SSS races during shelter in place

[solosailor]

Have we considered to make the Round the Rocks a Singlehanded only race to comply with the shelter in place vs. cancelling?

[BobJ]

Works for me. To avoid gathering a committee, each division could designate a "rabbit" and then we'd take our own finish times. Actually, this would be awesome.

The problem is we'd be racing without an event permit and the fines could be substantial. If he has nothing better to do, perhaps our new race chair could inquire of the USCG about whether they would issue a permit under these circumstances.
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[solosailor]

If it were single handers and I imagine the count would be low and we could easily have a committee of 1 with a video camera, no?

[Jonathan Gutoff]

Christine and I were talking about something like this only not affiliated with the SSS. 1 person on the Richmond YC race platform for RC (With RYC approval of course) for the starts and finish. Everyone keeps their 6 ft distance at the docks and no socializing afterwards. But not an official "race."

[solosailor]

Why couldn't it be official. We are not with anyone else, neither is the RC. Heck, if people are out walking, w/dogs multi-x times a day, cycling, etc. for exercise and health we should be able to do the same.

[Jonathan Gutoff]

If it could that would be great. Getting a permit may be a challenge.

[Lightspeed]

Everyone keeps their 6 ft distance at the docks"

I went to RYC last week to get my boom and bring home to rework the outhaul. Even though I stayed by my boat alone in the Dry Storage yard, I was check on at a distance twice. Big Brother is watching.

[solosailor]

I was check on at a distance twiceCheck on? By whom, the police?

[AlanH]

It WOULD be good to know if the race is going to be cancelled, or made "singlehanded-only", ASAP.

I would show up for a "rabbit-start", all-singlehanded..."take-your-own-time".. uhhh... "gathering" if the official event is cancelled. I'd even tabulate the results and put them here.

[Lightspeed]

Check on? By whom, the police?

Club employees. I think both were a combination of; are your here for an Essential Activity per CC Heath Services and RYC directive 3/17. And, is that stuff you are loading in your car really yours?

I just think the club has been put in a tough position to serve the members and also abide by the CC Heath Services order by monitoring activity on the club grounds.

[BobJ]

Back in the days of the Stand-Down Marathon (2012-13) I was being all libertarian about holding races anyway, resisting the calls for more safety gear, etc. Maybe I'm getting older and wiser (or maybe softer) but I'm having a problem with the current proposals.

First, they are being posted on the main SSS forum, giving the appearance that the SSS condones them. One proposal was to use RYC's race platform if RYC allows it, which I seriously doubt they would. Even if they did, we've created a potential problem for a club to which many of us belong, and who has been more than accommodating to the SSS over the years.

Here's an example of what may happen. My next-door neighbor at RYC was, for many years, the race chair of a club up in Puget Sound. They once forgot to pull a permit - each thought another had done it. The day came, they had a bunch of boats ready to race and they decided to run it anyway. The Coast Guard fined them $10,000. It was appealed but it took several years to resolve, and they paid a reduced fine.

With so little traffic on the Bay, a group of sailboats in close proximity to each other is going to be pretty obvious to the Coast Guard.

So if you feel compelled to organize something, would you please do it off the SSS forum? Corona Virus Challenge Cup, Farallones Sail-Around, etc. Not sure what the board wants to do about a solo-only Round-the-Rocks Race but if the SSS can get a permit, I'd be all over it.
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[solosailor]

I hear you on keeping above board with the USCG. It's be great if they allowed a singlehanded race to run.

[solosailor]

I'm sorry to see the Round the Rock race get cancelled. I do suggest we do not try to reschedule the race. Trying to pack in all these cancelled events later in the season will likely cause more conflicts, people won't be able to make our race because of other things already on the calendar. We already have the fully crewed Vallejo "opener" moved to the weekend before the SSS V1-2, stepping on our toes a bit.

