Summer Sailstice News & Stories

Hi again Sailors. Have you signed up yet? Summer Sailstice is only 16 weeks away, and the prize pool is growing… This week we welcome 2K Yachting, Whitecaps Marine Outfitters, 48° North Sailing Magazine, J/Boats, and Kala Brand Ukuleles.

I recently read that baseball practice has commenced, at least for the SF Giants in California. So why is this relevant? Because it means summer is on its way and soon we'll be able to go sailing all day, everyday. Get ready now so that when the warmer weather finally gets here there will nothing left to do, but jump on board and hoist your sails! 

Sailing, sailing, sailing… What more do you need than to be sailing? Other than a few goodies for your boat perhaps. Take a look at who and what we’ve added to the Summer Sailstice prize pool!

Happy Saturday! Hopefully you’re enjoying some warm sunny weather now, after such a lot of snow on the East Coast. For a while there I thought it was going to snow right here in Florida.

There are only 21 weeks left before the big day, so if you haven't yet, Sign Up to be in the draw for some of this year’s great prizes…

Have you ever wondered how some of our Summer Sailstice supporters came to be involved in sailing?

Summer Sailstice partners, Sailors for the Sea, are continually doing their best to promote healthy oceans through educating and inspiring sailors to engage in environmentally sustainable practices.

Julien Hofberg has won the first Summer Sailstice participation prize for 2016!

Summer Sailstice 2016 is only 27 weeks away! Think that's a long time? It's not really when you think about how fast this year has flown by, so maybe now is a good time to set your own plans for next year's annual, Global Celebration of Sailing. After all 2016 is now less than 12 hours away and summer will soon follow.
Take a look at some of the plans already posted...

Almost everyday we are confronted with news stories, social media posts, and videos telling us that climate change is underway and the level of our oceans is rising.

So it’s the middle of winter, the year is almost over, and you’re sitting by the fire gazing out the window at your wrapped, snow-covered sailing boat sitting on the lawn?

Christmas is only 3 days away and if you're anything like me, chances are you haven't quite completed your Christmas Gift shopping list! Well fear not, we've put together a list of great ideas that will not only take care of 'last-minute' gifts, but are perfectly suited for that 'special sailor' in your life...

So it’s almost the weekend again, and for many of us our thoughts are turning to sailing! Or perhaps for those sailors in the northern parts, the thoughts are more about a lack of sailing. But fear not, winter will pass, and so too will those long dark nights. Before you know it the winter will have turned to summer and Summer Sailstice will be just around the corner.
Getting excited yet? If not, read about these great prizes that are waiting for Summer Sailstice 2016 participants -

Celebrating sailing with Summer Sailstice earned this lucky lady a major prize from the Hobie Cat Company! But not one to keep things to herself, Helene shared her good fortune with some eager youngsters!

We were happy to hear we were recently nominated by US Sailing for the Old Pulteney Maritime Heroes Award which 'recognizes the men and women who are making significant contributions to educate, volunteer, advocate or simply encourage participation in sailing within their community or beyond.'  If we win the award Old Pulteney will donate $5,000 to a local non-profit, SailSFBay.org, which promotes the growth of sailing i

One of the great challenges of introducing sailing to the public is it is often out of site and more difficult to reach.  Most kids growing up look out their classroom window and see soccer fields, baseball fields, tennis courts, basketball courts, football fields and a multitude of other sports played right on school grounds and in public parks.  Typically sailing is far less visible and therefore hard to envision participating.

Summer Sailstice 2016 is approaching faster than it may seem. I realize we still need to get through winter and spring before we can begin enjoying those twilight sails without freezing our fingers off, but the time will pass, and soon we’ll be shouting, “Raise the main, grab the sheets, more trim, tie it off…” and then we’ll know summer is truly upon us.

Gaylen Smith will be spending his winter reading all about sailing adventures in French Polynesia thanks to author, Sally-Christine Rodgers!

