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Upcoming Events
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- August 14, 2025
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Meeting: Competitors for SSS/YRA Drakes Bay Races
August 14, 2025 19:00 - 21:00
Oakland Yacht Club, 1101 Pacific Marina, Alameda, CA 94501, USA
Map
In Person Meeting for SSS and YRA Drakes Bay Races
YRA racers are welcome to attend
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- August 16, 2025
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Race: YRA/SSS Drake's Bay (Day 1)
August 16, 2025
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- August 17, 2025
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Race: YRA/SSS Drake's Bay (Day 2)
August 17, 2025
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- September 10, 2025
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Meeting: Competitors for Half Moon Bay Race
September 10, 2025 19:00 - 21:00
Oakland Yacht Club, 1101 Pacific Marina, Alameda, CA 94501, USA
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In Person Meeting for Half Moon Bay Race
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Recent News
An update from the Commodore
Topics
Three Bridge Fiasco Final Words
The Three Bridge Fiasco “awards” meeting is taking place on Wednesday March 26th at Oakland YC starting at 730pm. I strongly encourage you to “come on out” and get your t-shirt (and so I have less shirts to carry home too J). After presenting Three Bridge Fiasco awards (which you know will not take very long), we’ll be running the Corinthian race skipper’s meeting. We also have a guest speaker – Mike Dvorak – computational fluid dynamics Prof at Cal (that means he knows where the wind blows – and maybe more importantly where it does not!).
Opportunity
Curious what Dark and Stormy did to win this year’s Three Bridge Fiasco? Wonder how they managed to be the only boat that finished? What track did they take and what tricks did they use to make it to the finish line – just 9 minutes before the race deadline? Jonathan Hunt and Rodney Hagebols, the crew of Dark and Stormy, are giving a luncheon presentation at the St. Francis Yacht Club on what they did to win this year’s 3BF on this Wednesday March 12th at the St. Francis Yacht Club. Lunch starts at 11:45, Jonathan and Rodney talk at 12:30 and Q&A is around 1:15 PM. Jonathan and Rodney told the St. Francis that they wanted their fellow 3BF racers to attend – and they said yes (at least for all 3BF racers that belong to a club that belongs to USSailing). So take a long lunch this Wednesday and learn how Dark and Stormy managed to finish this year’s 3BF.
Action
The Corinthian race – Saturday March 29th – is a great opportunity for you to get your dose of shorthanded sailing that you missed in this year’s Three Bridge Fiasco, so why not come on out? Register to race in the Corinthian here. If you already participated in the Three Bridge Fiasco, you can do the Corinthian race for near the same cost as becoming a member of the SSS – which automatically gets you entry in all SSS races this year (except the Singlehanded Transpac). So join the SSS – and join us in the Corinthian race. Register to join the SSS, get full credit for your 3BF entry fee, and race in the Corinthian and the whole SSS season – at near the added cost of just one more race! So register to race in the Corinthian and become an SSS member here.
Greater March Madness Doublehanded Series
For bonus points, SSS, BAMA, Island YC and Oakland YC have created a special race series for doublehanders – “The Greater March Madness Doublehanded Series” – that participate in the following races:
- March 15 Oakland YC Rites of Spring
- April 5 Island YC Doublehanded Lightship
- March 29 SSS Corinthian
- March 22 BAMA Doublehanded Farallones
The series allows for one throw-out – and costs just $10 to enter. You can learn more about the Greater March Madness Doublehanded Series here.
Get Ready for Shorthanded Sailing in the Ocean
Next Coastal SAS class scheduled for Sunday March 16
New this year, the 4 hour “Coastal” Safety At Sea (CSAS) training class is required for 30% of crew (that’s “all of you if single handed and one of you if doublehanded) to participate in SSS (and OYRA) sponsored Ocean Races. In addition, SSS increased the number of ocean races this season from 2 to 4 by the addition of Drakes Bay “to and fro”. If you have already received SAS training in the last 4 years – wonderful and you are “all set”. If not, now is a great time to get your CSAS SAS training out of the way early – or if you want to just be safer sailing in the ocean. Note the 8 hours “Offshore” SAS training class is required by the Spinnaker Cup and the PacCup – and also covers the SAS training requirement for SSS ocean races.
March 16, Sunday
Coastal SAS (SSS, OYRA, etc)
9:00 – 2:00 PM
Santa Cruz Yacht Club in Santa Cruz
$45 per person (includes lunch)
Register by calling or emailing Santa Cruz Yacht Club [email protected] or 831.425.0690
Note: There is space for just ten more people in this class – so don’t procrastinate!
April 13, Sunday
Coastal SAS (SSS, OYRA, etc)
9:00 – 1:00 PM
At the Strictly Sail boat show at Jack London Square in Oakland
$65 per person (includes 2 day boat show pass)
Find details at http://norcalorc.org/events
May 18, Sunday
Ocean SAS (PacCup, Spinnaker Cup, Transpac, SSS, OYRA, etc)
8:00 – 5:00PM
Encinal Yacht Club in Alameda
Find details at http://norcalorc.org/events
We hope to see you there – and be safe!
We need a PRO for March 29th…
Due to some unforeseen changes, we just lost our PRO for the May 29th Corinthian race. Are you a PRO – or do you know a PRO – that could lead the Race Committee for the Corinthian race on March 29th? If yes, we would love to hear from you (and will owe you our first born)! Contact SSS Race Chair Allen Cooper at [email protected]
Last
Don’t be bashful if you have any questions on any of the above (or anything else about shorthanded sailing). Reach out to me. I love talking to fellow shorthanded sailors!
And see you out there on the water!
Cheers,
Jim Quanci
Commodore
Singlehanded Sailing Society
415-640-4461
Special Wind Presentation at the the 3BF Awards/Corinthian Skippers Meeting
The Three Bridge Fiasco Awards Meeting (and T-shirt distribution) has been changed to coincide with the Skipper’s Meeting for the next race, which is the Corinthian Race. We’re also working on a unique design for the shirts to reflect the, uh, unique conditions we enjoyed during the race itself.
Special guest Mike Dvorak, Ph.D. will present a weather synopsis of the 3BF conditions followed by a short tutorial on Bay weather and a prognosis of expected March 29th conditions. Mike is a principal at Sailor’s Energy (sailorsenergy.com) and founder of the forthcoming Bay weather website SailTactics.com. Mike got into wind forecasting by studying offshore wind energy resources near US coasts for his PhD studies at Stanford University. He also worked as a lecturer and researcher at the University of California, Berkeley teaching about Bay weather and researching turbulence in wind farms.
Please join us at the Oakland Yacht Club Wednesday, March 26 at 7:30 pm for all the fun.