This past weekend the UCSD Sailing team hosted the annual Jeff Simon Memorial regatta in the beautiful Mission Bay. Jeff Simon, an alum of the team, passed away in 2007 from cancer shortly after graduating. Since then, the Tritons have hosted an annual regatta in his name to honor him and his zeal for sailing. 

Saturday brought mostly cloudy skies and a chill to the shifty waters. Early on, a mild Santa Ana blew offshore, but by the end of the day the temperamental south-westerly sea breeze took over. Mid-day the wind was blowing 6-8 knots, entertaining sailors on the B-division. By the time A division got out again for their second race, the wind had halted as it shifted directions. As postponement was called, the little FJ dinghies (sailboats) moved at a snail’s pace back to dock.  Thankfully, the wind became sailable again before sunset and races continued.

On Sunday, groggy sailors were greeted by a less cloudy day, with more stable wind patterns. Rotations went off without a hitch after a brief morning postponement. The wind was still shifty, but it never died fully, and talented sailors of both divisions were able to show off their low-wind prowess. 

Over the weekend, a raffle was held for various prizes gifted to the UCSD team. Proceeds from the raffle will be going to a non-profit, student-run mental health education and advocacy organization. Among some of the wares were a pair of bulky sailing watches, bags of coffee, and the most popular, a low-resolution photograph of a sailboat in front of the statue of liberty, gifted to UCSD by a member of the Mission Bay Yacht Club. UCSD sailor Tobie Bloom proved the luckiest of the bunch. He won a pink beach towel, a $100 gift card to West Marine, and the aforementioned photograph. However, because of a burgeoning friendship with a fellow raffle participant from UCSC (and perhaps guilty due to his stroke of luck), he gifted the picture to Ryan Martin, a Santa Cruz skipper. The exchange memorialized the spirit of the regatta: sailing gives back. What we as sailors put into the world, the wind would surely bring back tenfold.