Sailing on San Francisco Bay

Huntington High Sierra Regatta Report

2009-08-05T15:06:00.000-07:00

Huntington High Sierra Regatta Report
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“I can’t wait until …”

Huntington Lake, one of the most Southern lakes in the Sierra mountain range offers a unique blend of warm air, cold water and fresh breeze that runs down the length of a somewhat narrow lake. Capping out 7,000 feet Huntington certainly has to be one of the best lake sailing venues in the west.

This year was no exception. A record number of boats vie for the opportunity to race here. Historically, the US forest service careful guards the number of sailboats that have access to the lake. This year was no exception. The High Sierra keelboat weekend broke attendance records with over 131 boats on what was supposed to be a 100-boat limit…oops. Fresno Yacht club flawlessly runs this event and has done so since the mid-50.

The normal cast of mixed PHRF boats showed along with the Ultimate 20’s always a mainstay at this event. This year the Vipers were awarded a one-design start (on the same line as the U20’s). I went out of my way to thanks the RC promising them 8-10 boats for next year’s event.

I can’t WAIT until we have numbers like the East Coast and can pack 25 Vipers onto the lake for a West Coast Championship. Perhaps we’ll be rewarded one day by hosting a North Americans here, as the U20’s offered in 2008, a hugely fun event!

Friday’s practice saw the lake filled with boats running the various courses and reveling in the 85° air temperature. Garett and I ended up sailing 2 up this event as Mahalynn had too much work to escape, preferring employment to the obvious alternative; she stayed back in the Bay Area this year. After seeing the pics from this race she vows not to make that mistake EVER again.

The racecourses take full advantage of the varying conditions along the length of the lake. Fresh breeze on the start line sailing up to light air at the top, banging corners all the way down the entire lake to the final rounding mark at the riverhead and a quick upwind finish back at the ramp.

Saturday’s first race was very light at the start. The line was full with 4 Vipers and 6 U20’s keeping it busy. The key to the start is to make it to the left side of the lake/course first to sail the lift up the shoreline. It’s almost a beeline where the first one to that side often gets the holeshot at the weather mark.

The wind freshened to 12-14 for the second race. Hard fought position changes, a few miscues and mistakes left Team Dion’s “Coup De Rouge” with her second first of the regatta, thus sewing up first place.

Most of the teams stayed in the campgrounds or the small cabins up behind the launch ramp. As is normal with Viperers, parties were heard running late into the night. The camaraderie between the teams in the West is legendary…lots of exchanges of ideas and tactics keeping everyone on the same page for the next days racing. Team BoomSlang split up in the pre-race period to help another boat deal with some trimming and dousing issues. That’s Viper sailing at it’s best…the front of the fleet helping the back of the fleet to hone their skills and tighten up the racing.

Well, it certainly worked. The first leeward turning mark on the only race of the day found 3 boats all within inches (actually prods over heads) and everyone gibing hard to make it to clear air and the freshening breeze in the middle of the lake. With its two-up crew, BoomSlang blasted out onto a high-speed plane and led the bottom mark by 3 minutes, taking first for the last race and second overall in the regatta.

A beachside post-race awards program was held and wonderful, handmade redwood plaques were issued to the winners. The 56th running of the High Sierra regatta was concluded…another fine job by the Fresno Yacht Club.

The Rondar West Coast reps had a brochure rack mounting on BoomSlang’s trailer. There was a constant buzz of folks hanging out, ogling the Viper and over 30 brochures made it into their hands.

Huntington Lake is certainly a GREAT venue for the Viper. The Arizona and West Coast fleets will likely include the High Sierra Regatta into the West Coast Viper Circuit for 2010. Come join us at this Alpine lake. Fresh breeze, good camping and great friends. It really doesn’t get any better than this.

Long Beach Race Week

2009-07-02T09:46:00.000-07:00

We spent the last weekend racing Hull #104 "BoomSlang" at Long Beach Race Week. Alamitos Bay is the perfect venue for the sportboats, the Viper 640 in particular. This turned out to be the first year of a one-design start for the Viper. We had 6 boats on the line. Two were chartered from local owners and the furthest traveled was a tie between us and Laurent from Phoenix.

We pulled up mid-day on Thursday to a freakin' sandstorm it was blowing so hard. A quick rig up and we're out on the water having a ball.

Friday the wind subsided considerably. We softened up the rig a bit and managed two thirds. Still trying to make the boat go fast in lighter air. The highlight of Friday was the second race, a one-hour, 45-minute, six leg ordeal. The top three boats finished within 1 foot of each other screaming downwind. Dave Morse and Glen VanHeel traded places a few times on the final leg of the race with Dave's #38 "Sheriff Bart" taking the win. The poor race committee had no time to blow three separate finishes. One-design racing at it's very best !!

