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Eternal optimists. Bay Area sailors often face challenging conditions to enjoy their favorite pastime. But next time you feel like whining about
As seen at Strictly Sail Pacific
ALEX PASCO
since 1984
An armada of Optis crowds the line off Ashdod, Israel, last month.
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YACHT SALES INC.
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Page 72 •
Latitude 38
• June, 2009
Southern California
West Coast Multihulls 1053 Rosecrans, San Diego, CA 92106
www.westcoastmultihulls.com kurt@westcoastmultihulls.com
(619) 571-3513
the fog, wind and cold, think about sailors in Ashdod, Israel. As recently as three months ago, locals in this southern Israel port city had to run for their bomb shelters every day to avoid the threat of Qassam rockets raining in from Gaza. This didn't stop plans for an annual regatta in mid-May that attracted a fleet of 400 dinghies — mostly Optimists, but also some Lasers and 420s. Participants traveled from all parts of Israel to take part, many arriving several days early to train. According to Ashdod Marina manager Iris Katz, all the visiting sailors were comfortably housed in a nearby school where there were ample beds to throw their sleeping bags, as well as showers and restroom facilities. The weekend series of races, jointly sponsored by the marina and the City of Ashdod, was well organized. "Everything went like clockwork," said Katz, adding that the "weather was perfect: clear skies, warm weather, good winds." Iris says that the event was so successful that a future European and possibly even World 420 Championship venue is being discussed. Climate-wise, Ashdod is much like San Diego, with nice, warm breeze and sunny skies in the summer, and balmy and pleasant in winter, with few storms and infrequent rain. Despite the frequent threats from Gaza, Ashdod is Israel’s fastest growing city, with beautiful beaches and a clean, well-run marina that welcomes boats big and small. What more does a sailor need? — john skoriak Pieces of the rock. Elsewhere in Sightings we take a look at some of the better known rocks of the Bay. An interesting addendum to Red Rock — which, yes, is actually not a rock but an island — is that it is the only privately-owned island in the Bay — and it's for sale. Or we should say, still for sale as it's been on the market for several years now. David Glickman and the Durning family are the current co-owners. The asking price is $22 million. Glickman points out that the island "is basically made up of rocks that have a value in excess of that amount, so a buyer would be getting the island at no cost if he or she would sell off an excess of about 1 million tons of surplus rock." That, of course, is presuming you could get permits to do so from three counties, one city and half a dozen agencies. Wait — does this mean we're not sexy? You may have read online recently about a study that claimed sailors had a much higher 'virility index' than other segments of the population. The work was supposedly done in Holland and involved 2,000 people who were part of a human sexuality study. While most of you will probably agree that sailing men are indeed extra studly and the women are all lusty and beautiful, it turns out the 'study' is fake. It was an April Fool's joke that rapidly took on a life of its own. The Bay Area-based sailing site YachtPals. com, where it originated, reported that by mid-May, the results of the 'study' had been translated into a dozen languages. Credit local sailor and Chronicle columnist Paul Oliva for actually doing some fact checking before he ran the story. We're glad he did. We had it all tee'd up to go in this exact space.
