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Sailing to Stay Young

Anyone who says sailing is a young man’s — or young woman’s — game hasn’t met Cornelia Spanier, who turns 97 on July 26. "My aunt Connie is an amazing lady," writes Greg Clausen, who keeps his Santana 30 Wisdom in Sausalito. "She’s living life like it’s supposed to be lived — to the fullest. But we’re a family of lifelong sailors and it keeps us young.

"Connie lived in San Francisco for 37 years, then moved to Moraga on October 16, 1989. We know what happened the next day (the Loma Prieta earthquake). After two miserable years in the ‘burbs, she moved back to the Marina District, saying she didn’t care if The City fell down around her, she wasn’t going to live anywhere else. After another 22 years of city life, Connie recently decided to move to Hawaii to live near her son Barry. Opening Day on April 29 aboard our friend Scott Leishman’s Beneteau Oceanis 47 was her last grand tour of the Bay. She moved two days later.
 
"My aunt loves sailing on her namesake, Cornelia, a Westsail 42 in Lahaina. There will be lots of voyages yet to come until the really big party three years from now!"

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Boatloads of boaters worked on their tans during Opening Day. With any luck, tomorrow will bring similar conditions.
While some of us were enjoying a slow race to Vallejo last weekend, the 70-ft Volvo Ocean Race boats were mimicking the same conditions only on a much larger scale.