Saturday the wind filled in a bit and we took a 2nd in the first race, then finished up the day with two firsts. Team Coup De Rouge lead by Skipper Laurent and crewed by Viper veterans John Riddell and Lucian Sahali put the pressure on with great sailing and solid tactics.

On Sunday the competition was hot with the International 14 veterans led by Jeff Young on #33 "Happy Endings." We traded place on 1st and second finishing within seconds of each other.

Our goal is to double the size of the fleet for next years Long Beach Race Week. Come join in the fun !!

photos courtesy of Rich Roberts

1	104	BoomSlang	Drew Harper	3	3	2	1	1	2	1	13
2	38	Sheriff Bart	David Morse	2	1	4	3	3	3	4	20
3	34	snake eyes	Glenn VanHeel	1	6	1	4	4	4	3	23
4	33	Happy Endings	Jeff Young	4	2	5	7 dnf	7 dnc	1	2	28
5	31	Coup De Rouge	Laurent Dion	5	4	3	2	2	7 dnf	7 dns	30
6	601	Aqua Baby	Tom Dent	6	5	6	5	7 dnf	5	7 dns	41

Charleston Race Week !!

2009-05-07T09:26:00.000-07:00

Viper Racing at Charleston Race Week.

I still can’t get this smile off my face. What a complete and unadulterated blast.

If you’re a west coast sailor, you owe it to yourself to take in a few of the major east coast regattas. Great participation and the Atlantic is a fun ocean.

Landed in Charleston late Thursday, just in time to catch the last of the skippers meeting. The skipper of the boat, Dan Taylor suggested that we go sailing. Kurt, the bowguy, a local college sailor was stoked, so off we went.

My first sail in Charleston harbor was greeted with a pod of Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphins off our portside. What a delight !!

We went through a series of tacks and jibes, worked on sets and douses and hustled back to the party on the beach at CRW central. Some huge sponsors for this event adds up to some great parties. With 37 Vipers registered for the event, the largest fleet in the regatta, there were many, many opportunities to meet the other sailing teams. Paul Young, the owner of Rondar, the English company that builds the boat, flew in from England to hang out with the fleet, lend his support and do some on-water coaching. He was joined by Rondar USA manager and Viper designer, Brian Bennett. These guys went out of their way to help every single Viper owner to sail faster, better and safer. They recently introduced the Viper tuning guide. I’ve been sailing a loooong time and I can’t remember such dedication from a class association or builder since the good old Hobie fleet 16 days.

The event was hosted by Charleston Harbor Resort and Marina and they couldn’t have found a better spot. Great beach, awesome parties, pool, facilities, you name it. Oh yeah, and the perfect marina location for racing from.

Here’s some GREAT Video of the Friday Racing.

Three days of racing on the uber-fun Viper is JUST what I needed. This boat is immensely fun and easy to go fast on. We sailed hard, crashed hard, partied hard and what can I say…lived large. Check out all the info from Charleston Race Week and more on the Viper Class site.

The West Coast Demo Viper, #104 “BoomSlang” will soon arrive. We’ll be posting up a series of demo sails around the West Coast on the Sailing Anarchy Sportboat Forum.

Life’s short…..Sail Fast !!

I've Been SnakeBitten. The Viper 640 is coming to Cal.

2009-01-20T08:06:00.001-08:00

(photos and video from the recent Texas Viper Demo)

I just got back from Arizona racing hull #72 at the Leukemia Cup. It was the first time my crew had raced the Viper, though, as a team, we have about a dozen regattas under our belt. The conditions varied widely from zero to nearly 20 knots, so we got a sampling of most the conditions you're likely to see.

I have to tell you, I'm thoroughly impressed with the range of the boat. It performs much better than any of the other 20' sportboats. I've sailed the Melges 20, the Laser SB3, the Open 5.70 and I own an Ultimate 20.

The Viper flat out FLIES in lighter air. In 5 knots TWS, we sailed with 4-4.5 knots boatspeed. The reason? The Viper has a remarkably narrow beam waterline but a long waterline length. This adds greatly to the light air capability. Even in ghoster breezes we could get the boat moving very well...typically 2+ knots, something you're simply not going to acheive in a boat with a wider beam waterline.

In the middle range, 10-12, the boat quickly jumps onto a light plane. Every thing about it is easy. My crew consists of myself, a 150 lb man and a 130 lb woman. My lady crew has no problem performing every task on the boat. She ended up being the jib/spinny trimmer in all conditions, even 20 knots.

The last day of racing found the fleet in 18-20, puffs perhaps to 22. This was obviously the fun day. The Viper has the right controls to depower the rig. Bendy carbon mast, big purchase on the Gnav, strong cunningham and fine-tune jib halyard tensioner. We had no problem sailing the boat flat, even reaching up a bit with the kite. We typically saw speeds in the 12-14 knot range and hit our top (according to the Velocitek) at 16.8. That particular reach was the topic of conversation at the post race celebration. :-) We crashed the boat once and it was very forgiving. One big ease on the spinsheet, a hard pull on the rudder and whooosh, out she squirted onto a plane, fully in control.

