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San Francisco Bay Area Multihull Association

There is always something fun going on in San Francisco!

BAMA is the primary organization supporting multihull racing, cruising, and safety in Northern California.  As well as organizing multihull racing and cruising events, BAMA is the official source of Multihull PHRF Rating Certificates in Northern California. To race in Northern California regattas open to multihulls, you need a rating certificate issued by BAMA.

Learn more about SFBAMA >>

BAMA sponsors SF Bay multihull-specific regattas and series for its members, including the Whales Chase Multihull Regatta, the BAMA Cup, and the Fast Cat Cup. The club also hosts events open to all, including safety seminars, club socials, and organized cruising outings.

Below is Rafi, a BAMA member, sailing his new Corsair 880 in San Francisco Bay. Rafi worked closely with 180 Marine in Long Beach, California, to fully customize his Corsair 880 with many upgrades. Rafi plans to race in the SBMR Regatta/Corsair National on another 880 skippered by Michael Acker. Michael’s 880 (M&M) was also customized for better performance by 180 Marine. 2024 SBMR Regatta / Corsair Regionals

If you’re interested in a performance upgrade package from 180 Marine, please get in touch with us. We offer several different packages that will increase your trimaran's speed, performance, and efficiency. info@180marine.com

Tri Jolie, Corsair 880, Rafi Yahalom, Skipper

Rafi Yahalom / Skipper Tri Jolie

Rafi Yahalom and Michael Sundermeyer taking delivery of their new Corsair 880 from 180 Marine in Long Beach, California

M&M preparing to race in the SBMR Regatta/Corsair Regionals 2024/ kipper, Michael Acker

2021 Sarasota Sailing Squadron

2021 SARASOTA SAILING SQUADRON

Thank you Steve from The Finish Line, for getting this story out to all!

Thanks to the Sarasota Sailing Squadron for accepting the challenge of hosting a Regatta in spite of Covid. The hurdles to host a successful regatta are many and the Squadron met them with aplomb. Part swap meet, sailing clinic, jamboree, and camp cooking tournament, the SBMR never fails to deliver when it comes to mild weather, warm clear water, easy launch/docking, and shore side things to see and do.  While the social events were muted compared to years past (to the relief of barnyard animals and first responders everywhere.  But thanks for keeping the tazers charged anyway, Craig), the racing was just as intense, the venue just as scenic, and the sailors just as salty.

20 Corsair trimarans traveled from near and far to be part of this event. As promised, the weather machine was set on “shuffle” and divvied out conditions from near calm to “should we reef?”. Sarasota bay being protected on all sides makes sailing near the upper design limits somewhat predictable which helps expand your performance envelope. Seven races over three days kept sailors on their toes and the chiropractors in business for certain.

Typical of springtime pre-frontal passage in Florida, the first day dawned with a decent land breeze that was destined to quit right around first flag.  It was a lively 3 mile sail to the course from the dock with all the boats making their last adjustments.  Bad time to realize you left the beer cooler on the dock.  Fire that dude.

The race committee tried valiantly to run a race despite all the indications that this would be a drifter with large shifts and holes.  It was great light air sailing all the way to the giant hole at the top mark.  Hat Trick’s private breeze was not received well by the other sailors showing negative vmg.  Mercifully, the PRO announced the race abandoned as the breeze showed signs of backing 120 degrees.  Reaching to C-gate would have been an interesting twist.

A side note about the neat technology on the course this weekend.  The race committee used autonomous turning marks which kept station via GPS and other remote controlled wizardry, making minor adjustments to keep the course windward/leeward at all times.  Definitely nice to see a technical solution to assist mark boats in their challenge to keep the course and lines square.  Race Qs app is a crowd-source regatta tracker which has a lot of cool features.  Load it on your phone, set the start time, and the app does the rest while you’re sailing.  Replays later can be edited to add marks/starts, weather conditions, and group boats by fleet.  Displays can include VMG, SOG and a host of other data.

