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San Francisco, CA, April 29, 2004 - Which events are first to be jotted on the calendar each year? The meccas where old friends reunite and new friendships are formed? The times that reinforce our love for sailing? They are 'The 10 Best Sailing Events' published in the May 2004 issue of Sailing Magazine.
Long known for colorful photography and passionate, wind-whipped prose, Sailing Magazine has always supported the soul and joy of the sailing lifestyle. To select this year's event choices for their top 10, the editors looked beyond the competitive, gold plated racing events that capture much of the sailing world's attention, instead, selecting events that embody the heart of the recreational sailor's day on the water, events that are 'more about fun than fast'.
Summer Sailstice was thrilled to be amongst the 10 diverse, inspiring and creative sailing adventures that unite sailors from far and wide to share their sailing pleasures. Summer Sailstice was recognized by Sailing for its unique approach in inviting all sailors everywhere to participate wherever they happen to be sailing and offering a chance to win prizes just for signing up and sailing. The United States Sailboat Show in Annapolis, the Baja Ha-Ha, the Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival and Louie's Last Regatta are amongst the other fun-filled winners.
June 2004 will be the fourth annual Summer Sailstice celebration with participants hosting and joining parties all across the Northern Hemisphere. With the Summer Sailstice holiday every club or organization can form their own rally, race, party or picnic. This year, the Summer Sailstice team is hoping to double last year's signups of 1400 individual sailors with an estimated 3,000 registered participants out on their boats on June 20th. Grand Prizes include a one-week charter in the BVI from The Moorings now celebrating their 35th anniversary, a Hunter Xcite sailing dinghy and a $500 shopping spree at West Marine. Over 100 other prizes, courtesy of sailing businesses are available for winners awarded by random drawing. For more information and to signup for the 2004 Summer Sailstice, visit http://www.summersailstice.com/homepage.html.
About Summer Sailstice: Founded in 2001 by John Arndt and Michelle Slade Summer Sailstice is a global holiday celebrating sailing annually on the solstice. The event is facilitated by a website allowing participants to register their participation, a chance to win prizes supplied by the marine industry and host or connect with parties and other participants in their area. The goal is to get all sailors and sailing organizations in the Northern Hemisphere participating by sailing and celebrating wherever they are on the longest sailing day of the year.
"Who can argue with an event whose sole purpose is to enjoy sailing? The concept behind Summer Sailstice is to just go sailing wherever you are, and there’s no better day to do it than on the longest day of the year—the summer solstice. There is no registration fee, no schedule and no rules. Find yourself a boat with a sail, take out friends or putter about on your own, and remember why you fell in love with the sport in the first place. Organizer John Arendt, who founded the event in 2001 with Michelle Slade, added a touch of incentive to participate, with T-shirts, prizes and recognition given to those who participate and sign up at www.summersailstice.com. Some sailors plan other events—regattas or raft ups, for instance—to coincide with this day to celebrate “random acts of sailing,” but plenty of the 1,400 sailors who registered last year (up from 200 in its freshman year) just packed a lunch, launched their boat or threw off the docklines, and reveled in a day on the water. Sailors from 12 countries, 40 states and five Canadian provinces registered last year. The summer solstice is Monday, June 21, this year, according to many calendars, but The Farmer’s Almanac says it’s Sunday, June 20. The Summer Sailstice organizers suggest playing it safe and going sailing both days."
The Summer Sailstice is all about “random acts of sailing” so why not celebrate by sailing from dawn to dusk? Onne van der Wal photo