The fleet was a wonderful group of sailors. There was at least one woman on every boat and one boat was crewed by the owners kids. We were immediately made to feel warm and welcome within a group that has sailed together for years. Quite unusual in fleet one-design sailing.

The boat has it all. Speed, quality, affordability, grass-roots and manufacturer support, strong but friendly fleet competition and steady growth across the country.

Having tried them all, I chose the Viper am very pleased I did.

Try one soon. If there's anything I can do to assist you in that endeavor, please do let me know.

Here's some video taken at the latest demo in Texas.

Still photos of the same event.

Here's a short video from YouTube.

Stella Gets her First Bullet (Win)

2009-01-08T20:34:00.000-08:00

3 races out of the barn and we got our first win. Of course it was heavy air...something we sail well in. We sailed the Berkeley mid-winters two day series in December. The first day we were still trying to get the boat on her numbers. Lumpy seas and light air left us middle of the pack trying to find speed. Sunday was a different story. Learning much from the lessons the fleet taught us on Saturday, we found great speed from the starting line to the first mark, fell back to second for a brief period but regained the lead and never looked back. After the nearly 1.5 hour race we ended up overtaking most of the fleet that started 10 minutes ahead of us and finished over 3 minutes ahead of the 2nd place U20. Garett and Mahalynn had flawless sail/boat handling....quick sets, perfect douses and great trim in breezes from 12-20 knots.

We're back out on the race course this weekend for another couple days of racing. Garett's out of town so Mahalynn and I are going to race doublehanded in preparation for the upcoming 3 Bridge Fiasco...a popular single/double handed mid-winter race with nearly 100 boats on the line.

This is FUN!!!

Team Stella - Racing At Last!

2008-11-26T08:09:00.000-08:00

Team Stella has competed a couple of times since my last entry. Stella's first race out of the barn was the Great Pumpkin Regatta hosted by Richmond Yacht Club. We managed 9 boats so earned a one design start.

Crewed by myself, Garett and Mahalynn, we had a great time. We're the rookies of the group and finished middle of the pack, but saw some good speed in a couple of the races. We have a pervasive problem with the rudder and keel humming badly anything faster than 7 knots so we are working on that issue to get the boat up to her true potential.

Day one was a three race, windward/leeward buoy series. Day two was a reverse pursuit around both Angel Island and Alcatraz, either way. The predominant path was to round clockwise. We opted for a counter-clockwise approach, which probably would have worked VERY well, had we not sailed into a huge hole behind Angel Island. As it turns out, the top finishing boats on the water all went the same way we did, albeit further North to skirt Angel Island's wind shadow....lesson learned.

We put Stella through her paces on that race. We got to Alcatraz late and were welcomed by a huge ebb tide and puffs to 25. We pounded around the corner of Alcatraz, took a couple of hard broaches but ended up having a ball and really learned just how hard you can beat up a Ultimate 20 :-)

This is CERTAINLY the funnest group of people I've ever been graced to share the water with. These guys know how to sail fast and party hard!

U20 East Coast Championships

Our next adventure was to race the East Coast Championships on Lake Norman, NC. We hoped for 30 Ultimate 20's on the start but a few boats just couldn't make the trip. We ended up with 24!! Don Corey, a legend within the U20 class, was kind enough to loan us his #1 boat (thanks Don) and we couldn't have been more pleased. This boat was perfectly well setup with a NEW set of Doyle Boston sails...simply awesome.

We had a great practice day on Friday, sailed 3 races on Saturday (yup, middle of the pack again :-( and 2 VERY light air (read; nada for breeze) races on Sunday. One thing we learned is that San Francisco sailors are spoiled with all of our breeze. We need to sail in light air more often as that's what the rest of the world predominantly sails in.

As a result, we're entering the St. Pete NOODS in February on another loaned boat "Running with Scissors" (great name eh?....thanks to Steve Rose, another 2 boat Ultimate 20 owner). We're campaigning Stella down to the San Diego NOODS in March.

We're working hard to get ready for the April Pac Sail Expo show and hope to have some exciting news about the Ultimate 20 and YES, the Antrim 25....keep your ears open.

Finally, I leave you with this great shot of Team Stella in tight quarters at the mark rounding, ECC's

2008-10-23T15:29:00.000-07:00

Well we managed to find a used U20 locally. After scouring the entire country one showed up in Santa Cruz! The market is so hot for these we pounced on the boat.

Stella is hull #156. I raced against her when I was crewing on Trent’s U20, #27 UFO at the Ultimate 20 North Americans at Lake Huntington. Actually, Stella was on charter to the class president and he HIT us. We were on starboard tack and he just got a bit overpowered and couldn’t duck us. He did his penalty turns and all was good, except on of UFO’s lifelines got broken. Easy fix.

