Lowell North, a true legend in the world of sailing, has left us for fair winds and good sailing up above, but what North built and left will always be. 

Lowell Orton North, born on December 2, 1929, in Springfield, Missouri, passed away today, but will always be remembered for his competitive successes and for creating the North Sails empire from just a little loft in San Diego in 1957.  The loft was positioned on what is now referred to as the “North lot” where the dry storage is currently at SDYC.

From the beginning, his was a scientific approach. As an aeronautic/aerospace engineer, was among the very first sail makers to embrace computer modeling. He hired other champion sailors (“tigers”) to demonstrate and sell his products. Lowell’s innovation, creativity and spirit is what has shaped his business into the successful company that it remains to be today.

On the water, Lowell was renowned for his results in the Star Class, he medaled in 12 World Championships over 25 years and won gold at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City. He also won a bronze medal in the Dragon at the 1964 Tokyo Games. It was during this time that North Sails was first getting off the ground, and Lowell met many people who would become key players in its expansion.

Sail on Lowell North and thank you.

Ships 1992 & SDYC’s youth from Ship 1886 team up and CRUISE TO VICTORY at the 2019 Long Beach Invitational Regatta! The combined team posted the best score of eleven Sea Scout programs and best units from Western Los Angeles County, Orange County, Inland Empire, and even Las Vegas! The Long Beach Invitational is known for its fun, casual atmosphere. The LAMI San Pedro and San Diego Yacht Club Sea Scouts brought their "A game" to win the event!

Over the weekend of February 8th through 10th, Saint Pete's Yacht Club hosted the 2019 Valentine's Day Regatta. This regatta brings Opti and Laser sailors from all over the country. Since I was the front runner in the Luff-In Series, I was selected to represent SDYC for the Saint Pete's Exchange and go sail Opti's for the weekend down in Florida.

Over February 16-18, my skipper Jack Egan and I traveled to Jensen Beach Florida to compete in the 2019 C420 Midwinters. Although we had traveled to Florida twice before for Orange Bowl, we had never sailed Midwinters before, and were eager to sail a new event.

This year the US Sailing Center Martin County would be the hosts for C420 Midwinters East. 103 boats congregated in Jensen Beach for this event from February 16th to the 18th. I met up with my crew, Ximena Escobar, at the San Diego airport on Thursday. We had one full day of travel and one full day of practice with the coaches in Florida. Orlando greeted us with warm weather as we left the rain behind in San Diego. The weather would hover around 80 degrees and 70% humidity the entire weekend.

Over the President’s Day weekend, Miami Yacht Club hosted the first of the two 29er qualifiers for the Youth World Championships that will be held in Poland this summer. Three teams from the West coast traveled to the Florida to compete. With the wind expected to be light we had high hopes of doing well.

American kiteboarders will have the opportunity to represent their country at the 2019 Pan American Games by winning the Kiteboard Pan American Trials in Formula Kites hosted by the San Diego Yacht Club on March 29-21, 2019. An expected 12-15 kiteboarders will compete in a series of races off beautiful Crown Cove on Silver Strand State Beach in Coronado, California.

The Crown Cove venue is ideal for kiteboarding, allowing the riders to launch right from the beach into the flat waters of South San Diego Bay. Last November, kiteboarders from all over the world came to compete at the same venue for the Kiteboarding North Americans where six riders, including Will Cyr of the USA, qualified their countries for the 2019 Pan American Games.

On February 9-10, SDYC hosted a 29er clinic led by Rio Olympics 49erFX coach, Willie McBride with additional high-level coaching from Sterling Henken, Giselle Nyenhuis, Dane Wilson and JJ Fetter.  Teams traveled from San Francisco, Santa Barbara and Long Beach to train with our growing SDYC 29er fleet. The clinic included two days of high-intensity drills and post-sailing video debriefs. Next stop for several of the teams, including SDYC 29er sailors Ian and Noah Nyenhuis, will be competing in the first Youth World Qualifier (YWQ) in Miami on February 16-18. The second and final YWQ is the 29er MidWinters West at Coronado Yacht Club on March 22-24.