It’s hard to believe one year ago Team SDYC hoisted the Resolute Cup for the first time and earned the highly coveted “US Bid” to compete in the 2019 NYYC Rolex Invitational Cup - the preeminent international amateur regatta. Hosted by New York Yacht Club once every two years, the regatta attracts the best amateur teams representing 20 different yacht clubs around the world. This year the regatta featured 20 new Melges IC37’s, a new class developed by NYYC specifically for the Invitational Cup. The IC37 is a high performance one-design class, designed for competitive in-shore racing, where the true test is the skill of the crew, not the size of their wallets.
One of the most important SDYCSF grants is to the Mission Bay Aquatic Center Summer Sailing Program (MBAC). Your donations, combined with other charity support over the years, have made this a truly successful program for kids who otherwise would not be able to participate!
The original intent of the SDYC Sailing Foundation was to use donations to support the Junior Sailing Program founded by Joe Jessop in 1928. Jessop foresaw the club's future in the development of young sailing enthusiasts. Not only has the vision been realized, but the program has grown in size and scope, offering opportunities for all youngsters in the community to participate, to experience the thrill of sailing, and to develop the skills and confidence that come with good seamanship and the Corinthian yachting tradition.
Anna Tunncliffe Tobias and I have been full time campaigning for the 2020 Olympics since last September. It has been quite the journey and challenge starting a new campaign with someone new, as I previously sailed the 2016 Olympics with Helena Scutt, but I have been enjoying the process! We are right now half way through our European events this summer. Beginning of March, we finished 13th at the Princess Sofia Regatta, barely missing out on the medal race. We also went to Genoa, Italy for the World Cup Series Genoa. Unfortunately, we struggled to get races in as the breeze was very light the whole event, but we made it into Gold Fleet and finished 21st.
With a new teammate, Dane Wilson, our journey has only started at the recent Princesa Sofia Regatta in Palma de Mallorca, Spain. As a fresh team, our focus has been to simply get good hours on the water working together, but this is also a busy time of year with regattas so we are balancing hours on the water with good competition in Europe.
Opening Day is a great reminder of our long Club history. Over 130 years of sailing and shared experience have bound generations of family and club members. Many of us grew up through the Junior Program and spent much of our life racing, cruising or just out on the water with friends.
