Sailors Get Lit for Lighted Yacht Parade

The festive season is well underway, and for the Bay Area, nothing says it better than lighted boats parading up and down the foreshores. Last Saturday, December 7, around 35 boats lined up to parade past the judges in the Oakland/Alameda Estuary between Wind River and the Fortman Marina’s public pier. Entries included sailboats, powerboats, dragon boats, and the local Fire and Rescue and fire boats. Boats and crews went all out for this year’s event to the theme “Merry Estuary.”

This was the 48th Oakland/Alameda Estuary Lighted Yacht Parade. And the photos we received suggest it was a very merry evening indeed!

Most lighted yacht parades will include prizes in various categories. This year’s overall and Grand Prize winner of the Oakland/Alameda Estuary Lighted Yacht Parade was Alameda Community Sailing Center’s Optimist train with skipper Emily Zugnoni.

Below are more winners;

1st Sailing: Eric Korbas, Amanda, Island Yacht Club (#91)

2nd Sailing: Kwame Copeland, Espresso, Fortman (#71)

3rd Sailing: Stephanie DiMock, Electra, Alameda (#22)

1st Power: Bryan Maas, Uno Maas, Encinal (#98)

2nd Power: Jerry Deal, Dragon Lady, Barbary Coast (#49)

3rd Power: Jason/Taryn Loger, Bitt, Benicia (#58)

And then there were the boats that didn’t fit into the sailboat or powerboat categories:

1st Other: Brett Barrett, Pops (#90)

2nd Other: Encinal Junior Sailing, Encinal (#21)

3rd Other: KP Dragons, Dragon Sleigh, Jack London Square (#62)

There’s more to come! San Francisco, Richmond Yacht Club, City of Sausalito, San Diego Bay and Dana Point Harbor are all lighting up the water this weekend. See the full list of events in our Calendar.