Henry and Simon raced a lot of regattas in 2017. These two bookended the summer.

Opti Heavy Weather

Epic ending to the 2017 Opti Heavy Weather Regatta out of the St. Francis Yacht Club on the San Francisco Cityfront. It came down to the last race but Henry managed to fend off his buddy / S. Americans roommate Ryan for the title, gifting me the best 50th birthday / fathers day present ever. More awesome than that, though, was commuting over via our RIB from Alameda to StFYC with Henry, Ryan, and Ben... who were all three leading the regatta at some point(s) during the regatta. You bet they are keeping score out there! Intensely competitive when racing but on the commute they were just good friends having a great time. Very mature attitudes about competition.

29'er Nationals and World Championships

Both Nationals and then World Championships were held by the Alamitos Bay Yacht Club on the end of The Peninsula, Long Beach, CA. This was the largest gathering of 29'ers in the western hemisphere ever!

Simon and Henry were coached by Skiff Squad. Their first coach of the 3-week odyssey was Sterling who used to be the owner of our boat, as was his sister Olympian Paris Henken (who came by to visit the boys and ol' #510 w/ the grey hull. Eventually they were coached by David who is a world class 49'er sailor and practices up in our neck of the woods.

Our team -- light as they were -- sailed very well. Alamitos Bay YC puts on great regattas and that place couldn't be friendlier. We got the bonus of being background extras in episode of Criminal Minds, swimming in the local 50m and Alamitos Bay, and kayaking across to Ballast Point for growler refills.

Here's the second, much LARGER gallery. Most of race pics are from 29'er Nationals.