Popularity Grows for Summer SAILstice Worldwide

Created by sue. Last modified on 2008-06-26 19:13:13
Topic: Cruising Information

OVER 3500 BOATS AND 14,000 SAILORS JOINED TOGETHER TO CELEBRATE THE SUMMER SAILSTICE 2009.

The 8th Annual Summer Sailstice was a terrific success with boat participation increasing by almost 40% worldwide. With an average of 4 sailors per boat, over 14,000 sailors were out on the water on June 21st and 22nd on a Summer Sailstice sail - somewhere! And North Dakota finally became the 50th state to join other US sailors celebrate the Summer Sailstice holiday!

Here were some firsts for Summer Sailstice crews in 2008:

The first participants of Summer Sailstice 2008 were likely members of the Shanghai Boat & Yacht Club in China with a sunrise sail in Shanghai on Dianshan Lake.

The crew of Glasgow Scotland who sailing in the Clipper Race in the mid-Atlantic from Nova Scotia to Ireland were no doubt the Summer Sailstice crew furthest from land.

And (unfortunately) with no pictures to prove it...the "least dressed" Summer Sailstice sailors were the crew of the trimaran "Nice ‘n Easy" who promised to sail naked in the Whitsundays – even though it was their shortest day of the year.

The members of the SBYC have the advantage of being the first large land mass to the West of the date line but they didn’t rest with that advantage. These hearty souls awoke at 0330 to be up for a sunrise sail on the Sailstice and were 20 hours ahead of sailors celebrating in the Western US.

Think you can beat these records in 2009??

The largest turnout for a Summer Sailstice event in 2008 was the Summer Sailstice Festival on Treasure Island in San Francisco, with 1500 people coming through the event site over the course of the day.

Over 85 boats were anchored in Clipper Cove and more than 125 dinghies raced at the Treasure Island Sailing Center. Another 75+ boats raced with the YRA and with ‘cruise-outs’ such as EYC’s cruise to China Camp and the many sailors just out for a day on the Bay, there were an estimated 2,000 sailors sailing and celebrating Summer Sailstice on San Francisco Bay. The event site on Treasure Island offered free sailboat rides to over 150 new sailors, music from five bands , a beach treasure hunt, a boat building contest and a new boats on the show docks with proceeds to benefit Treasure Island Sailing Center’s community sailing programs.

Read all about it at www/summersailstice.com

It was great to sail "with you" on this year's Sailstice and wherever and whatever you sail, we wish you fair winds, a fantastic summer of sailing and look forward to welcoming you back again for Summer Sailstice 2009!