One perceived barrier to sailing, which Summer Sailstice aims to rectify, is the myth that sailing is expensive.  Many will call us liars believeing that trying to remedy this myth is dishonest, since we all 'know' sailing actually is expensive. However, we think what's truly happened is that the marketing of sailing, like so many products, has skewed towards a target audience of the 1%.

Becky Graham from the Point Yacht Club in Josephine, Alabama is this year’s winner of the Harken Video Competition. 

Becky’s entry titled “Adventures in Sailing and Other Stuff” was filmed entirely ‘on location’, with a cast of more than 50 Summer Sailstice sailors enjoying the celebrations and becoming film stars in their own right!

We're walking the docks at the Annapolis Boat Show and crossed paths with Jeff & Barb Steele of the Hunter 27 "Melanna'.  We connected because Jeff was wearing his 'Peace, Love, Sailing' Summer Sailstice t-shirt and we couldn't help but say hello.  Jeff and Barb have been dedicated Summer Sailstice particpants for several years as members of the Chesapeake based Hunter Sailing Association Station #1.

One of the common themes in conversations about growing participation in sailing is 'how do we keep sailing simple?'  It's actually always been simple but perhaps something we've managed to complicate in our endless quest for the ultimate sailboat and day of sailing.  But your goal is not the world's fastest, most efficient sail but rather a pleasant afternoon with family and friends there's almost nothing simpler than an afternoon sail.

Enter our newest competition to win a copy of Sally-Christine Rodgers' book Convergence!

Convergence tells the story of Sally-Christine's lifelong passion for the ocean, and the French Polynesian adventure during which she faced her fears and learnt "to surrender to nature". 

Congratulations to Summer Sailstice founder and lifelong sailor, John Arndt who was honored with the sailing industry's 2015 Distinguished Service Award at the recent United States Sailboat Show, in Annapolis. This annual award recognizes an individual’s outstanding service toward the advancement of the sailing industry; the enactment of which John seems to have made his life’s mission. 

Wether we’re sailing in the river, on a lake, or out at sea I’m sure we’ve all seen evidence of the rubbish we create and its negative effects on our watery environments. So have you ever wondered how we as sailors can reduce our ‘boatprint' and help repair some of the damage already done?  

San Francisco Fleet Week (SFFW) is here again and no doubt we’ll be seeing hundred of boaters out on the water this weekend jockeying for position to take in the views and excitement of the U.S. Navy’s Blue Angels as they perform their high speed, high thrill maneuvers in the sky above. This is one occasion on which we would consider it “okay” to lower your sails - you wouldn’t want them cluttering your view of the sky. But what exactly is Fleet Week, apart from another reason to get out and go sailing?

Summer Sailstice sailors are always happy to learn they’ve won a prize, but this sailing pair were doubly surprised when they received more than they expected from New England Ropes!

Even if you don’t own a boat, Summer Sailstice is a great time to get out on the water and enjoy sailing. SailTime offered just such opportunities during this year’s celebrations, as well as offering free sailing in the Texas Gulf!

Kate Conway and her family are serial solstice sailors, and they also happen to be the second place winners in this year’s Summer Sailstice Video Competition!

The past two years Summer Sailstice has had land sailors participating on the great salt flats of the American West.  The Nevada Windseekers Blokart Club in Austin Nevada has sailed the gritty, speedy, flatlands of Nevada at high speed for years.  So it must be nice to see the America's Cup is joining their game.

September 23, 2015 is the day of the two equal oxen.  The mythical day when, according to legend, two equal oxen of equal size and strength pulled the earth in opposite directions stretching it so the day and night turned out to be of equal length.  Celestial navigators know this from 'The American Practical Navigator' by Nathaniel Bowditch or perhaps the Old Farmer's Almanac.