[solosailor]

It seems Singlehanded Sailing is allowed by the Alameda County shelter in place doc:


iii. To engage in outdoor activity, provided the individuals comply with Social Distancing Requirements as defined in this Section, such as, by way of example and without limitation, walking, hiking, or running.

[AZ Sailor]

FWIW: San Diego County and the Port of San Diego have closed San Diego Bay to recreational boating as of today. No exception for single handing.

[Philpott]

FWIW: San Diego County and the Port of San Diego have closed San Diego Bay to recreational boating as of today. No exception for single handing.

Have you asked? Let me rephrase that. Do you think anyone has asked for clarification as regards singlehanded sailing? Hear me out regarding this:

On Saturday March 21 I sailed over to Angel Island from Richmond. I had checked online and the Island ferry from Tiburon was not running. People were reminded that the picnic areas were closed, the visitor center was closed, the site reminded visitors to practice social distancing.

It was a beautiful day and when I arrived there were few boats. The ranger was very nice and took my $15, told me I didn't need to display my receipt, my boat was just below his kiosk. I think he didn't expect many other boats.

I looked hopefully at the grill and asked if they were serving lattes? No. He laughed. No lattes today. Ah well.

I put my lunch in a backpack and left for a hike to the top, hiked back into the oak grove, lay in the sun, fell asleep, my usual modus operandi.

When I returned to Dura Mater the docks were full. The moorings were full. People were headed over to the picnic tables in groups and there were lots of people on lots of big beautiful power and sailboats. The ranger didn't look as happy.

The next day I looked online and Angel Island was closed as in CLOSED.

However.

Yesterday DM and I sailed past Ayala Cove and I noticed two smallish masts: sailboats at the docks, although no boats in the moorings. And here is the Angel Island site today:

"Angel Island State Park UPDATE (April 3, 2020): This park is temporarily closed to vehicular access. The park remains open for locals provided they practice safe, physical distancing of 6 feet or more and are visiting parks near their primary residences. This is not the time for a road trip to a destination park or beach."

From this change I see evidence that someone somewhere realized that a refinement might be in order.

So, a polite phone call asking for clarification would not, I think, be amiss. Or a request for modification of the order. In my sails around the bay during the past two weeks I have seen mostly singlehanders or couples out there. Maybe the order regarding recreational sailing could require sailors to prove that they live together in order to avoid a citation? It's not a crazy thought. It would give the bureaucracy the opportunity to say "yes" instead of "no".

[AZ Sailor]

Have you asked?

No. "Boating for recreational purposes" has been prohibited. Singlehanded sailing is a type of boating for recreational purposes -- or at least it is my intention to have it be such each time I cast off.

And I wouldn't ask for exemption because I would not regard it as a useful expenditure of public resources for the Harbor Police and Coast Guard to then have that to enforce -- let alone fielding the calls that would surely come in reporting sail boats on the water.

[Submarino]

I am NOT sailing for all the same reasons I am not pleasure riding my motorcycle in the mountains.

First, it is not an essential activity. The idea is to limit interactions and potential interactions with people. I get out for exercise, I keep it local, simple and away from clusters.

Second, I do not want to unnecessarily put a load on the current emergency services or law enforcement system. If I were to get into an auto accident, get a flat tire, fall from the boat, the people who come to my aid are needed elsewhere right now. Certainly, I do not want to take up space or time from others who are in dire need.

Third, I will greatly increase my risk of infection and possible death if I were to go the ER or hospital. It would at minimum require a 14-day isolation post visit.

Fourth, I am rather somber, but when the time comes, sailing will be all the more special again.

If you do need to head out, take extra care.

[Black Jack]

I am NOT sailing for all the same reasons I am not pleasure riding my motorcycle in the mountains.

First, it is not an essential activity. The idea is to limit interactions and potential interactions with people. I get out for exercise, I keep it local, simple and away from clusters.

Second, I do not want to unnecessarily put a load on the current emergency services or law enforcement system. If I were to get into an auto accident, get a flat tire, fall from the boat, the people who come to my aid are needed elsewhere right now. Certainly, I do not want to take up space or time from others who are in dire need.

