Bay Area Sunfish Sailors

srossfbt

New Member
Looking to connect with any Sunfish sailors in the Bay Area. Where do you sail? How do you handle the windy summer conditions? I currently sail a Zuma out of Richmond but thinking about making the switch to a Sunfish.
 
Looking to connect with any Sunfish sailors in the Bay Area. Where do you sail? How do you handle the windy summer conditions? I currently sail a Zuma out of Richmond but thinking about making the switch to a Sunfish.
There are a lot of people that sail on Tomales Bay. Tomales is pretty predictable but you can get caught in some big wind in the later part of the afternoon and aren't close to home. Most of the guys live in the Santa Rosa area. They have built a nice fleet of Lasers, Force 5's and a Banshee. I haven't been sailing with them as much lately because they are all retired and sail during the week to avoid the crowds. I also like to sail on the Russian River and have been thinking about Berryessa for a while.
 
There are a lot of people that sail on Tomales Bay. Tomales is pretty predictable but you can get caught in some big wind in the later part of the afternoon and aren't close to home. Most of the guys live in the Santa Rosa area. They have built a nice fleet of Lasers, Force 5's and a Banshee. I haven't been sailing with them as much lately because they are all retired and sail during the week to avoid the crowds. I also like to sail on the Russian River and have been thinking about Berryessa for a while.
I have looked at Tomales Bay, looks like a fun place to sail. I hope to get a trailer soon so I can check it out. I'm stuck in Richmond for now, which is a nice place to be stuck but do hope to get out and explore other areas.

Never thought is sailing on the Russian River, where do you put in? My name is Steve and If you ever want to sail in Richmond I let me know, I store my boat in the Marina Bay Yacht harbor. It has a nice boat ramp and is not so busy now that Halibut season is over.
 
New to Sunfish sailing myself, and also looking to connect. I’m in the Santa Rosa Sailing Club. Currently sailing casual regattas with a mixed fleet. Marconi Cove@ Tomales Bay 10/10 & 10/24 join us if you can.
We sail Lake Ralphine, Spring Lake, and Lake Sonoma, as well as some casual Bay cruises (Estuary, San Rafael Creek, Vallejo, etc…)
I’d be interested in meeting up with you in Richmond sometime.
 
New to Sunfish sailing myself, and also looking to connect. I’m in the Santa Rosa Sailing Club. Currently sailing casual regattas with a mixed fleet. Marconi Cove@ Tomales Bay 10/10 & 10/24 join us if you can.
We sail Lake Ralphine, Spring Lake, and Lake Sonoma, as well as some casual Bay cruises (Estuary, San Rafael Creek, Vallejo, etc…)
I’d be interested in meeting up with you in Richmond sometime.
Jduri I will PM you.
 
New to Sunfish sailing myself, and also looking to connect. I’m in the Santa Rosa Sailing Club. Currently sailing casual regattas with a mixed fleet. Marconi Cove@ Tomales Bay 10/10 & 10/24 join us if you can.
We sail Lake Ralphine, Spring Lake, and Lake Sonoma, as well as some casual Bay cruises (Estuary, San Rafael Creek, Vallejo, etc…)
I’d be interested in meeting up with you in Richmond sometime.
I caught up with the Santa Rosa Sailing club at Marconi when I first got my Sunfish three years ago. It was my second time on Tomales and I met Commodore David, I believe. I check out their FB page from time to time but the info doesn't seem to be updated very often. I'll have to check it out as it's been a while. I'd like to sail with you guys at some point. Here's my standard photo of my Sunfish on Tomales.
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Nice pic norcalsail! Here I am out on the bay near Richmond. Not sailing a Sunfish currently but I may convert if it would help get a fleet going,
 

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A Sunfish fleet here would be really cool. I've only sailed with other Sunfish twice. Once up the Russian River and once in Wisconsin after our neighbor bought one. (I have really good video of sailing the Oldfish with the guy). Nice looking boat srossfbt!
 
San Diego is pretty far from you, but maybe you can swing by one day. We have summer and winter season.
 
There are a couple guys who occasionally race Sunfish when Richmond YC has events. If you are interested in racing I could give you their email addresses via PM.

Otherwise you should see when Lake Washington YC runs the Delta Dinghy Ditch Run. I did that in my Sunfish and had a blast!!
 
There are a couple guys who occasionally race Sunfish when Richmond YC has events. If you are interested in racing I could give you their email addresses via PM.

