On-Board Reporting on the Woodies Invitational

One of the great perks of covering our wonderful sport is that in almost every edition of Latitude 38, I get the privilege of writing about a regatta in which I participated. I think that’s pretty unique. The 49ers beat writers don’t get to suit up in the red and gold on Sunday. The Giants columnists don’t get to take at-bats every day (though they can’t be much worse than the Giants this year), but as Latitude 38’s racing editor, I get to compete in the sport I write about regularly.

I was out on the water for the 2026 Woodies Invitational at St. Francis Yacht Club on June 26 through 28, racing on Three Boys and a Girl (StFYC), the Knarr that my dad, Hans Baldauf, has co-owned with legendary Knarr skipper Chris Perkins since well before I was born.

This weekend, I was in my normal position on the bow of the boat. My dad was in his usual jib-trimmer spot, and Chris, as ever, was driving. The main trimmer role was filled by my good friend and former Connecticut College sailing crew, Alejandro Amezcua. Alejandro flew out to the West Coast for the weekend to come and race with us, an idea that he and I devised at a karaoke bar in Boston.

With StFYC’s Wednesday Evening Series, we were able to get in a warm-up race on Wednesday to get Alejandro accustomed to the Bay. Wednesday’s race was a promising start to the ever-enjoyable Woodies weekend, as we won the race, giving us a good feeling.

The Woodies have always started with a single Friday evening race (followed by a raucous Friday night party), followed by two full days of racing on Saturday and Sunday. In the past few years, we had consistently finished between second and fourth in the Woodies.

We have often joked in the past that you can’t win the Woodies on Friday night, but you sure can lose them.

Continue reading to find out how they did it.