First thing I looked at when I was buying the boat was the bow, where they hit us LOL, no marks.

Stella came well equipped with an older set of Boston/Doyle sails, galvanized trailer, and all the class-required gear except for a motor. We bought a Torqeedo electric and it powers the boat around great.

We thought long and hard about putting a bottom on the boat immediately so that we could leave her in the water at South Beach. We opted, instead, to put the boat over at Treasure Island Sailing Center where we’ll drysail her throughout the winter.

Only had one race on her so far, the Leukemia Cup. Had a great showing, leading the fleet for a bit…ended up 7th. LOTS of fun.

The U20 has gone through a few production companies. It started out in the Ron Moore boat shop in Santa Cruz, and then Santa Cruz Yachts (builder of the Sc-27’s and Yukon Jack) took a stab at building them. US Yachts built the majority of them under the USI logo. Production moved to Abbot boatbuilding in Canada but a fire gutted the plant destroying all but one boat. Luckily the molds were spared.

Recently the production moved to
/index.php">Columbia Yachts in Santa Ana, CA. Yes, this is the rebirth of the original Columbia Yachts founded by Dick Valdes in the late 50’s. His son, Vince has reformed the company and is building the U20 alongside his own Sportboat, the Columbia 30 and the awesome Antrim Class 40. Vince uses state of the art infusion and I have to say, these boats are looking perfect. The weight is dead on class minimum, they are strong, light and gorgeous. Columbia has worked hard to bring the production into the new millennium with infusion. Now that this learning curve is behind them, look for some ramped up production, given a somewhat more robust economy

We’ve sailed all the sportboats in production and have to say, the U20 is the perfect blend of speed, comfort (has a cabin that’ll sleep 2 comfortably) durability and price. The owners group is fanatical about this boat. The resale is ridiculously high with used boats generally selling for more than they were bought. Construction on these boats is historically at the top of their class and Columbia has improved on that already lofty performance. Get this, in the 08 U20 North Americans, an amateur team on hull #6, yes hull 6, beat out a pro team skippered by none other than Brad Boston himself (6 time North America Champion). A testament to a well built boat. You’ll not see this in virtually any other class in sailing. It really is the “Ultimate 20 Footer.”

If you want to sail one, let us know. We’re ALWAYS looking for a reason to get out there.

2008-08-11T09:05:00.000-07:00

WOW, it’s been a busy summer. Dropped offline for a bit doing way too many things. Uber-multitasking.

I (Spinnaker) bought an Ultimate 24 in May, hull number 2 that was made in 2003 by Elkhorn Composites, the maker of the molds. It’s an awesome boat! We hauled her out at Berkeley Marine Center and put a new bottom on her. We’re trying a new approach, Seahawk Sharkskin bottom paint with carbon fiber shavings mixed in so that the paint will burnish hard and fast. So far it’s worked great.

Garett, Spinnaker’s operations manager, and I sailed the boat back from Berkeley. What a delight. Since then we’ve been racing the boat at the South Beach Yacht Club Friday night beercans. Still sorting out some boat issues. We’ve borrowed a kite from Pete’s U24 as well as his hold headsail. Another U24 owner, Nick Roosevelt, gave us his old main, thanks Nick.

The boat has a new full battened North Main and Jib, both cut small and made of heavy cloth for charters. Also there’s a new North ‘shy’ kite (smaller for high winds). These sails are perfect for sailing in the slot on those 20-25 knot days.

Just last week we took down the mast and removed the boom and bowsprit. These are all carbon and were finished in a clear coat, showing the beauty of the carbon fiber, but the finish had broken down and was flaking off in sheets. We’re painting all the carbon white with Awlgrip epoxy. This will keep these parts in good shape for many years to come.

There’s been quite a lot of conversation of turning the Ultimate 24 into the Antrim 25. The changes would simply be the addition of the Antrim articulating bowsprit and adding 50 lbs to the keel bulb, bringing the ballast to 800 total lbs.

The articulating bowsprit is a great idea, taken from the Antrim 27. It allows you to rotate the kite to windward up to 27° making for much better VMG letting you drive deeper with speed.

The 50 lbs additional ballast is to give the boat full offshore status under the new rules. Garett and I are trying to figure out a way to do the Doublehanded Transpac on our 24. FUN!!

While the additional ballast is easy to do, the necessary modifications to the deck molds to incorporate the rotating sprit is tough. Lots of work and of course, it changes the boat so the one-design status is under jeopardy.

I'm proposing to the class that the A25's race with the U24's in one design but they have to keep their sprits centered and the U24's get to sail with 100 lbs more in crew weight to offset the 50 lbs in the A25 keelbulb. These are similar concessions when the Antrim 27 went from an aluminum mast to all carbon.

