Please select your home edition
Edition
Leaderboard FD July August September 2023

A Fair Dinkum Result in San Francisco

by David Tomlinson on 23 Feb 2001
Carl Nelson's new Sydney 38 'Fair Dinkum' has been turning heads over here on San Francisco Bay.

We sail out of the Corinthian Sailing Club established back in the 1870's.

This time of year we have the Corinthian Yacht Club mid-winter PHRF series. It is a four-day regatta sailed over two weekends in January and February, sailing each day over 10 mile courses.

The fleet numbered 52 boats, a mixture of Farr 40's, ILC 46's, J120's and as of January 2001 a classy Australian entry 'Fair Dinkum'.

Because that slang term is a little over the heads of the locals on the stern of the boat we translate that into The Real Thing.

Conditions on San Francisco Bay in mid-winter are not unlike the Coca's Winter series, it can be very very light.

We raced 'Fair Dinkum' for the first time over the first weekend of this regatta.
She is set up just as the factory recommended and has new Doyle sails; not as good as the Australian D4's but we can't get those here.

On the first Saturday we corrected out 3rd, The boat was very fast and responsive; we were beating a Farr 40 boat for boat in wind speeds between 5 to 10 knots. On Sunday we were first to the weather mark, ahead of two Farr 40s, an ID35 with Dee Smith at the helm, a Nelson Marek 39, and the rest of the fleet.

We finished 2nd behind the Farr 40 Blue Chip and corrected out 2nd for the weekend.

Last weekend we had races three and four. We clinched the series with a corrected win on Saturday. We sailed into the pressure, rather than trying to point to high, but when there was breeze the Farr 40's could not really sail away from us anyway, under 10 knots.

On Sunday Blue Chip could have still beaten us and we just stayed with her, until she fell into a wind hole and that was the series.

We won the Division, Best Performance Boat and Season Champion, not a bad haul… everyone on the boat was very pleased and it sure was a good time to be an Aussie on an Aussie designed and built boat.

Related Articles

Dedicated boat insurance
Dedicated boat insurance from Insuremy Summer is finally here and boat owners are putting the finishing touches to their boats ready for the season ahead.
Posted today at 8:30 am
The Lord Birkett from the deck of an I14
Legendary wind shifts, dramatic scenery and the freshly refurbished Zog Ah, Ullswater. Home of the Lord Birkett Trophy, legendary wind shifts, dramatic scenery, and six International 14s. Among them, the freshly refurbished Zog, which had undergone what can only be described as an overzealous stint in the sunbed salon.
Posted today at 6:23 am
Noble Marine Streaker Nationals Days 1 & 2
The largest Streaker fleet ever to be seen on the water 102 Streaker sailors arrived at Costa del Edith Weston for the Noble Marine Streaker Golden Jubilee National Championships. This is the largest Streaker fleet ever to be seen on the water.
Posted today at 5:18 am
Top Double-Handed teams shine in Helsinki
The new ORC DH European Champions are Jolene (SWE), Team Goodio (FIN) and Garmin Team Pro4u (SWE) After a thrilling week of competition on the Baltic Sea, the 2025 Garmin ORC Double-Handed European Championship concluded on a high note at Helsingfors Segelklubb.
Posted on 12 Jul
Gran Canaria Gloria Windsurf World Cup Day 8
Super Finals Saturday sees Daida Moreno produce buzzer beater The penultimate day of the 2025 Gran Canaria Gloria Windsurf World Cup saw final results gained in three categories; Women's, U21 Boy's and U18 Boy's and all three divisions required Super Finals to determine the eventual winners.
Posted on 12 Jul
OK Nationals at Dabchicks Day 1
Glorious sunshine greeted the competitors at West Mersea The OK class are holding their 2025 National Championships at West Mersea, with the event hosted by Dabchicks SC. Glorious sunshine greeted the competitors for day one of the event, with racing taking place in the afternoon.
Posted on 12 Jul
International Moth Worlds at Lake Garda Day 5
A day to remember on Lake Garda with waves and strong gusts A day to remember on Lake Garda for the fifth and penultimate day of the 2025 Moth World Championship, hosted by Fraglia Vela Malcesine from 6 to 13 July.
Posted on 12 Jul
2025 Cowes Dinard St Malo Race Start Photos
Martin Augustus of sailingimages.co.uk was out in the sunshine as the fleet sailed out of the Solent The Cowes Dinard St Malo Race, the thirteenth race of the RORC Season's Points Championship, started on Friday and Martin Augustus was on hand to catch the action in the Western Solent as they made their way in the sunshine towards Dinard.
Posted on 12 Jul
Jazz Turner Makes History in Project FEAR
Jazz credits Allen for providing cutting-edge sheeting systems, as well as expert advice Project FEAR, an extraordinary solo sailing voyage by Jazz Turner, has concluded successfully: she became the first disabled person – and specifically the first wheelchair user – to sail non-stop and unassisted around the UK and Ireland.
Posted on 12 Jul
ITCA (GBR) Invitational Topper Coaching at Poole
A group of the top 21 very enthusiastic sailors from across the UK take part The GBR Class Association for Toppers (ITCA-GBR) recently organised an Invitational Coaching Event of 2025 at Poole Yacht Club on 5th/6th July where we had a group of the top 21 very enthusiastic Topper sailors from across the UK.
Posted on 12 Jul