San Francisco Bay is the stage for some of the finest sailing, yachting and racing in the world. It is also some
of the most challenging conditions with micro-climates around the bay and strong winds. It is said that if you
can sail on the San Francisco Bay, you can sail anywhere in the world.
There are two yacht races that come to my mind when thinking about racing on the bay, the first is the Vallejo Yacht
Race and the second is the Big Boats Series. The Vallejo Yacht Race is the oldest race on the San Francisco Bay.
It is "the peoples" race with local sailors and boats participating. It takes place on the first weekend typically and starts in the San
Francisco Bay going to Vallejo. A party and overnight at the Vallejo Yacht Club, with a return to the San Francisco Bay in the morning.
The second is the Big Boat Series hosted by the Saint Francisco Yacht Club and usually sponsored by Rolex. It is in the fall, and
sailors, yachts, boats, captains and spectators come from all over the world for the four day event. In my time here on the San Francisco
Bay, I have seen dead calm days on this race and ferocious winds with a certain famous yacht losing it's spinnaker and it plastering the windows
of the Saint Francis Yacht Club. That same race in 2005 many boats, ripped sails and even masts were broken.
Over the years I have taken many images of the races which have been posted on many websites. For those who wish to wax nostalgic, some
have been assembled here. The flash montage above is from the Challenger Series, a match race between vintage America Cup Class yachts, circa 2002.