We hope to have additional U24’s and A25's coming into the fleet by early 2009. Keep your eyes out for these speedsters.

Oh yeah, the charter requirements for these are:

BCC (ASA 103) certification
5 charters on the 22-27’s
Intro to Sportboat Certification

After you get 5 charters on the 24’s, you can take the Assymetrical Kite Class which allows you to sail the Bay with the Kite.

Fast really is FUN!

Racing on the Ultimate 24 (soon to be Antrim 25)

2008-05-31T07:29:00.001-07:00

Pete, the owner was short on crew for the YRA series, this race being sailed out of Golden Gate Yacht Club so he asked Garett and I to join in. Pete’s the guy who loaned us his U24 for the Pacific Sail Expo.

I have to say I was excited at the prospect. The Ultimate 24 (U24) was the Sailing World “Boat of the Year” in 2004 for good reason. It’s a nearly perfect blend of speed and utility. Very lightweight at 2040 lbs (with 750 in the keel bulb) and still it offers a full (for 24 footer standards) interior...amazing. There’s even a porta potti in case you have lady crew :-)

Garett and I met the boat with Pete and his regular crew, Kelly, aboard. Winds promised to be heavy and I was nervous with anticipation. The yacht club was all abuzz with pre-race preparations from a dozen boats nearby. Lots of people doing lots of last minute things. We rigged up the new sails Pete just had Santa Cruz sails design and build for the boat. Nice stuff...push away from the dock and we’re gone.

My first sensation is just how stable this ultra-ultra light boat is. The U24 is a cored fiberglass boat with carbon fiber reinforcements throughout, a carbon fiber mast, boom and bowsprit. It feels light, in a substantial way...hard to explain.

Pre-race maneuvers go well. Pete’s a good helm guy and Kelly knows the boat well so Garett and I just sort of blend in like we belong. We nail a solid start for the beat to weather heading up to Blackhauler buoy at Crissy Field. It’s uneventful except for the building wind. There’s some discussion as to setting the asymmetrical spinnaker and if we have indeed rigged it right for hoisting. We round the windward mark, still a little unsure if we’re setup properly but what the hell, hoist away....WRONG! We’ve hoisted the kite (spinnaker) upside down, that is to say, the clew is flying at the head of the sail. I hate it when they don’t mark those corners with the word “clew” LOL. We actually tried to sail it that way, just to see if we could. Bad Idea, very slow and not too photogenic. A quick douse and reset has us clipping along at 15-16 knots sailing toward the leeward mark, #1 which lies ENE of Alcatraz about half a mile. A pretty uneventful leg of the race except I now realize we’re racing against not only another U24 in our class, but a Flying Tiger too and not just a Flying Tiger but the boat that has been beating all the other Tigers (including the one I occasionally race on!)

The spinnaker douse at the mark goes smoothly, we turn the mark and start our beat to weather. The tide still has some flood left in it so we head off to sail close to the City Front to stay out of the incoming current. The wind has built to a steady 20 knots but the U24 handles this with ease. The other U24 reefs, which turns out to be slower and while they rounded the mark well in front of us (our little fiasco with the first spinnaker set slowed us considerably) we more than make up for it gaining perhaps 30 boat lengths and rounding the windward mark well ahead of them.

The wind has built to a solid 26-28 knots now with 30+knot gusts. We decide to set the kite cautiously and are we glad we did. It’s a WILD ride back down to #1. The boat is skipping along the wave tops. We’re all yelling a screaming like kids on a roller coaster. Pete calmly mentions that we just broke his boats previous 17 knot speed record by hitting 18.4 knots. Certainly something to celebrate. The Other U24 has sailed a great downwind leg and is right beside us. The Flying Tiger is off to port and having a world of trouble...they’ve crashed (broached) the boat hard and can’t seem to get things under control. We urge Pete to just look at the waves, the boat, the kite and get us to the mark. A good douse and mark rounding have us pounding, and I mean POUNDING our way back to the Cityfront and the finish line. The chop built to a steep 3-4 feet and the wind was gusting 35 knots plus. The other U24 was right next to us. We traded tacks all the way back to the Golden Gate Yacht Club and they managed to beat us by a couple of boat lengths. The final beat was filled with exhilaration and carnage. We saw several boats lose their masts, many spinnaker crashes (broaches) and general mayhem among the fleet.

Yup, these are tough little ocean racers, fast and fun. I’m so looking forward to adding these well made sportboats to our fleet....soon!

2008-05-10T07:55:00.000-07:00

Hauling out large Sailing Catamarans

Every two years, Sea Raven has to come out of the water, or drydock, as we say. with most boats, this is a fairly easy and accessible task. There’s dozens of boatyards surrounding San Francisco Bay, from Sacramento all the way through the City, East Bay and beyond. Pull your boat into the slipways, a big hoist pulls over the bow, lowers a few straps, lifts the boat, steam cleans the bottom and places her in the yard supported by jackstands.

