On September 16-17, San Diego Yacht Club (SDYC) hosted the 2017 Finn Pacific Coast Championship. With 22 Finns racing, this event became the largest Finn regatta (aside from Nationals or Olympic Regattas) in North America in years. In September 2018, SDYC will host the Finn North American Masters Championship on the same waters that Finn sailors raced on this past weekend.
SDYC hosted the 14th annual Beneteau Cup on September 9 & 10. It was a flawless weekend for 37 Benetaus to be both out on the water and celebrating back at the club after racing according to the event organizers Rick Day and Barrett Canfield.
Similar to the past few years, South Coast Yachts and UK Sails provided a classroom training session at SDYC on Friday night. The Friday night training is important because it sets the tone for the race- the sailors are there to have fun, but they will have help along the way as they learn how to use their boat in a more competitive way. Following the educational component, competitors raced windward-leeward courses in Coronado Roads on Saturday followed by a random leg race in San Diego Bay on Sunday.
Thanks very much for supporting me and my crew Madeleine Mcgrath at the 2017 Snipe World Championships. The regatta was very windy, with big waves at a very tight interval. The conditions were very different than anything we have in Southern California or most of the United States.
I felt our boat speed was very good in the practice days. The practice days were about 14 to 18 knots. This was the first Worlds I ever sailed in where the fleet was split in two, a gold and silver based on a two day four race qualifying series. The gold fleet racing was 3 days and a total of 6 races including your qualifying score. The 3 days were by far the windiest days of the regatta. The first day was the lightest about 15 knots, but the last two days were in the lower 20s.
San Diego Yacht Club will host the 2017 Finn Pacific Coast Championship (PCC) for the fourth consecutive year on September 16 & 17. The event chair and SDYC’s Vice Commodore, Mike Dorgan, is expecting upwards of 20 competitors from Southern California to race over the weekend.
The SDYC Finn fleet has grown from 3 to 12 sailors over the past year. A major attraction of the Finn fleet that has helped fuel this growth is the need for a single-handed, easy-to-sail race boat without the stress of acquiring crew for races. Plus, the Finn boats are more closely matched and racing is quite literally man vs. man.
The J/22 Fleet Summer Beer can series finished up on Wednesday 8/30, with 56 races completed, 3 to 5 short races over 14 Wednesday evenings. All fun, no spinnakers. Usually 4 to 6 boats (7 max) raced in La Playa and then enjoyed refreshments and sea stories on the dock after racing! Jim Dorsey and Sue Djikman win the series. Ben Nieting was 2nd and Joey Richardson was 3rd. Julie Mitchell was 4th. Prizes were handed after the last race!
Proving that Beneteaus are not just for cruising, San Diego Yacht Club will host the 14th annual Beneteau Cup for 36.7 one design racing, First series, and Cruising class racing on September 9 & 10. Additionally, the weekend will serve as the West Coast Championship for the 36.7’s. This unique event brings together sailors from all over Southern California, with some traveling from as far away as Arizona and Texas to race.
Event organizers Rick Day and Barrett Canfield refocused the event in 2010 to include an educational component for those participants who are new to racing or those who want to refresh their skills. South Coast Yachts and UK Sails plan to provide classroom training sessions on Friday, September 8th for those competitors interested in learning about the basics of sailing. This session provides a valuable overview of the race course, what to do at the starting line, and advice on mark roundings, among other things.
Anticipation is building for the 2018 Puerto Vallarta Race as race entries begin to roll in. So far, a mix of boats including Santa Cruz 50 and 52s, Pac 52s, TP 52s, and two multihulls will be back for the next installment.
When checking in with a handful of the race’s past competitors, we discovered what the race means to them, why they register year after year, and for some, how it feels to win the event.
Dennis Pennell, skipper of Blue Blazes, will be back in 2018 to attempt a third win. “I have had the good fortune with my Reichel/Pugh 50 Blue Blazes to have been the overall winner in the San Diego to Puerto Vallarta race twice- in 2006 and 2012. In my 60 plus years of racing sailboats those two wins were the highlight of my racing career. I am doing it in 2018 in my 80th year because for me it represents a thousand miles of sheer fun!”
Ten international teams of four women each gathered in Valle de Bravo, Mexico to compete in the 2017 International Women’s Keelboat Regatta (IWKR). The IWKR is a US Sailing championship with a rich history dating back to its inauguration in 1985. The championship alternates between a national and international venue each year and has most recently been sailed in J70s. The race format is based on the Championship League format where races are targeted to run approximately 15 minutes and breaks in between are often five minutes or less.
This fall SDYC is hosting the 2017 Moth and A-Cat North American Championships in the waters off of Crown Cove on Coronado Island. This location is new for us as most of SDYC’s races are held in San Diego Bay or Coronado Roads. For a local perspective, we interviewed Peace Officer/Lifeguard John Anderson of California State Parks & Recreation who shared some insight on the area.
A massive round of congratulations is in order for newly crowned Drew Freides on PACIFIC YANKEE. He and his team which includes Morgan Reeser and Charlie Smythe are the 2017 Melges 20 U.S. National Champions.
It took eight challenging races over the course of three days and Freides’ extremely consistent performances to ultimately win the event by one point, ahead of John Kilroy’s SAMBA PA TI finishing second. Jason Michas’ MIDNIGHT BLUE came third, Liam Kilroy’s WILDMAN was fourth and Jim Wilson’s OLEANDER rounded out the final top five standings.