Club News


Reichel/Pugh Designs Place 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Overall in the Epic 78th Rolex Sydney-Hobart Race

By Kate Sheahan Herron | January 19, 2024

Long-time SDYC members Jim Pugh and John Reichel not only celebrated the fortieth year of their naval architecture studio here in Point Loma, but did so with purpose by sweeping the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race podium. Reichel/Pugh Design No. 162 66' Canting Ballast Alive, owned by Philip Turner and skippered by Duncan Hine, was awarded the coveted Tattersall Cup, as the overall WINNER of the 2023 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race with the best corrected time under IRC—a symbol of supremacy in one of the toughest races in the world. The result seals a terrific performance for Reichel/Pugh in the race, as the top three overall came from their design board, with the Reichel/Pugh 72' URM Group second overall, Reichel/Pugh 69’ Moneypenny taking third place overall, and Reichel/Pugh 40’ Chutzpah 3rd in IRC Div. 2.


Julia Stewart at the St. Francis Yacht Club Fall Dinghy Regatta

By Julia Stewart | November 17, 2023

On October 20 my dad and I flew to San Francisco where I was sailing in St. Francis Yacht Club’s Fall Dinghy Regatta in my 29er, we met up with my Crew Wes LaRue who with his dad Jon drove the four SDYC teams boats up to San Francisco. Saturday morning we had breakfast and then unloaded and rigged our boats. After making a few grip tape improvements to our boat we met with our two coaches for a great briefing on the day and what to expect. San Francisco Bay and the club is really pretty!

We got on the water and did some speed tuning with 3 of our teammates where we checked our upwind and downwind speed and angles. In the afternoon the breeze built to 13 with a flooding current right on the city front which was really pretty. The racing was super competitive and very fun. The wind all afternoon steadily shifted to the left and a dying breeze. The last 2 races were really difficult with the left shifts, dying breeze and a ripping flood tide. We happily ended Saturday in fifth. We sailed back to the club, unrigged had our de-brief and hot showers, San Francisco is cold!


Team SDYC 2nd at the Annapolis YC 3-2-1 Invitational Regatta

By Jack Reiter | November 16, 2023

This past September, 6 SDYC Sailors made way to Annapolis to compete in the one-of-a-kind 321 Invitational Regatta. Consisting of 2v2, 3v3, and Match Racing, this regatta is truly special and requires a different approach compared to different keelboat regattas. Molly Pleskus, Johannes McElvain, Jack Plavan, and a trio of Reiter brothers (AJ, Andy, Jack) formed the stellar SDYC team as they fought over the three day weekend to bring home another trophy and add to the incredibly successful year SDYC has had. 


Women’s Racing Brings Strength in Numbers

By Molly Hughes Wilmer, Sailing World | November 16, 2023

Women's sailing events and regattas are essential for growing the sport, proving an atmosphere where skill development and opportunity go hand-in-hand.

At a recent coed Grandmasters Team Race Regatta, a teammate told me he didn’t understand why there were women-only sailboat races—as if to say, what’s the point? His comment was a brave one in today’s “woke” world, but it’s something that men and women alike probably think about a lot more than they talk about. Yet it raises a valid conundrum as our predominantly male sport pushes toward wider female inclusion: Why isolate women to their own sideshows when the long-term goal is organic integration across the sport?

As I listened to his comments, many of which I’ve heard before, I thought about the fact that several signature women’s events, like the International Women’s Keelboat Regatta and the Santa Maria Cup, are either dead or not as popular as they once were. And later, as I reflected on our discussion, I took stock of our competitors at the Newport Harbor YC Palmer Trophy. Eight of the 54 sailors—15 percent—were women.

“It’s important to have this dialogue,” says Nicole Breault, the first woman to earn St. Francis YC’s Yachtsman of the Year. Breault is a one-design champion and currently competing in the revived Women’s World Match Racing Tour. “Segregation,” she says, “is part of the process of developing a deeper talent pool among women.”


Golison and Team 2nd at J/70 Worlds

By Bruce Golison | November 08, 2023

SDYC's Bruce Golison aboard Midlife Crisis, with teammates Steve Hunt, Erik Shampain and Jeff Reynolds finished second at the recently completed J/70 World Championship at St. Petersburg, Florida.  Ten races were sailed in spectacular conditions from October 31 through November 4.  Bruce Golison’s team withstood a UFD penalty in Race Two to gain the runner-up position with a scoreline of: 5, UFD/84, 2, 39, 1, 4, 2, 6, 17, 5. For Bruce and his team, this makes back to back second place finishes at the J70 World Championships.

Eighty-three teams from 15 nations competed from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Germany, Great Britain, Mexico, Monaco, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and the USA. 


Award Winning Women’s Invitational Regatta Returns to San Diego Yacht Club

By Casey Coffin | November 02, 2023

San Diego Yacht Club’s annual Women’s Winter Invitational Regatta returns this upcoming winter, February 16-18, 2024. Recently having won the US Sailing One Design Regatta Award, this all-woman, three-day competition attracts sailors from all over the world.

The Women’s Winter Invitational is sailed at SDYC directly off the docks in La Playa and features the Club’s J/22 sailboats, which are sponsored by Mount Gay. The course can expect more than 80 sailors over 24 teams for an action-packed regatta weekend on and off the water.


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