Unfortunately, things aren’t so simple with Catamarans. M

ost are too wide to fit into the slipways and between the legs of the moving hoist. Traditionally big Cats are hauled on either a marine rail or a lifting drydock. Both of these methods are normally used to haul BIG, heavy ships. While Catamarans are very wide, they aren’t particularly ‘big’ in the ship sense. Both drydocks and railways are quite expe

nsive to use...something Catamaran owners just have to deal with. Our normal marine rail in Sausalito was so busy (there are fewer and fewer of these every year) so they simply couldn’t squeeze us in for a good six months. Sea Raven is US Coast Guard certified and as such has prescripted inspections. We needed to get boat hauled before May 1.

A friend of mine, Hans, who owns a couple of commercial boats told me about a little yard in Napa, Ca that specializes in hauling big Cats (and all sorts of boats). They use a rather unique marine rail system and they aren’t small at all. Quite to the contrary, they might have more boats in their yard than I’ve ever seen in any other yard, literally hundreds. They store what looks like most of the commercial herring fleet. Add in the odd seaplane and some contraption called “tin can” and you have an eclectic mix of things that supposed to be floating.

Napa lies 8 hours north, by water, of our San Francisco location. What starts out as a normal delivery from point to point ends up turning into a lovely sightseeing trip up one of America’s most beautiful waterways. The mudflats of San Pablo Bay give way to the vineyard lined shores of the river, quite a sight to behold.

We’ve hauled Sea Raven out on many marine rails, but never one like this. Most rails you just pull the boat up onto a BIG electric winch. It’s very much like pulling a ski boa t out of the lake, just in bigger proportions. Yes, I’m oversimplifying it, but you get my point. The Napa yard has a large rail car a big winch BUT instead of the boat sitting on the rail car, the boats belly or ‘bridge deck’ (the expanse between the two hulls) rests on the car. There’s all sorts of engineering that has to be factored into this style of haulout; where the main structural members of the boat are located, how much stress they can take, where to place supports and pads...it’s all pretty complicated.

Garett and I were filled with visions of all sorts of things going awry. Sea Raven has never hauled on ‘her belly.’ Add to that, a fair crosswind and the necessity to place Sea Ravens fiberglass belly within a 2 or 3 inch tolerance in a 15 knot crosswind, you get the idea.

Surprisingly, it worked, thankfully. Now begins the task at hand, pulling shafts, props, sanding, more sanding, painting, more painting, pull out an unused generator for rebuilding, more sanding and painting. Finally the easing of the boat down the rail, into the water and the truly lovely ride through all the vineyards and beauty that is Napa Valley back to our cozy little harbor in San Francisco. Thanks Mike at Napa Valley Marina, you run a great yard!

Back at South Beach, in her berth...Whew...what a journey.

Pacific Sail Expo

2008-04-28T16:49:00.000-07:00

What a whirlwind that was, Boat Show Week.

It’s our re-entry into boat sales. The Ultimate 20 we were displaying was fresh out of the molds, second boat from the new production line. Lots of jobs still to do finishing up the boat...gear to install, hatches, blocks, cleats, etc. Had to haul the boat up from Southern Cal, fit it with a keel in Santa Cruz, deliver it to Alameda (Thanks Rob and Jeff) for a ramp launch and quick motor to Jack London Square.

We borrowed an Ultimate 24 from a great owner (Thanks Peter) cleaned her up and put her in as well. The Antrim 25 is based on the Ultimate 24 with the addition of the Antrim Articulated Bowsprit, a different main hatch and an improved roller furling deck site. Peter’s boat is fresh out of the yard with a freshly painted carbon spar, sprit and boom. He keeps the boat nearly new so it was perfect for the show. This boat has over a hundred races on it and people at the show were surprised it wasn’t a new boat. Good luck on the Coastal Cup with her Peter!

First day of the show was filled with the usual last minute hustle...all normal stuff. The gates open and viola, Ultimate 20’s are back on the sportboat scene. Woohoo!!! Lots of U20 owners came by to check her out and many, many prospective new owners. It’s obvious that this little sportboat has been sorely missed in the market.

The weather was forgiving (for once, no rain), for at least the first few days, then the weekend turned cold and uberwindy...20-25 in the afternoons. Too much for demos but we still managed some on Sunday, thanks to Trent Watkins for bringing UFO down from Richmond. Trent took a prospective boat owner out on Thursday as well, but broke a 14 year old rudder strap at the weld and had to RTB (return to base).

The show was smaller than in years past, due to the ongoing construction at JL Square but I think this is a good thing. It was easier to see everything and revisit the vendors you really liked.