So, while motoring back to the committee boat to organize for race #2, the little “mark-bots” (think ) were busy scurrying across the bay to set the new course.

Races 2 and 3 were ideal with the seabreeze filling in to a moderate 10-12.  Races were tight, and little mistakes could add up big to those who were caught unawares.  A great first day to sort the boats out.

Saturday was forecast to be rainy and cold (high 60’s) but the PRO pushed on to get some races on the books in case Sunday turned into a blowout per the forecast.  The wind held for the most part in the 10-12 range, but the rain showed up and ended the day after 2 races.  Of course, after all the boats were tied up at the Squadron the clouds broke, the sun shone brightly, and the wind steadied at 14…  Second guessing never works

Sunday could be considered by many as “sporty”.  Clear and cool (upper 50’s to 70 by midday) with winds initially in the 18+ with gusts to 25 range.  Definitely nice to be sailing in protected water in conditions near your design windspeed envelope. If you’re going to build your sailhandling confidence, this is the time and place to do it.  No epic wipeouts or crashes, but there were some difficult spinnaker sets and drops in the conditions.  Races 2 and 3 were conducted in a bit more settled conditions with wind dropping to 10-12 with gusts in the mid-teens. Definitely tests your ability to shift gears to lighter conditions.

Overall, the Corsair course had high and low PHRF classes and the growing and incredible competitive did I mention growing 750 fleet.   In the 750 class, Hat Trick (first time on a race course with excellent prep by the FinishLine ) started with four bullets with Phil Styne brining his winning crew Todd Hudgins from the Nationals win in New England in 2008?  and highly experienced Corsair sailor Tom Reese to do battle with perennial  winner in the class Larry Geller.  Humility (Austin TX), Lucy Gene (Austin TX) and Tri Polar weren’t going to let either of those two hooligans get away with any slacking, and finish positions were traded often during the busy weekend.

The overall Corsair Nationals trophy went to Kathyrn Garlick on C 28r Evolution who sailed most of the last day with a torn main. Second overall was newcomer Alan Moore C 28r. Third was Larry Geller Sprint 750 beating out the 750 class winner Phil Styne with the overall time scoring system.

There were old timers (I have had some Corsair or another for 29 years) and one boat was literally picked up by its new owner the day before the regatta and stopped by on its way to its new home in Wisconsin to put on a good showing.

Sarasota Sailing Squadron as always was a great venue in-spite of missing the big dinner.

There was sponsorship by Corsair and The FinishLine. 

Special Thanks to Jim Bergoin, Billy Black and Mike Cantalana!

2021 Corsair Trimaran Nationals, Sarasota, Florida

As far as we know the Corsair Nationals will be held this year in Sarasota, Florida on March 5-7, 2021. All COVID 19 safety guidelines are outlined in the “Notice of Race.”

The Regatta is targeting a number of 35 Corsair trimarans gathering together in the pristine waters of Sarasota Bay, Florida. In addition, the SBMR Regatta is also expected to attract classes including Stiletto, Windrider, and a variety of other multihulls/trimarans.

We look forward to seeing you and your crew flying on the Bay and with your favorite Corsair. There will be lots of racing! A box take out dinner on Saturday due to Covid precautions. Registration is only through Regatta Network and will close on Wed, 3/3/21 at 5 p.m. There is no onsite or late registration. Registration is now open.

The regatta will host 3 full days of racing with up to 12 races scheduled. There are 2 options for days of racing, you can either go with 2-day or 3-day races.

Days of Racing Schedule:

Dates: March 5, 2021
March 6, 2021 (2-day racers)
March 6, 2021 (3-day racers)
March 7, 2021

We would love to make this a fun and exciting event for everyone in the Corsair community, with the Corsair Nationals intended to bring our community closer together through opportunities of socializing, networking and of course some hard and fast racing!
We must plan for the appropriate event size so please register early to ensure we have time to pull off an amazing regatta. Register today for early bird pricing!