- AMERICA'S CUP
- CLASSIFIEDS
- NEWSLETTERS
- SUBMIT NEWS
A Q&A with Eric Arens about the Richmond YC’s Great Pumpkin Regatta
Related Articles
| October 28-29, 2023 Richmond Yacht Club hosted their fall classic regatta, the Great Pumpkin, in fine style on the last weekend of October. Saturday's buoy racing had adequate breeze for three races in three separate racing areas. A Halloween party followed. On Sunday, although the starts went off on time, no one was able to finish in light air and heavy current. Check out Saturday's results . Please to order a high-resolution image or print from this photo gallery.
speech on family tree
Friday, November 19, 2010Richmond yacht club's great pumpkin regatta 2010.  Blog Archive
Contributors
Birmingham Sailing Club and the members of Thistle Fleet 110 welcome you to the 2024 Great Pumpkin Regatta, the 4th regatta of the Thistle Southeastern Fall Series to be held on the weekend of October 12th-13th.
How the West Was Won at the 2021 Great Pumpkin RegattaThe 2021 Great Pumpkin Regatta welcomed us back with wicked wind shifts, one-design racing, and one heck of a Wild Wild West party. Medusa was on the upwind leg, a Santa Cruz 27 sailing swiftly with her crew on the rail. We were a crew lightweight in stature, all granola-eating types, two women, young — and on the Berkeley Circle, there was just enough wind to provide an exhilarating ride. While sailing together is almost always fun, this was a nice change from the mid-20-knot winds typical of the summer months. After a brutal 2021 Nationals and some equally breezy Bay races, we were simply delighted at not being overpowered for once.  Saturday was buoy-racing day at the 2021 Great Pumpkin Regatta and our hosts, Richmond Yacht Club, offered the SC27s their own start. Despite the unusually sparse showing, the two other boats who turned up were a formidable lot. Rick Raduziner’s Lickety Split handily beat us in doublehanded racing earlier in the year. And David Garman’s Giant Slayer had come fourth in the highly competitive Nationals. But we had improved, and were excited to see where we stood in the one-design fleet. We knew that if the wind stayed steady, we would be in a favorable position. But squalls were moving through the course and the wind was shifting this way and that, moving the ladder beneath us. We tacked just as we hit the layline and almost immediately encountered a 90-degree wind shift. Suddenly, the upwind leg had become a beam reach. I pulled out the spinnaker pole and laughed to myself as we marched what seemed like a mile toward the offset mark. For the rest of the race, nobody really knew which way was up or down; it was unpredictable, wet, and some of the most entertaining sailing I’ve done in a while!  That afternoon, we duked it out in three races. Lickety Split came first, Medusa came second and Giant Slayer was near third. We were all thrilled to have a day of tactical racing, with Lady Luck occasionally shining through the clouds and fog. Afterward, I was grateful for a cold seltzer, a hot shower and a fresh set of clothes. I stepped out feeling brand-new, albeit dressed as a train conductor. As the post-race awards kicked off, I slipped amongst my crew — two dressed as engineers, two dressed as bandit cowboys. A Nashville belle sauntered up with a tray of jelly shots, just as my friend Maya — sporting a midriff top and Daisy Dukes — threw a literal noose around my neck. This was RYC’s famous Saturday night party, and the Wild Wild West theme was absolutely no understatement.  It was no surprise that the fleet hit the course, guns blazing. In 2019, the Sunday pursuit race was canceled due to a gale. In 2020, with the pandemic in full effect, a socially distant pursuit race was held, and there was certainly no party. In 2021, we had finally returned to normal, albeit carrying our vaccination cards and two years of pent-up anticipation. With the pursuit race, participants have the choice to sail around the San Francisco Bay islands — Angel and Alcatraz — either clockwise or counterclockwise. The “correct” strategy is well debated by all, factoring in winds, currents, and more often than is admitted, “the way the