SYC/REGATTAPRO
The RegattaPRO Winter One Series
started in 2002 as a one one-design series for the Bay Area Farr 40 fleet. They wanted to keep their chops up during the 'off' season. "The following year," said race organizer Jeff Zarwell, "the Farrs agreed for me to add a second fleet, which ended up being the 11-boat J/120 fleet. By the third year the Farrs were waning quickly, so I added the J/105s. Year 4 saw the addition of the Express 27, which lasted for a few years until they decided the event was too competitive for their fleet." The Express 27s went over to the Berkeley Yacht Club Midwinters,
A J/105 start on stormy February 9 in the RegattaPRO Winter One Design Series. Note that several boats were over early and had to go back to restart.
held on the same (second) weekend of the month in November-February. The two regattas share the Berkeley Circle (er, Fan), with RegattaPRO being set up farther west and sometimes north. Occasionally, the courses intersect. "Over the years, RegattaPRO has hosted a number of fleets including the Beneteau 36.5s and 40.7s, Antrim 27s, etc. Currently we're hosting the J/120, J/105, J/88, J/70, J/24, Melges 24 and Moore 24 fleets. Participation ranges from 60 to 70 boats each year."
Zarwell brought Sausalito YC onboard to help out a few years ago. "It was a great decision to do so. Their support has made it much easier for me, as I'm not spending time looking for support boats and a signal boat to charter, plus they have a great race committee team. Their presence has made managing this regatta much easier. "The original and continuing emphasis of the RegattaPRO Winter One Design Series is to mimic summer racing as closely as possible (up and down courses; multiple races each day), to allow boats to rotate in new crew and stay sharp during the winter season, so that they're up to speed come March. To that end, I think we've been pretty successful."
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A Moore 24 start on November 10, when smoke from the Camp Fire in Paradise hovered ominously over the region.
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Latitude 38
• March, 2019
his winter's series kicked off under inauspicious skies on November 10. The horrific Camp Fire had started two days previously, and the resulting smoke blew down to the Bay Area from Butte County. Most race organizers went ahead with their events that weekend, but many individual crews chose to stay
