“If I started a sailmaking company, would you buy a sail from me?” That’s what Lowell North asked his friend John Shoemaker, one afternoon in 1957, while seated at the bar of San Diego Yacht Club. John replied, “Yes, I would,” which surprised Lowell.
The 2017 Islands Race was hosted by Newport Harbor Yacht Club and San Diego Yacht Club on February 24 & 25. This year’s event featured considerable visibility and scenery for those on board, yet disappointingly light winds for the last third of the race.
The Helly Hansen National Offshore One Design (NOOD) Regatta returns to San Diego for the nineteenth time March 17-19, 2017. Sponsored by Sailing World and Helly Hansen, the NOOD is the largest national sailboat racing circuit in the United States. The three-day event, hosted by San Diego Yacht Club (SDYC) and Coronado Yacht Club, will feature sailing on three venues (two ocean and one south San Diego Bay), and one cruising course located in San Diego Bay.
Sailors all over Southern California are eagerly preparing for one of San Diego Yacht Club’s signature offshore races. The 130nm Islands Race begins on February 24, and is SDYC’s first offshore race of 2017. Following the Islands Race is the SoCal 300, the final event of California Offshore Race Week, in May and the Rum Runner race in October.
The 2017 sailing season continued this past weekend, January 28 & 29, in La Playa for one of SDYC’s signature events - the 6th annual Club Championships. As always, competitors brought their energy, talent, and competitive spirit to the race course (and the race dock). The event featured 60 races over two days that were exciting for both participants and spectators.
The wind was a little shy at the beginning of the regatta on Saturday, starting off light from the south. The Race Committee optimistically started a race, but it was abandoned when the wind shut off completely. When the breeze picked up out of the south again, racing resumed. Once again the southerly died after the second start of the first race, but this time the normal westerly had begun to fill and competitors were able to finish the race. The westerly stayed around for the rest of the day and the Race Committee was able to get 28 races in. Sunday’s racing was postponed until just before noon when the wind picked up out of the west. After that, Sunday was a perfect day, with decent wind between 3-8 knots throughout most of the afternoon and temperatures in the mid-70s.
The first stop of the California Dreamin' Match Race Series was held this weekend at the San Diego Yacht Club. Organizers and racers were challenged by light and shifty conditions on the city-front course. Race Committee managed 5 flights on Saturday, but on Sunday the winds never produced enough for a single race. Persevering with patience and emphasis on keeping the boat moving through the light conditions was Nicole Breault of St Francis Yacht Club, and her Vela Racing teammates Molly Carapiet, Karen Loutzenheiser, and Hannah Burroughs, who was named the race winner on Sunday afternoon based on Saturday’s results. The next stop in the series will take place on February 25-26 in Catalina 37s at Long Beach Yacht Club.
The Georgetown Match Racing Team consisted of A.J. Reiter ’17 (skipper), Roger Dorr '18 (main and spinnaker trimmer), Meaghan MacRae '18 (jib trimmer), and Sean Segerblom '20 (bow). Their coach is Janel Zarkowsky, currently ranked #3 in the U.S. herself. This is Janel’s fifth season of coaching at Georgetown, and her teams have now won three of the last five ICSA Match Race Nationals, and finished third in the other two! The following are excerpts from an interview with the Team after the Championship, by Dave Perry for The Dial Up newsletter.
San Diego Yacht Club is proud to congratulate club members Cole Harris, winner of the Hartley Award as the Junior Yachtsman of the Year, and Joanne O'Dea, winner of the Alonzo de Jessop Memorial Award.
In the late 1950s, SDYC member Herb Sinhoffer said, “Why don’t we have a winter series where we start the boats on their handicaps so that they all get to the bar at the same time and enjoy a bit of rum to celebrate the race and our great San Diego weather!” Fast forward almost 60 years later, the Hot Rum Series is now one of the most popular fall sailing events in San Diego. This year, San Diego Yacht Club hosted the Series on three different Saturdays: November 5 and 19 and December 3.
San Diego Yacht Club member and sailing legend Dennis Conner was honored with the New York Yacht Club Medal on Thursday, November 10 at NYYC’s Clubhouse in downtown Manhattan.