Latitude 38 editor, John Riise, captured the spirit of Summer Sailstice in his July 'Sightings' article:
The Vallejo Race has long been touted as the largest race on the Bay, and one of the largest inland races in the nation. But in terms of number of participants, it’s no longer the biggest boating event. That title was usurped the weekend of June 20-21 when an estimated 400 yachts and 2,000 people took part in Summer Sailstice festivities at Treasure Island.
TISC ran a youth regatta in Optis.
This is the eighth year for Summer Sailstice — the global celebration of sailing on the weekend closest to the summer solstice — and the third year for Treasure Island to host the main local celebration. All you had to do to take part in the greater Sailstice was just go sail- ing anywhere in the world that weekend. But many yacht clubs and racing fl eets integrated Sailstice into regattas, cruise-ins, raft-ups and so on — in the Bay, across the nation and around the world.
Besides all the sailors, a unique aspect of Sailstice at Treasure Island was how many non-sailors it attracted. With free admission, it was hard to get accurate stats, but organizers we talked to estimated that about a quarter of those who showed up were new to the sport. This is a big increase compared to how many new people attend boat shows. The estimate was corroborated by several brokers who had new yachts open for inspection. They reported a number of folks who admitted it was the fi rst time they had ever been aboard a yacht.
Sailors or not, there was plenty going on to keep people smiling. Shoreside activities included five different musical groups, a boat- building competition, a highly entertaining pirate lookalike fellow named Captain Jack Spareribs, a Coast Guard rescue demonstra- tion, and plenty of food and drink (portions of all concessions went to TISC’s community outreach programs). On the water, some 80-85 boats crowded into Clipper Cove to drop anchor or raft up. Many YRA fleets used the weekend for ‘counter’ races in their seasons, and some 125 dinghies — Lasers, Vanguard 15s, Optis and others — held races in (or just adjacent to) the Cove.
Two of the most popular attractions were the boatbuilding com- petition and free boat rides. The former pitted three teams against each other to build a boat in just 8 hours — using only $125 worth of materials — then be the fi rst to pilot it around a short course. Only two teams fi nished within the time limit, with the race prize going to Bay View Boat Club’s pretty little rowing dinghy. Berkeley Marine Center’s equally pretty little sailboat got the grand prize.
The free boat rides — especially popular with folks new to sailing — were aboard boats donated by sponsors: a Colgate 26 (Club Nautique), J/80 (J/World) and Catalina 34 (Mission Creek Sail Tours.)
Obviously, there was quite a bit more that happened over the weekend — and more individuals and organizations that helped it all happen — than we are able to mention here. (And quite a bit more worldwide. For more on all the fun, log onto www.summersailstice.com.)
“Everybody we saw, sailors or non-sailors, was happy to be there,” said Dave Moore of Cruising Yachts, one of several local brokers to have new boats open for inspection. “It was a great day, a relaxed atmosphere and a terrifi c crowd. I think this event is one of the best things to happen to sailing in a long time.”
— jr
For more photos on Summer Sailstice at Treasure Island go to:
http://picasaweb.google.com/arianepaul/SUMMERSailstice2008WithAnEmphasisOnSUNFUNAndSAILING
http://www.latitude38.com/lectronic/lectronicday.lasso?date=2008-06-23&dayid=132
http://web.mac.com/fredeagle/Site/sailstice.html
http://charlesthomasphoto.webng.com/SummerSailstice/