I attended a preview of the upcoming major film release of the movie ‘Morning Light’ given by it’s producer, longtime sailing aficionado Roy Disney. In a word, stunning. Sailors and those yet to be introduced to our wonderful sport will all love this film. It’s all about the 11 kids who sail the TransPac aboard the Grand Prix TP52 racing yacht after which the movie is named. It focuses on the people, reality style, but there’s non of the back biting that you see in the television version of the real world. This movie is all about teamwork and positive influences...truly inspirational. Make sure you go see it’s early October release.

Highlights of the show for me were; The Andrews 28, a 3800 lbs, trailerable carbon fiber sportboat with standing headroom, inboard diesel and yes, even a private head; The new Catalina 37, replacing the venerable 36 but with many improvements over it’s predecessor; The Hunter 50, certainly the boat Hunter should try to emulate in it’s smaller designs and the Lagoon 42 Hybrid, the wave of the future in sailboat propulsion.

Great people, great parties, great fun....I’m glad it’s all over. I need to get some rest!

The best thing to come for the show for me was be able to confirm the delivery of our first U20. She’s in production and slated for the second week of June !!! More to follow.

New Boats, Boat Show & More

2008-04-09T22:24:00.000-07:00

Now Hear This !! We’re very proud to announce that we’ve been awarded the sportboat sales dealership for the Ultimate 20, the New Antrim 25 and the venerable Antrim 27. A new Southern California production facility has been established and the Ultimate 20’s are cranking out now with the Antrim 25’s to start coming off the production line mid-May. It’s been over 15 years since Spinnaker sold new boats with the last ones being Hobie Cats, Banshees and Gryphons. After a year of serious research, we are so stoked to have this line of boats. Jim Antrim is at the top of our favorite designer list and once you see the boats, you’ll understand why. American production quality, outstanding Antrim design, established fleet and ocean capable...these sportboats are just what the doc ordered to put a huge smile on your face...forever!

Come by the Pacific Strictly Sail show to see all three in the water. We’ll also have Ultimate 20 demo sails Fri, Sat and Sun at the show. Here's a DISCOUNT coupon for Spinnaker Guests. (Kids under 15 are FREE !)
National Class website for the Ultimate 20 http://www.u20class.org
National Class website for the Ultimate 24/Antrim 25 http://www.ultimate24.org
National Class website for the Ultimate Antrim 27 http://www.u27class.org

Strictly Sail Boat Show
April 16-20, Jack London Square, Oakland
http://www.strictlysail.com/shows/pacific.asp?show=pa

We’ll be there selling Ultimate 20, Antrim 25 and Antrim 27 Sportboats. It’s our first time selling watersports equipment since our days in the windsurfing business and selling and sailing Hobiecats. We’re really looking forward to this exciting line of Jim Antrim designs (one of our favorite designers). There will be demo sails on the Ultimate 20 available at the show so make sure to come out and try one of the best sportboats on San Francisco Bay. Click HERE for discount admission !

Fair Winds....Drew

PS - Tell A friend to come to the boat show. Kids under 15 are FREE !!!

Sailing on an Ultimate 20

2008-04-07T08:12:00.000-07:00

My friend Garett and and I spent the afternoon sailing the Ultimate 20, UFO with owner Trent Watkins and his pal and fellow U20 owner, Tom Hughes. Another 4 Ultimates joined the action. A small course was setup just outside Richmond Yacht Club and we ran 5 quick races. A LOT of fun and a great way to get initiated to the boat. Trent was gracious and spent the day coaching Tom and us on how to sail a U20 fast. Start, beat 1/4 mile to weather, round a mark, set the asymmetrical kite, toss in a couple of quick gybes and blaze downwind to the finish. Tom put a small video camera on board and hopefully some of the footage will come out. I'll post it if it does.

Prior to the race Trent's routine is to put the boat into a hard crash so everyone sees how easy it is to recover. Well, he's right, we laid the boat over, keel out and she popped right back up. Amazingly he's spun 360° turns with the kite up, on purpose! Certainly a solid testimony to this great boat.

This is the BIGGEST 20 footer I've ever sailed. Felt much more like 24 feet. You can even sleep in the interior if that's your thing. Lots of storage and I looked hard and found no telltale stress cracks. Mind you, this is a 13 year old boat that's sailed hundreds of races, HARD. Very well built, as is typical of California built boats. Deck layout is great, no winches! Everything is pretty simple, though certainly a good workout.

The U20 Class Organization is a fun group of people. There's a real camaraderie among the owners. The best thing is that this boat is now back in production after a couple of years hiatus. Spinnaker will be selling these boats at the Pacific Sail Boat Show April 16-20 and there will be U20 demos, Fri, Sat & Sun.

Racing Opportunity Sat. March 15

2008-03-14T17:22:00.000-07:00

I race on a Flying Tiger 10 and we need crew for the South Beach Midwinters on Sat. March 15. Race starts at 12:30 so we need to meet at the dock no later than 10:45. Here's a pic of a Flying Tiger in action! FUN Sportboat.

