The party is over. Boats are packed back into containers or road trailers and the sailors have cleaned the beaches and yards surrounding the Perth Dinghy Sailing Club. 67 International 14s were registered for the 2020 Worlds all anticipating sailing on the Swan River just inland from Freemantle W.A. were the famous ‘Freemantle Doctor’ resides. We knew it would be breeze on and we were often right, but other times the breeze was more moderate and even one day of light and shifty. Well, light and shifty in an W.A. way, lulls to 3-5 and puffs to 18 with 30-50 degree shifts.
Nine Finns signed up for the SDYC New Years Day Race with sunny skies treating the fleet that shook off the New Years Eve cobwebs and made it out on beautiful San Diego bay. Even though the line was quite long to accommodate some of the 75+ larger yachts including 12 meter El Moro, and many other big boats, all the Finns fought it out at the heavily favored pin end of the starting line.
Jeff and host All Bell start off the conversation by discussing some of his duties at the SDYC Waterfront Director. He touches on his responsibilities as regatta manager, the Junior Program, and his support to the Dockmaster’s office. From there, the two discuss the history of the Club and how long he’s been there, dating himself back to when the Spinnaker Room was the Coffee Shop. Alli Bell even jokes about him being here so long, he coached her as a kid.
Jeff reviews some of the regattas and events that take place here all year long and then Alli congratulates him on two recent awards: Southern California Yachting Association Mort Bloom Trophy and the San Diego Area Yacht Club John Rumsey Trophy.
The Last weekend of 'So Cal Finn racing' in 2019 had 11-Finns sailing in 2-day Hot Rum regatta hosted by MBYC. The Hot Rum regatta delivered beautiful sailing conditions with a wide range of breeze, something for everyone. Saturday was sunny w/ a southerly influence providing light to moderate winds with big oscilitating shifts keeping the fleet on their toes sailing inside Mission Bay on sail bay, just off the MBYC club house. Three long 'bay tour' races were run making for some fun 'navigating' tour of the bay, finishing early.... plenty of time for the FINN BAND to set up and play music Saturday night for the Finn sailors and guest-always a great time! Sunday greeted the sailors with strong breeze early w/ 3 more bay races sailed in the 12-15 knot range w/ reported puffs to 18 knots... Pretty spoiled sailing in December when sunblock must be applied and only a long sleeve t-shirt over hikers needed to stay warm in the 65 degree air temps! Our San Diego Finn Fleet continues to improve, racking up 5 of the top 6 overall places, including winning the regatta. Could not think of a better way to end the 2019 So Cal Finn season...!!! So many highs- to many to list here.
SDYC’s Annie Gardner joined us on the Sailcast this week to talk about her decades of success in sailing and windsurfing, growing up as a woman in the sport, her most recent cruises around the world and her upcoming adventures.
The conversation kicks off with a short recap on the Vixen Cruise, which she attended this fall with host Alli Bell. Recently, Annie and her husband have been cruising around the whole, visiting a multitude of locations including France, Caribbean, Bahamas, East Coast, and more. Annie talks about her recent adventures around the Atlantic including one stop in particular, Cuba.
For one team, San Diego Yacht Club’s 2020 Puerto Vallarta Race will be the first step towards a journey around the world.
Viva Mexico, a VOR 65 skippered by Erik Brockmann, will be making their racing debut during the 2020 Puerto Vallarta Race as part of their campaign to compete in The Ocean Race 2021. Brockmann’s goal is to bring Mexico back into The Ocean Race almost 50 years after Mexico’s Sayula II competed and won the first Whitbread Round the World Race in 1973-74. Among the crew we will see Co-Owners Ricardo Brockmann, Loernzo Berho and Yon Belausteguigoitia who have been competing in the PV Race during the past decade in the Vincitore and Peligroso Racing programs. Also involved in supporting the Viva Mexico project is San Diego Yacht Club’s Malin Burnham.