good sailors are going.” Some call it a coin toss, but almost everyone has a thesis behind their educated guess. We chose clockwise, anticipating breeze and a slack current when entering Raccoon Strait. Even when the two directional fleets met northwest of Alcatraz, it seemed that we had made a reasonable choice. Better still, we had overtaken a handful of Moore 24s — every passed boat being a positive in a pursuit race. But it was clear as we sailed downwind past Keil Cove that there were dozens of spinnakers — a true kaleidoscope of nylon kites — tearing past Southampton Shoal and toward the finish line just outside the Richmond Channel. My goodness, we had sailed well, but when you’re going the “wrong” direction, the only place to find victory is inside yourself. William Pryor captured this video of the start of the 2021 Great Pumpkin Regatta aboard Medusa . From second in our division to 75th out of 108 finishers — well, isn’t that how it goes? After “rescuing” a floating pumpkin on the course, we docked at RYC to claim our pumpkin pie prize, and enjoy one last celebratory drink. Once more, the RYC patio filled up with racers, happy to see one another, grateful for their crews, camaraderie and yet another exciting day on the Bay. At that moment, we West Coast racers all felt as if we had won a little something during the Great Pumpkin Regatta weekend — and it was wild.  Leave a Comment Cancel ReplyNotify me via e-mail if anyone answers my comment. The World Famous L38 November Caption Contest(!) What do you have to say about that? Sponsored Post Club Nautique Office Staff Job Openings Club Nautique is hiring. Keeping an Eye on the Fleet The Baja Ha-Ha Tracks Its Way to Turtle Bay There were a few dropouts and a few incidents reported, but the fleet is now safely anchored in Turtle Bay. SEND TV STARS TO SPACE OR KIDS SAILING? Excess for Jeff Bezos, Not Enough for Students Jeff Bezos just can't get enough. He's sending retired TV stars to space and building the world's largest sailboat. What's next? Sponsored Post Warm the Winter Blues in the Caribbean Cruise with fellow Bay Area sailors and Q&M Travels for a hands-on adventure, complete with private instruction from professional sailors.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
IMAGES
COMMENTS
Richmond Yacht Club. Great Pumpkin Regatta. October 30 & 31. PRO: Fred Paxton . Note that separate registrations required for each day
Richmond Yacht Club. *Saturday Regatta Registration includes 1 dinner ticket. Interested in volunteering for this event? Click Below.
William Pryor captured the start of Richmond Yacht Club's 2021 Great Pumpkin Regatta aboard the Santa Cruz 27, Medusa.
When it comes to intriguing regatta names, the Richmond Yacht Club's Great Pumpkin Regatta finds itself in rarefied company. Granted, the GPR takes place on San Francisco Bay near Halloween, but the moniker is an attention-grabbing one, as is the fact that the GPR regularly draws 150-plus boat fleets. I caught up with Eric Arens, the GPR's race chair, to learn more about this uniquely ...
Great Pumpkin Regatta. The Moore 24 fleet raced on the Olympic Circle course in the Great Pumpkin Regatta on Saturday. Richmond Yacht Club hosted yet another great Great Pumpkin Regatta last weekend. Sailors raced around the buoys in three areas (Southampton, Olympic Circle and Deep Water) on Saturday, followed by a pursuit race on Sunday.
Each October, as Halloween approaches, the Great Pumpkin visits San Francisco Bay. This is not Linus van Pelt's Great Pumpkin, rather it is Richmond Yacht Club's Great Pumpkin Regatta. The festivities began with a pumpkin carving party and pasta feed for kids on Friday evening and continued with three buoy races on three courses…
They got the Pumpkin!!Great Pumpkin RegattaRichmond Yacht Club check out my blog herehttps://louisapickering.blogspot.com/2015/10/spinnaker-peel-inside-hoist...
great pumpkin regatta. October 29-30, 2022. Richmond Yacht Club finished up the month of October with their Halloween regatta, the Great Pumpkin.With great gobs of boats and people, the weekend felt like a return to old times. RYC got 171 entries for Sunday's pursuit race and pumpkin hunt.
