for the entire race, according to a press release from San Diego Yacht Club. Given Southern California’s consistent and (sometimes infuriatingly) mellow sea breeze, the Dutch Shoe typically takes about three hours to sail. When asked how it felt to win the iconic regatta, Tillson said, “It’s exciting, but I’m also really tired,” SDYC reported. Tillson’s older brother Shane, a 13-year-old A Fleeter, was sailing in his fourth Dutch Shoe. “I just love this whole race. It’s so different from everything else,” SDYC said. “The hardest part is where the Navy ship is because there is a big wind shadow there. You have to be really patient because you can either pass a lot of boats or they can pass you,” he finished.

The elder Tillson alluded to the real X-factors of the Dutch Shoe: the hulking, draft-restricted warships that have made such a regular appearance in the race over the years (which is always held on a Friday) it almost seems as if they’re running in the regatta. (Those ships, as Shane Tillson noted, are also a wind-shadow factor when docked.) The Dutch Shoe becomes an extraordinary herding effort for coaches and support boats to get hundreds of Sabots down the bay.

OK, so that aircraft carrier is docked, but this photo gives some idea of the scale of Sabots vs. The Navy. Another shot from a few years ago.
© 2019 Molly Haines McKay

We cannot talk about the Dutch Shoe without discussing the Naples Sabot, the dinghy of choice and tradition in Southern California. First built in Naples, Long Beach, the Naples Sabot, which uses a leeboard, is a variation of the Charles MacGregor’s Sabot, which uses  a daggerboard — this according to Wikipedia, that most trusted of sources for real journalists. “The leeboard gives the boat additional versatility, making it easy to use as a rowboat and thus permitting it to be used as a tender or for fishing.” Another variation of MacGregor’s Sabot was the El Toro, the Bay Area’s own ultra-regional dinghy.

The Charles MacGregor’s Sabot.

While some SoCal clubs have a small fleet of the far more ubiquitous Optimist for their juniors to practice for international races, all serious junior racing is done in the Sabot, which has produced fine sailors over the years. (Some past winners of the Dutch Show represent a who’s who of San Diego sailing talent, including: Danny North, Andrew Campbell, Bill Hardesty, Lauren Maxam, Parker Shinn, Ty Reed, Katie Love, Adam Roberts, Tyler Sinks, Frank Tybor, Randy Lake, Piet van Os and many more.)

Compared to Optis, Sabots are far more idiosyncratic — both in performance and appearance — than the generic Opti, and have a variety of concepts, colors and configurations.

Carter Ott, a former sabot sailor and Dutch Shoe winner, Googled his old sail number, and found this image. “Looks like she’s in great shape. I designed the color combo. We called her ‘Buzzin’ Bumblebee.'”

There are other impressive dinghy regattas, like the El Toro’s “Bullship.” There was a Bullship held at Kaneohe Yacht Club in September 2018 for both juniors and seniors; the Bay Area Bullship is a seniors-only regatta sailing from Sausalito to San Francisco — while that’s a serious piece of water to cross, the Bullship ‘only’ draws a few dozen boats. There are few regattas that can compete with the Dutch Shoe for its size.

Or are there?

If you have a favorite dinghy regatta, please chime in. If you know why a boat that was built in California but has an Italian city’s name and has a Dutch shoe on its sail, please let us know (and help us fill the vast holes in our reporting). If you have a strong preference for, or want to share your experiences of a particular junior boat, please chime in by commenting below, or emailing us here. And please be sure to include your Boat Name, Make and Port of Call, or just tell us where you’re from.

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