Otherwise you should see when Lake Washington YC runs the Delta Dinghy Ditch Run. I did that in my Sunfish and had a blast!!
More interested in casual cruising than racing. I'll check out the Delta Dingy Ditch Run, thanks!
 
Chris had mentioned this Delta event a while back and I may get there one of these days. I have been focusing on my Banshee since I bought it a few weeks ago, so I'm pulled in a different direction for now. (I think I posted this photo of us at the Marconi launch already)
 

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Chris had mentioned this Delta event a while back and I may get there one of these days. I have been focusing on my Banshee since I bought it a few weeks ago, so I'm pulled in a different direction for now. (I think I posted this photo of us at the Marconi launch already)
Norcal, thanks for the pics! That is on Tomales bay I take it. I thought about getting a Banshee as I want something a little sportier than my Zuma. I settled on a Fulcrum Rocket which hopefully I'll be getting in July. PM me if you are interested in meeting up in Richmond. I see two Banshee's in the pic, what is the boat between them? Also, where does one get a cool pendant like the one streaming on the far Banshee?

One other thing, Id be interested in why you switched to the Banshee and how would you compare it to a Sunfish?
 
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Norcal, thanks for the pics! That is on Tomales bay I take it. I thought about getting a Banshee as I want something a little sportier than my Zuma. I settled on a Fulcrum Rocket which hopefully I'll be getting in July. PM me if you are interested in meeting up in Richmond. I see two Banshee's in the pic, what is the boat between them? Also, where does one get a cool pendant like the one streaming on the far Banshee?

One other thing, Id be interested in why you switched to the Banshee and how would you compare it to a Sunfish?
Hi srossfbt,
Good to hear from you. I think your choice of the Fulcrum Rocket is a good one. I have thought about sailing on the SF Bay, but with so much traffic, I'm not sure I will ever get there. Hard to pass up my usual sailing spots! The Blue Banshee is my friend Dan's. Not sure where he got the pendant, they often put them on as a sign of their regatta. The middle boat is my friend Dennis' Laser. Both those guys have been sailing for years and Dennis has been on Tomales for forty years and over 1,000 trips. I learned a lot just watching him. I bought the Banshee because those guys are much faster and leave me in the spray. I can keep up with them much better now. I don't think I will ever get rid of my Sunfish though. It has a practical place and I can always take it to Wisconsin to join my fleet there. Happy sails!
 
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Wanted to give this a bump. Trying again to and see if anyone would like to meetup in Richmond and the Marina Bay Yacht Harbor (Marina Bay Yacht Harbor | A great location on the Bay!). I'm sailing most weekends.
I'd love to meet up with you. waiting on my new Sunfish sail. My new Lonestar sail arrives Monday.
Had a blast sailing the RYC Winter Small Boat Series. I could bring both boats. You could knock around on the sunfish, While I test out the new Lonestar sail. Lets PM.
 
I'd love to meet up with you. waiting on my new Sunfish sail. My new Lonestar sail arrives Monday.
Had a blast sailing the RYC Winter Small Boat Series. I could bring both boats. You could knock around on the sunfish, While I test out the new Lonestar sail. Lets PM.
Hi Jduri,
I was over at Spring Lake this morning and thinking about sailing there. It's really close to my house in Montgomery Village. I know the SRSC sails there every once in a while and I want to keep my eye open for when they may have a regatta. The lake was up to the bottom of the dock at the boat ramp. It still has that bloom stuff about an eighth of a mile north of the boat ramp but the southern area is now much more clear. There was a huge white swan feeding out in the middle this morning. I sailed my Sunfish there a while back and had a good time, so close and so easy!
 
Last Sunday of each month is our current series. Our Website is down, so will need to find an NOR somewhere.
We try to get 3-4 races off starting at 2p.
Hope to see you there!
 
Last Sunday of each month is our current series. Our Website is down, so will need to find an NOR somewhere.
We try to get 3-4 races off starting at 2p.
Hope to see you there!
Thanks for this information Jduri. I am going to have to get there!
 
I'd love to meet up with you. waiting on my new Sunfish sail. My new Lonestar sail arrives Monday.
Had a blast sailing the RYC Winter Small Boat Series. I could bring both boats. You could knock around on the sunfish, While I test out the new Lonestar sail. Lets PM.
Sounds good Jduri, sending you a PM now with my contact info.
 

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