The Sailing Club, Inc.

San Francisco Bay Sausalito, Alameda, September 15 - 22, 2013

"San Francisco is poetry.   Even the hills rhyme." –  Pat Montandon You'll lose your heart to the fantastic sailing on San Francisco Bay this September when we spend a week exploring and watching some America’s Cup racing. We were fortunate to reserve two 41-foot charter yachts during the final week of the America’s Cup. We don’t expect to be able to get any more boats, so space is very limited on this trip of a lifetime. The only way we’ll miss the Cup finals is if one team sweeps the best of ten the previous week, but that’s not very likely. No matter what, we’ll enjoy the same strong winds, challenging currents, and fascinating sights of this great destination. The week starts on Sunday September fifteenth, when we can board the boats at 10:00 AM. Catch an early flight from New Jersey to arrive at the marina mid-day, or fly in on Saturday and spend the night in a hotel somewhere in the Bay area. Each crew will coordinate separately their provisioning at local stores, get settled in, and enjoy a kick-off dinner near the marina. Our two boats are in different locations: Sausalito and Alameda, so we’ll postpone our full group kick-off until the following evening. On Monday the fleet will form in Ayala Cove at Angel Island. This is a short sail for the Sausalito crew, and the boat coming from Alameda will count on their friends to arrive early enough to get moorings in this popular cove. We will raft up, but the first boat needs to secure moorings to both bow and stern. Once everyone is settled, we’ll enjoy our first group get-together in usual Sailing Club form. Tuesday the seventeenth is designated the sixth race day (assuming nobody has won it already). We’ll drop our moorings and head south to the race course along the north shore of San Francisco between Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge. As part of the spectator fleet, we’ll need to observe appropriate protocol (keeping a safe distance from the racers), but we’ll do our best to maintain a good vantage point to watch these swift competitors in this most famous of all sailing competitions. There are two races each day. When they end, we’ll head to Belvedere Cove, across Richardson Bay from Sausalito. We’ll raft up again so that we can critique the days’ races using our superior knowledge of match racing tactics. Wednesday we’ll head east across the bay to the origin of the beat generation, birthplace of Kinkos, and hippy mecca: Berkeley. We’ll get to slips early enough so that we can wander through this historically significant town and enjoy dinner ashore. There are restaurants at the marina, you can walk the mile to town, or take the bus that stops at the marina every half hour. On Thursday we head southwest across the Bay, dodging Alcatraz, to San Francisco. If the Cup wasn’t claimed on Tuesday, there will be more racing today and we’ll join the spectators once again. If not, we’ll still test our own skill against the Bay’s currents and breezes before heading into slips, either at Pier 39 Marina, adjacent to Fisherman’s Wharf, or at South Beach Marina at the other end of the Embarcadero, next to McCovey Cove and AT&T Park, the home of the San Francisco Giants. Friday is a lay day in the city. Depending on the marina we end up at, you can catch a bus the Embarcadero to Fisherman’s Wharf, change to a cross-town route up hill to Coit Tower, Chinatown, Market Street, or all the way out to Golden Gate Park. Don’t forget to catch a ride on a Cable Car! We’ll all meet up for a final group dinner that night. Saturday morning the two boats bid one another goodbye and head for their respective bases, getting in as much final sailing as they can along the way. Crews can spend Saturday night on board, or make separate arrangements if you plan to stay on in the area. We’re officially off the boats at eight o’clock Sunday morning. Two years in the planning, combining America’s Cup racing and one of the most fun cities in America, this trip will be a sellout. Reserve your spot today! The cost of this event is $1400.00 (Skippers $796) per person. This price covers charter fees, fuel and final pump-out. Airfare and ground transportation, pre- and post-trip lodging, food, slip and mooring fees, and other incidental expenses are additional and will be handled by each boat’s crew. A $250.00 deposit and trip Release of Liability and Zero Tolerance Form must accompany the reservation form. Reservations will be processed starting March 15, 2013 with a random drawing of those received by that date. All reservations received after that date are on a first-come, first-served basis. Please make your check payable to The Sailing Club, Inc. and mail it, along with your completed reservation form, to Steve Krakauer, at the address below. Progress payments are as follows:      April 5:  $385      May 5:  $385      June 5:  $380 CANCELLATION POLICY: Full refund will be given for cancellations made prior to June 15, 2013. Cancellations after that date are only refundable if a replacement can be found. The Sailing Club highly recommends that individuals purchase travel insurance for this trip. One resource for comparison shopping of insurance is www.insuremytrip.com. A pre-trip meeting will be held at a time and place to be announced. All crewmembers should make every effort to attend in order to meet your crewmates, plan your meals, and make travel plans. Please note that sailing conditions are dynamic, that your safety, and that of your crewmates, depends on your good physical health and agility.