Third, I will greatly increase my risk of infection and possible death if I were to go the ER or hospital. It would at minimum require a 14-day isolation post visit.

Fourth, I am rather somber, but when the time comes, sailing will be all the more special again.

If you do need to head out, take extra care.


^ First of all I respect your course and like you am doing what we can with assuming minimized risks to exposing my self and others. I do need to ask you: Will you feel the same way in 12, 18 or 24 months? A healthy individual that solo (races) sails and rides motorcycles knows inherent risks in a pursuit surely can not believe that a morbidity rate of .01 percent of the population is a risk not worth taking. The facts are this virus and it's evolution is not going away in our global interconnectivity. The likelihood you have had or will catch a form of this virus is certain. Science, history and statistics say it is unavoidable.

Something to think about while you are holed up - Those people who support recreational boating, those marine businesses who need us to use, sail and break things so we can buy good and services from them are getting rolled up into the great foreclosure coming. If we do not use and spend money on this services, the community we have known will be dead by August. My friends in the sailing and fishing charters are near the edge already with what looks like a year to a year and a half of mothballed fleets and laid off crews. Thank god you have a motorcycle (as do I) to ride as sailing will become one more thing we common, middle class sailors used to do.

[AlanH]

"The facts are this virus and it's evolution is not going away in our global interconnectivity. The likelihood you have had or will catch a form of this virus is certain. Science, history and statistics say it is unavoidable. "

Ted, I like you, but you know, I haven't caught SARS, yet. Some years I get flu shots and other years I don't and I haven't had the flu in over a decade. Also, writing down words like "science"..."history"...and ..."statistics"... does not invoke any particular authority, unless accompanied by a whole lot of data. Not that I'm asking for you to plaster this thread with "data", which I will not read.

" If we do not use and spend money on this services, the community we have known will be dead by August." --- While I'm sure that every marine business would love to have more business, I don't think that:

North Sails, Quantum Sails, Berkeley Marine Center, West Marine, Sausalito Yacht Harbor, KKMI, San Francisco Boat Works, Hood sails, South Beach Harbor, Fortman Marina, etc. etc. and every yacht club in the Bay Area is going to go broke on August 1st. Is this a bad situation? Yes. Yes, it is. Is it THE END OF ALL SAILING, FOREVER? No.

If you want to sail around Treasure Island, you should do that, in your extremely cool boat...and it IS a cool boat. If other people choose not to, that's their prerogative.

[Black Jack]

"The facts are this virus and it's evolution is not going away in our global interconnectivity. The likelihood you have had or will catch a form of this virus is certain. Science, history and statistics say it is unavoidable. "

Ted, I like you, but you know, I haven't caught SARS, yet. Some years I get flu shots and other years I don't and I haven't had the flu in over a decade. Also, writing down words like "science"..."history"...and ..."statistics"... does not invoke any particular authority, unless accompanied by a whole lot of data. Not that I'm asking for you to plaster this thread with "data", which I will not read.

" If we do not use and spend money on this services, the community we have known will be dead by August." --- While I'm sure that every marine business would love to have more business, I don't think that:

North Sails, Quantum Sails, Berkeley Marine Center, West Marine, Sausalito Yacht Harbor, KKMI, San Francisco Boat Works, Hood sails, South Beach Harbor, Fortman Marina, etc. etc. and every yacht club in the Bay Area is going to go broke on August 1st. Is this a bad situation? Yes. Yes, it is. Is it THE END OF ALL SAILING, FOREVER? No.

If you want to sail around Treasure Island, you should do that, in your extremely cool boat...and it IS a cool boat. If other people choose not to, that's their prerogative.