You heard it recently from racers on the recent Volvo Race.  More recently we heard it from racers in the 2015 Transpac.  The oceans need our help. In fact just about everyone who spends time on the ocean shares both an appreciation and concern for the sea.  One of the great ocean recreation pioneers has been on the water and teaching the value of the ocean for decades.  Jack O'Neill, who invented the surfing wetsuit, is a sailor, surfer and avid ocean advocate.

'I also love sharing my passion for sailing.'  Says Diane Reid, the first Canadian female skipper of a Clipper Round The World Yacht Race.  One amazing thing about sailing is how much sailors love it and how much they want to share it.  Scuttlebutt Sailing posted this recent interview with Diane on the eve of the upcoming start for the 10th Clipper race around the world.  

We're always inspired by people with a lifelong passion for sailing and the sea who also manage to make a career of benefitting both as they share their passions with others.  Scuttlebutt Sailing just shared this story from the recent issue of Windcheck Magazine on sailor/ocean PHD Shelley Brown who's working with our environmental partner, Sailors for the Sea.

Wells Pile, Chairman of the New England Beetle Cat Boat Association, is another Summer Sailstice 2015 winner taking hope a package of 34th America's Cup 'swag'. 

We caught up on the phone with Terry and Allison Canade who were very excited to learn they had won the Sunsail BVI Charter for participating in this year’s Summer Sailstice. The couple had the pleasure of cruising the BVI a few years ago, and Terry said they’re now looking forward to revisiting the region.

Very cool event. The first ever R2AK event was held this year (2015) with the 750 mile adventure race starting on June 7th in Victoria, B.C. and finishing in Ketchican, AK over the weeks ahead.  A wide variety of craft participated - paddlers, rowers, sailors, multihulls and dinghies.  For most of the 40 challengers it was an epic, very challenging course with big breeze, big currents, no breeze, no current and every variety of sailing condition imaginable.

Scott and Becca Stowers have been participating in Summer Sailstice for several year as members of the Bonneville School of Sailing And Seamanship on Utah Lake in, you guessed it, Utah!

Great views and beautiful waters were on hand for this lucky crew...

Multiple sailors celebrated this year's Summer Sailstice by particpating in the Marion, MA to Bermuda Race. Beginning in 1977, "the spirit of the race is that all yachts and crew are participating for the joy and pleasure of sailing, competition, and the camaraderie that accompanies such an off-shore event.

With sails reefed and a close eye on the radar, sailing vessel “Smoke and Roses“ headed into Charlotte Harbor, Florida to do a half day charter on the day of Summer Sailstice. The stormy skies added some relief to the heat and “with just one couple doing a private charter, it hardly seemed like work!” says owners Dan and Agnes.

Paul from North Carolina thought he was just out for a fun sail on Summer Sailstice, but as an added bonus he is one of this year's lucky prize winners!

Sailing with friends is one of the best ways to celebrate Summer Sailstice, and Paulo did just that...

Sailors are a tough bunch, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Anyone who is prepared to raft-up their boat and stand firm in the face of tornado warnings is pretty tough in my book. Fortunately, it missed...

This little club believe they may be one of the California Delta's "best-kept secrets". Well not for much longer. Have a look at what they got up to for Summer Sailstice, and then maybe go along and join them...

South Coast Sailing Adventures in Kemah, TX spent their Sailstice Celebration sharing dinner and a sail...

One thing we definitely love about Summer Sailstice is how it brings people from around the world together in celebration of a shared love: sailing. And down in the warmer climate of El Salvador, a group of cruisers sure knew how to celebrate in a global manner. Bill and Jean, organizers of the annual El Salvador rally, enjoyed the Sailstice with cruisers from eight different countries!

An American Sailing Association Flotilla enjoyed Summer Sailstice with a weeklong journey! Starting on the Friday of Summer Sailstice weekend, ten sailboats and thirty-seven participants cruised from Bellingham, WA through the San Juan Islands to Victoria, British Columbia. They made plenty of stops among the island including visits to Friday Harbor, Victoria Harbor, Roche Harbor, Reid Harbor and Inati Bay.