Prev Event Great Pumpkin Regatta Next Event. 351 Brickyard Cove Rd. Richmond, CA 94801. Phone: (510) 237-2821. Contact Us. 37° 54' 29" N, 122° 23' 00" W.
Yacht Club located on San... Richmond Yacht Club, Pt.Richmond California, Richmond, California. 2,405 likes · 31 talking about this · 4,689 were here. Yacht Club located on San Francisco Bay
RYC Great Pumpkin Regatta. Thank you to the 115 boats who came out. We had a 90 minutes postponement - wind picked up shortly after racing started. Postponements gave sailors time to raft up and visit (socially distant of course) - some hadn't seen each other since lock-down started in March. Thank you to PRO FRED PAXTON and your great Race ...
Richmond Yacht Club. Great Pumpkin Regatta : Day: Week: Month: Year: List: Search Back Prev Event Great Pumpkin Regatta Next Event . Great Pumpkin Regatta. October 29 - 30, 2022. Sat. Fleet Racing Results. Sun. Pursuit Race Results. Reserve Saturday Dinner/Party or Sunday Breakfast.
great pumpkin regatta. October 28-29, 2023. Richmond Yacht Club hosted their fall classic regatta, the Great Pumpkin, in fine style on the last weekend of October. Saturday's buoy racing had adequate breeze for three races in three separate racing areas. A Halloween party followed. On Sunday, although the starts went off on time, no one was ...
In and around epic shoreside goings-on, Richmond Yacht Club ran a passel of races over the weekend in the Great Pumpkin Regatta. This story isn't about the racing — we'll cover that in the December issue of Latitude 38. In honor of Halloween, this story is about cutting loose in costume. Putting on the finishing touches in the ladies' room.
The most recent photo gallery we've posted is from Richmond Yacht Club's Great Pumpkin Regatta on Halloween Weekend. Check out the photos at...
October 29-30, 2022. Richmond Yacht Club finished up the month of October with their Halloween regatta, the Great Pumpkin.With great gobs of boats and people, the weekend felt like a return to old times. RYC got 171 entries for Sunday's pursuit race and pumpkin hunt. Racing.
Richmond Yacht Club. Racing. RYC hosts a variety of racing events that attract sailors from the local area and beyond. These range from local, regional, national and often world championship regattas for both keelboats and dinghies to weekly "beer can" races in the summer and monthly small boat midwinters. ... Great Pumpkin Regatta: October ...
Richmond Yacht Club's Great Pumpkin Regatta 2010 The annual Richmond Yacht Club barn burner got off to a wet, gray start, as the weather god tussled between giving the fleet a trick or a treat. Saturdays buoy races set out on 3 courses, Southampton The Circle and Deep Water for divided the 152 strong fleet into 21 classes, 7 on each.
Birmingham Sailing Club and the members of Thistle Fleet 110 welcome you to the 2024 Great Pumpkin Regatta, the 4th regatta of the Thistle Southeastern Fall Series to be held on the weekend of October 12th-13th.
The 2021 Great Pumpkin Regatta welcomed us back with wicked wind shifts, one-design racing, and one heck of a Wild Wild West party. Medusa was on the upwind leg, a Santa Cruz 27 sailing swiftly with her crew on the rail. We were a crew lightweight in stature, all granola-eating types, two women, young — and on the Berkeley Circle, there was just enough wind to provide an exhilarating ride.
Great Pumpkin Regatta at Richmond Yacht Club: October 24: Looking for a Ride or Crew: None. Boats Racing: None. Sign Up: Sail Number: Boat Name: Name: Note: Note: To remove an entry fill in just your sail number or your name. All fields are optional. GPS Tracks [ Upload a GPS Track ] Regatta Message Board
Welcome to Richmond Yacht Club Committed to Serious Sailing and Fun Since 1932. RYC members are active sailors, and our beautiful Point Richmond location provides an excellent sailing venue. We host both world-class championships and many other small and big boat regattas for competitors of all ages.
Richmond Yacht Club. Great Pumpkin Regatta Saturday, October 24th Special format for 2020 Saturday only Pursuit Race