This is a great opportunity to get out on one of the latest generations of sportboats in a relaxing environment, it's just a club race.

May get damp with some rain in the forecast, bring your foulies.

Email me if you can make it. No racing experience is necessary.

Big Daddy Regatta This Weekend - Richmond Yacht Club

2008-03-03T20:26:00.000-08:00

March 8 & 9. This is the first of the 'fun' regattas of the 2008 sailing season. Don't get me wrong, still very competitive.

http://www.richmondyc.org/Cal2/EventShow.asp?event_id=102037&event_ba...

Currently 85 boats registered. Should be fun. Race is both Sat and Sun but some boats only race one day.

I'm sailing on 'Savage Beauty' one of the new Flying Tiger 10's from China. This will be the first race in any real wind. We shall see just how many butts it takes to keep her flat. http://www.ft10class.org

The next 'fun' regatta on the horizon is the Vallejo race, May 3 and 4. Probably over 400 boats in that one. It's a HUGE Party!
http://www.vyc.org/vallejo_race_about.html

Check on SFsailing.com for crew spots and make sure to post up your availability on our google groups crew page too!
http://groups.google.com/group/lets-go-sailing

See you out there!

Drew

EVENT - Kame Richards to Speak at the Bay Model

2008-02-23T10:23:00.000-08:00

Next Saturday, Kame Richards of Pineapple Sails will be speaking at the Army Corps of Engineers, Bay Model on Saturday, March 1, 12 noon and Tuesday March 18, 7 pm. Cost is a voluntary $15 (cash).

Kame has forgotten more about the tides and currents in San Francisco than most of us will ever know. This is a great program to experience and the Bay Model is a wonderful Bay Area resource that everyone should see, at least once.

I'm going to head to the Saturday program, but show up early as it's BOUND to sell out!

Hope to see you all there.

Drew

When in doubt RACE!

2008-02-20T11:00:00.000-08:00

You’re sailing along on a fine reach back from the gate. Off your starboard side a boat appears. You eye the trim, the way the boat heals on the breeze. Next, you glance up at your sails, checking trim, downhaul, outhaul, vang, fairlead position. You gauge your progress down the Bay compared to the boat next to you...that’s it, the race is on. You do everything you can to beat them to Pier 39 and when you do, you’re elated!

Yeah, you need to go racing. Many people assume that the skill set for sailboat racing is demanding and out of reach. They think racing may be too physical or just a bunch of whackos yelling commands at each other. Well, all the above can be true, though generally only at the America’s Cup or one of the many high-end pro/semipro regattas around the globe. In the real world the rest of us just enjoy the casual competition, the camaraderie and yes, the post race events.

What do you need to go racing? Simple answer is, not much. A desire to help, to learn and to exceed are a great start. You’ll want some sort of foul-weather gear (keep it simple to start) some good shoes or better some watershoes or seaboots, gloves are a must. Sunglasses, some sunscreen and a red Mont Gay Rum hat (just add to the mystique.) The last thing you want to do is show up to the boat with a huge gear bag filled with stuff you won’t use. Remember the whole weight issue?

Honestly, at low level club and fleet racing, showing up is half the battle. Many boats DNS (did not start) for lack of crew, last minute.

How do you find a boat? It’s MUCH easier than you think. When I first started racing I would often show up at the local club docks and just bum a ride. You sit once or twice on the rail and then a trimmer or pitman doesn't show up and bam, you’re in the thick of it, but with the added advantage of having witnessed that crew position in action. Latitude 38 has great crew parties every year. sfsailing.com (local) and sailinganarchy.com (worldwide) have very active crewlists.

After your first hitched ride, head off to the Yacht Club for the post race party, meet some folks and I guarantee you’ll walk away with more offers to crew than you can manage. If you look at the numbers, they’re stacked in favor of crew. Even a small 25’ sportboat can need up to 5-6 crew in the Bay area. We have a LOT of wind and need weight to keep the boat sailing flat (which is fast). 35 footers often have 8 or 9 and 50 feet + can have as many as 15 and more. Put 40 boats on the starting line and you have potentially 300+ sailors in action.

So go out, have some fun. You’ll learn so much about sailing each and every time you race. I’ve been racing most of my life and there isn’t a day race goes by that I don’t walk away having learned something and as a side benefit, it’ll make you feel great and give you a sense of accomplishment. Competition can be a very good thing indeed.

A couple of good books on sailboat racing and tactics can’t hurt. Here’s some suggestions.

Getting Started in Sailboat Racing by Adam Cort and Richard Stearns

Championship Tactics: How Anyone Can Sail Faster, Smarter, and Win Races by Gary L. Jobson, Tom Whidden, Adam Loory, and Bill King