I like you too. We are on the same page with all this. I lost one of my main contractors to my small business last month to virus complications. It is personal to me. I think we do need to recognized that a season or maybe two of no competitive sailing will have an impact. The big sail makers will survive as will those boat yards that manage commercial accounts. We do not know the economic fallout and the long term effects this will have on our hobby, sport and lifestyle. I am saddened to get news emails from the Oakland yacht club cancelling events. The cancellation of the Master Mariners regatta that i am so passionate really hurts as I spend hundreds of volunteer hours each year to create, promote and market the event as well as for the Wooden Boat show at the Corinthian. My own Aeolian YC bar is dark and sadly missing. As for promotion around the island sail- i stopped promoting it here. If i could I would remove it as many found it objectionable.

I do look forward to better days when we can all get together. When that time comes, I have a very fine bottle of rum in the dry bilge waiting to be opened and shared. I'll have lemonade for those who do not drink - we can toast and cheer when these days become safer and things return to the new normal.

[AlanH]

Sailing...AS WE KNOW IT....is shrinking in the SF Bay Area. Fewer new people are getting into it. I remember, 5-6 years ago, doing a Vallejo Race after not being on the water for a few years and what hit me was that it was still all the same people. ....just older. Where were the energetic 20somethings, doing foredeck and drinking heavily and partying? They weren't there. That trend has continued.

Nowadays, young people have to work two jobs, or be paired up in a couple, both working just to afford rent. The class of people who can afford a 25-35 foot boat with all the associated costs is getting smaller, as Bay Area rent and housing prices suck up ever more of normal people's income. As marinas empty it gets harder and harder for boatyards to make it....and they close. As real estate prices go up and up and up and up, your boatyard is worth millions to a developer. It's hard to say no to that.

Those economic processes, which have been at work for 30 years and more in the Bay Area are shrinking the boating population more than COVID-19 ever will, IMHO. Not that COVID-19 won't do damage! For hella sure, it will.

[solosailor]

I see the PSSA is holding a race sooner than the SH Farallones..... just saying.

[tboussie]

As Race Chair, I wanted to provide an update to the SSS community on the prospects for the race season for the remainder of the year.

As part of the CA-wide shelter-in-place orders, the Coast Guard cancelled all maritime recreational event permits. There have been no officially-sanctioned sailboat races since the March 16 beginning of the Bay area SIP, for the SSS or any other organization. The ability to run races now and in the future is contingent on CG approval and issuing of requisite permits. We are working closely with the CG and the YRA to get back on the water as soon as it is safe and consistent with city, county, and state regulations.

The SSS race season breaks down into the following questions:
1) Round The Rocks - re-schedule or cancel?
2) SH Farallones - maintain May 16 date, re-schedule, or cancel?
3) Drake's Bay, HMB, Vallejo - maintain current dates?

The current plans of the SSS race committee are as follows:

1) Round The Rocks: re-schedule for a weekend in June or July, TBD

2) SH Farallones: we will have a go/no-go from the CG this Friday 5/8 on whether we can keep the May 16 race date. If we cannot, we hope to re-schedule ASAP on a date that meets CG approval and in coordination with the YRA.

3) Drake's HMB, Vallejo: the hope is that these races will go off as scheduled. If not, we will re-schedule as circumstances and opportunities dictate.

As has been previously announced, we are re-scheduling the 2020 SH Transpac for 2021. This opens up the calendar in June and July to fill in some regular season races that might have to be rescheduled due to the SIP. In general it is our intention to provide a full season of racing, albeit heavily amended from the usual schedule.

Lastly, let me say that this is frustrating to everyone, myself included. There is no way this is going to be a normal season and we are figuring it out as we go along. I believe that we can run races safely and consistent with social distancing practices. We need to convince the CG that this is true and we are working to do so. Please be patient and we will keep you appraised of the evolving plans as we learn more.

Best (and keep sane) - Tom Boussie, RC

[Philpott]

Thanks, Tom. DM standing by.

[Wylieguy]

Tom, Thank you for the information. I know how frustrating and difficult this is for you. I'm glad you're there working on behalf of the SSS. Pat Broderick, Former SSS Race Director & Commdore, and former YRA Chairman