SIGHTINGS — continued
the cup it is not — continued
(are you using), and why? • Did you (do you) maintain strict 'classroom hours' or keep things loose? • What were (are) some highs and lows of your onboard teaching experience? • And how did your kids cope with re-assimilation into regular classroom learning, assuming they did so? We'd also love to receive a few of your favorite photos of kids hitting the books aboard your boat, and/or enjoying firsthand learning while exploring the world. (Email: andy@latitude38.com andy@latitude38.com). Thanks. — andy
ish where they started — off the RYC race platform — and continued on to the social part of the evening in the big tent that served as a temporary clubhouse during remodeling. In May, the tent went away and a few post-race gatherings took place on the docks before the clubhouse was ready for occupation. By the time the end-of-season trophy presentation rolled around, the sailors had settled back into the club's spiffed-up digs. Copious prizes each night of the series consisted of bottles of wine (or non-alcoholic alternatives), but the unique series trophy is a true pièce de resistance and a testament to do-it-yourself creativity. "The season champion trophy keeps getting bigger as the winners contribute additions to it," explained the series race chair, Eric Arens. This year, Jack Feller of Sacramento and his crew earned the coveted prize, sailing the Santana 35 Maguro. What will Feller add to the trophy? We can't be sure, but we suspect something fishy. Rumors of a large rotating tuna fish can are circulating. Seth Clark of El Cerrito, who sails the Express 27 Current Affair, won the Booby Prize this year. "The Booby Prize is a drawing that Jim DeWitt made of a model in art school. This trophy is given for having too good a time and not being focused and aggressive enough," said Arens, who decides upon whom to bestow the prizes. You'll find race results for several beer can series in this issue (see Racing Sheet's Box Scores on pages 95-96) and in the October issue, but you won't find any scores for RYC's series. It's just not that kind of racing. — chris
fire destroys two sailboats in socal
ALL PHOTOS LATITUDE / CHRIS
Above: Jack Feller won the RYC Beer Can Trophy, which started life humbly enough and has grown each year. In 2014, Dick Loomis added a wooden base. In 2015, Pat Tostenson created the 'Jewel' mosaic.
On the first weekend of October, Harry Hazzard, a veteran of 11 Baja Ha-Ha's, including 10 with his Beneteau Frers 51 Distant Drum, had to leap into San Diego Bay to save his life. He's fine physically, but his boat is a complete loss and he's lost most of his possessions. "I was motoring from California Yacht Marina in Chula Vista to Shelter Island Boatyard about eight miles away for my annual haulout," Hazzard told Latitude. "I'd only gone a little way and was about an eighth of a mile off the Marine Group yard when I heard an unusual noise from the engine area and thought I smelled plastic or rubber melting. I assumed it was a belt going bad. So I went below to investigate." The Frers design has the engine compartment farther forward than on most boats. It's only a little way behind the mast, and one of the main access points is from beneath a salon seat directly above the engine. "I was lucky I was a little off centerline when I lifted the engine cover, because as soon as I lifted it, it went off. Had I been centerline, it would have gone off in my face." When he says "It went off," he doesn't mean there was an explosion as such, but super heat and flames coming up from the engine area. "The fire was already going pretty good, with fiberglass and other stuff burning, so I couldn't breathe because of the chemical fumes. I rushed up to the fresh air in the cockpit, and almost as soon as I was up the companionway, flames were coming up after me. I could feel the heat all the way in the back of the boat. There was nothing I could do to combat the fire." In addition to the fire itself, Hazzard had other safety concerns. "I was standing by two diesel tanks, the boat had two propane tanks, and I had two medical oxygen tanks in the bow and two dive tanks in the salon." The engine was still running, so he directed the boat toward shore. By the time the fire started to burn the dodger and bimini, continued on outside column of next sightings page November, 2016 •
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