Week of October 25-31, 2011

October 31, 2011

Team SF at the China Cup

The China Cup wrapped up four days of racing in chartered Beneteau First 40.7s today. Corinthian YC's Timothy Ballard of the Beneteau 40.7 Inspired Environments and crew made up one of two American teams (the other came from Chicago). "Yesterday's performance included many opportunities for reflection and character growth," said crew Michael Maradzadeh. According to Day 3's report, "We finished poorly due to a variety of factors, chief among them being slowness." Read the entertaining reports at http://teamsf.blogspot.com. You can try the regatta website at http://2010.chncup.com/en/default.aspx but it doesn't work very well.

Left-right: John Pytlak, Bryan Wade, Mike Holden and Bob Johnston. ©2011 norcalsailing.com

SSS Wraps Up Their Season

The Singlehanded Sailing Society wrapped up their 2011 season with a trophy meeting on Wednesday evening. Awards were handed out for the Vallejo 1-2, the last race of the season, and for overall Singlehanded and Doublehanded season champions. The Singlehanded trophy went to Bob Johnston of the J/92 Ragtime! and the Doublehanded trophy went to Bryan Wade of the Ultimate 24 Max. Mike Holden and John Pytlak were Bryan's crew (not at the same time of course!)

The happy SSS crowd at the trophy meeting. ©2011 norcalsailing.com

A tentative schedule for 2012 was announced: Three Bridge Fiasco, January 28; Corinthian Race, April 7; Singlehanded Farallones, May 12; Singlehanded TransPac start, June 30; Half Moon Bay Race, August 25; Richmond-South Beach, September 8; and Vallejo 1-2, October 6-7.

Pink Boat Regatta Update

Thomas Watson, organizer of October 23's Pink Boat Regatta, filed this report about the event's fund-raising success:

I just thought you would like to know how the regatta went. We were able to keep expenses to only $1,650 for the entire regatta and collected $9,500 in net donations. We were able to keep our administrative cost BELOW our goal of 20% and donated 81% ($7,700) to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation!

Breast cancer has affected my family, and I realized as I talked about my planned circumnavigation that it captivated people's imagination and I could harness this passion for a greater cause. It's more than just the personal connection to breast cancer, it's about a desire to positively affect the world I live in by doing what I love the most. This project has evolved and consumed my life, and I am blessed with the pleasure of connecting with people in ways I didn't know I could.

The Pink Boat Regatta idea was born in the back yard of Steve and Marika's house (Steve and Marika sail the Beneteau 45f5 Ohana). They have become my surrogate family in California, and they were so supportive and encouraging of the idea that I started right away the next morning. By that afternoon, I had already applied for the Coast Guard permit and the Corinthian Yacht Club had tentatively signed on. Some were skeptical I could pull it off, but thanks to the help of a lot of amazing people, our sponsors, and my friends and family, we made it happen.

The event was a great success, and we are planning for at least four regattas next year. When I return from the Singlehanded TransPac, I will be making landfall in Seattle, where the first regatta of the season will happen in late August or early Septemeber. Then it's back to San Francisco, and from there to San Diego. Over in Michigan, we will be have a regatta or two as well in the White Lake and Chain of Lakes area.

We are super excited and looking forward to where this crazy dream takes us next!

For more, see www.thepinkboat.org. Also see our coverage of last weekend's regatta here.

Genny Tulloch at Olympic Team Trials

Alice, Genny and Jenn in Key Biscayne. ©2011 John Payne

The US Olympic Sailing Team Trials - Women’s Match Racing, an ISAF Grade 3 event, was held in Key Biscayne, FL, on October 25-30. After a quick finish to the semi-final round Saturday morning, two teams advanced into the final round of the 2011 U.S. Olympic Team Qualifying Regatta: Team Maclaren — Anna Tunnicliffe, Molly Vandemoer of Redwood City, and Debbie Capozzi – and Team GetSailing – Genny Tulloch of Sausalito, Alice Manard Leonard and Jennifer Chamberlin. Genny wrote on the GetSailing Facebook page, "We won three races this morning to take the semis 4-2, which means we're going to Perth! 0-2 in the finals so far, but lots of racing left tomorrow and forecast is for 20+."

Team Mclaren went on to win both matches on Sunday. Upon reaching the dock Anna said, “We put a lot of time in on the water and depended on that training today. We took one race at a time and it went our way.” The team will soon travel to Australia to begin training for Perth, meaning the 2011 International Sailing Federation (ISAF) Combined World Championships, December 3-18, in Perth, Australia.

“We’re totally happy,” said Genny. “We didn’t need to win this regatta. There’s not a lot of difference between first and second. We didn’t know until yesterday that we had a spring schedule and now we do.”

The event was sailed in Elliott 6m boats. See http://getsailing.org, www.wimra.org/regatta_detail.asp?rk=450 and http://sailingteams.ussailing.org/Sailing_Teams_Home.htm.