You couldn’t miss us on the first day of the Harris Cup clad in bright pink. I promise it wasn’t planned. Six Open 5.70s competed, and Tracey Kenney and I represented the only all-women’s 5.70 with a pretty palate.

I first saw Hat Trick’s pink spinnaker at Long Beach Race Week in June and couldn’t wait for the chance to race with Tracey. Last weekend’s Harris Cup was the first time we sailed together.  In an inspired moment before heading to the marina I grabbed a bright pink shirt. I arrived at the dock and met Tracey who had also donned a bright pink shirt.  She joked that we’d “blind the competition with shocking pink!”

We were definitely on the same page; and sailing in the pink, we finished 2nd in race #1, almost captured 1st place in race #2, but were happy with another 2nd. It was a great first day for our first time as skipper and crew (more…)

Alex Thomson went keel walking on his Groupe Finot designed IMOCA Open 60 HUGO BOSS in the Solent. (more…)

“Readers of these pages will remember Gimmy Tranquillo as the snarling face on the monthly ElementShield.com dry shirt ads. Gimmy moved last Spring to Florence, Italy with his wife Catalina and daughter Sisi, telling friends to “come and visit!””

Find the complete article in the August #79 issue of the Mariner Magazine – pick one up or check it out online.

Check out the full race report.

The second stage of our excellent northern California road trip was the Sarcoma Cup. Organized by Richmond Yacht Club this was the 2nd running of this regatta aimed at raising money for the BeatSarcoma charity. (more…)

The first stage of our San Francisco road trip involved a couple of beer can races. The first in Redwood City on Wednesday and the second in Berkeley on Friday. (more…)

Summer is in full swing and there are plenty of opportunities on the horizon to go sailing and enjoy your Open 5.70. As you all know the fleet in Marina del Rey has been growing all year and there are some great one-design events coming up that we should all make the most of.

Saturday & Sunday August 29th & 30th
Harris Regatta hosted by California Yacht Club
Two days of well run one-design races here in Marina del Rey. This event is on the Open 5.70 Southern California racing calendar and it would be great to see everyone there. CYC is one of the premier clubs in the area and as one of the fastest growing fleets it is important for have a good presence at events like this.

Saturday September 5th
Outlaw Regatta hosted by Santa Monica Windjammers Yacht Club and Seal Beach Yacht Club
This race has become a bit of class tradition and is a refreshing downwind point to point race rather than around the buoys. In the past we’ve set the spinnaker on the start line and carried it south for almost 30 miles. The course takes you through Hurricane Gulch where the good breeze guarantees a fun downwind ride to the finish.

Saturday & Sunday September 19th & 20th
Women at the Helm hosted by ASMBYC
This event would be a great opportunity for us to have the 1st ever one-design class competing in the “Women at the Helm” category. Of course the “owner/driver” rule will not be applicable for this event to ensure that everyone can participate in this event.

Saturday & Sunday September 26th & 27th
Sportboat World Championship of the World hosted by Coronado Yacht Club / Sailing Anarchy Yacht Club
“Okay, so here’s the deal – we are going to have the best west coast sportboat regatta – ever! To be held in the south bay of San Diego – good breeze, flat water, and no kelp. We’re going to gather as many sportboats as possible, put them together in at least two handicap classes, run seven races, and have a full slate of food, drink and entertainment as well. Dave Ullman will be speaking, alt rockers Moxy Bullets will be jamming, comedian Russ T. Nailz will be funny, all Saturday Night. And of course there will be giveaways, good prizes, great racing, good times.”

Hope to see you all out on the water soon!

Open Sailing is planning a road trip to San Francisco from August 19th to August 26th. We will bring two Open 5.70s and our plan is as follows:

• Wednesday August 19th

  Race out of Sequoia YC, Redwood City.

• Thursday August 20th

  Demo rides on Open 5.70 out of Sequoia YC, anybody whose interested should contact us asap.

• Friday August 21st

  Afternoon – Demo rides on Open 5.70 out of Berkeley YC, anybody whose interested should contact us asap.
  Evening – Berkeley Beer Can Race – contact us if you’d like to crew.

• Saturday/Sunday August 22nd/23rd

  Sarcoma Cup Regatta – one day of buoy racing on Saturday followed by a pursuit race on Sunday. All the local boats will be out for this race so we will have 6 Open 5.70s on the line. Contact us (or the owners) for crewing opportunities.

• Monday August 24th

  Demo rides on Open 5.70 out of Richmond YC, anybody whose interested should contact us asap.

• Tuesday August 25th

  Demo rides on Open 5.70 out of your YC! If you are a member of a yacht club in the San Francisco area and would like to invite Open Sailing for a day of fun on the water sailing the Open 5.70s then contact us.

• Wednesday August 26th

  Race out of Sequoia YC, Redwood City.

San Francisco is a great venue for the Open 5.70 and with four boats on the Bay already we are hoping that this road trip will raise awareness of the Open 5.70 and tip the balance so that the Bay Area one-design fleet starts to flourish as it has done down here in Southern California. Hope to see you there!

The red Open 6.50 came out of the container from France on Tuesday and here we are on Saturday waiting for the start of a 20 mile distance race to Squirrel Bank. The wind was light and the weather was more overcast than usual. We had decided to sail light and we were only 3 on board instead of the usual 4. The course was basically out and back (i.e. windward / leeward) which made it that much harder to sail to our PHRF RLC rating of 72.

We did well on the weather leg keeping up with, and even ahead of, the other boats in our fleet which included a Melges 30, a B29, a J80, a J105 and a C&C 25. Our only mistake was not sailing far enought to the right (we were only 1/4 mile short) in order to make the most of more pressure and a large lift. Those boats that “guessed” correctly saw big gains and by the time we located the notoriously hard to find Surfrider weather buoy we knew it would be hard to catch up.

In building breeze we set the kite, gybed and found ourselves pointed straight at the finish mark. It was going to be a reaching sleigh ride to the finish. With following seas the Open 6.50 was on a constant plane catching wave after wave. At times we would sail over the top of a wave to catch the one in front. It took us less than an hour to sail the 10 mile leg home and we would often see speeds as high as 14 knots on the GPS! It was a great ride! Those boats in front of us that looked small when we rounded the mark quickly grew bigger as we reeled them in and then they quickly grew smaller again once we passed them. It didn’t matter if we were to windward or leeward we seemed to pass boats as if they were standing still. The sea state, the breeze and the swell all combined to hit the sweet spot for sailing fast on the Open 6.50. Despite the grins on our faces the reality of it was that our less than stella windward leg let us down overall leaving us with a 2nd (out of 3) in the SPORT B class and a 4th (out 0f 6) in the combined SPORT A&B class (full results).

Two more Open 6.50s were delivered to Open Sailing, Inc today all the way from France.

The red Open 6.50, shown on the right, is hull number 7 and although it is a used boat it is in very good condition. Open Sailing plans to race this boat in Southern California. With USA 017 already racing in the area there will be two of these boats on the line in the very near future.

The black Open 6.50 is not black at all, it is actually a clear coat which when you look more closely allows you to see the beautiful carbon fibre weave in all it’s glory. This brand new boat is currently for sale. Be warned if you see this boat you may just fall in love and have to buy it right there on the spot – it certainly is one of the best looking boats around!

The Clear Coat Carbon Fibre Hull of the Open 6.50