Summer Sailstice San Francisco Festival 2016
Media Contact: Erin Saberi, erin@davidperry.com, (916) 952-5080
TO: Media Who Cover: Breaking News, Sports, Bay Area Waterfront.
WHO: SailSFBay.org presents Summer Sailstice
WHAT: Summer Sailstice San Francisco Festival 2016
– an annual global event celebrating sailing
WHEN: Saturday, June 18 and Sunday, June 19
11:00 am – 6:00 pm
WHERE: Encinal Yacht Club: 1251 Pacific Marina, Alameda, CA
WHY: Sharing The Joy and Accessibility of Sailing
Summer Sailstice celebrates the joy, adventure and accessibility of sailing for people from all backgrounds. While sailing often is portrayed as an elite sport, in actuality it is a fun, accessible sport shared by people from all walks of life. The vast majority of the millions of sailors worldwide, including more than 3 million in the United States, sail small boats, crew on other people’s boat or are members of community sailing and club programs.
Locally, San Francisco Bay is world-renowned as a sailing mecca and home to many world champion racers and successful world cruisers. There are almost 10,000 sailboats in the water between Stockton and San Jose and thousands more in dinghy racks, backyards and community programs like Shoreline, Cal Sailing, Lake Merritt, Treasure Island, and other on-land storage locations.
Additionally, Summer Sailstice celebrates accessibility to the outdoors and to nature, highlighting the Bay’s large ‘open space’ that is easily accessible to the Bay Area’s 7+ million residents. Summer Sailstice has joined with Sailors for the Sea to inform and mobilize sailors, their families and communities to enjoy and conserve the beauty of the oceans and to raise awareness of human impacts on the fragile marine environment and wildlife.
DETAIL:
The Summer Sailstice San Francisco Festival is Northern California’s largest on-the-water celebration for everyone who loves sailing. Founded in 2001 by Bay Area resident John Arndt, Summer Sailstice has grown to become an annual global celebration of sailing in over 40 countries worldwide. Held on the weekend closest to the summer solstice, the free annual event that began with 200 boats sailing in the San Francisco Bay in 2001 will have close to 5,000 boats participating across the globe in 2016. Nearly 19,000 sailors will be aboard those boats on Saturday, June 18 and Sunday, June 19th with a schedule of local events worldwide that encourage the community to join in on the fun and celebrate sailing.
The San Francisco Festival is a collaboration of numerous SailSFBay.org affiliates launching from the primary location of Encinal Yacht Club in Alameda on June 18th. The Summer Sailstice 2016 Festival features a full weekend of sailing, cruising, racing, sailboat rides and onshore activities and entertainment, including the America’s Cup on display and a program of events with Tucker Thompson, the official host and spokesperson of the 35th America’s Cup.
Activities include: Boat Building Contest I New EYC Lifejacket Pool Plunge, Visit Historic Schooner ‘Alma’ I Plein Aire Paint Out l Cruise Destination l Small Boat Racing l Exhbitors l Entertainment All Day l Sailboat Rides l Seminars l Sponsors.
For Encinal Yacht Club information: http://www.summersailstice.com/sf. For more SailSFBay.org affiliate events: http://www.summersailstice.com/Sailsfbay2016.
ONSITE COVERAGE OPPORTUNITES:
• National Historic Landmark scow schooner Alma will be open to the public for tours at the Encinal Yacht Club docks during Summer Sailstice. Alma was built in 1891 to carry cargo on San Francisco Bay and the Delta and Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers. Now she sails from San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park with school groups and the public. Alma has been active on San Francisco Bay for 125 years.
• Display of the America’s Cup and Tucker Thompson, the official Host of the 35th America’s Cup delivering a live, multi-media presentation about the America’s Cup, including an overview of the Cup’s storied history, a chance to relive the dramatic comeback of AC34, an update from the ongoing Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series events, and an inside look at what to expect for AC35 in Bermuda.
• Jack Van Ommen – author of Soloman: Alone at Sea with God and Social Security about his 9-year, 51 country and 6 continent circumnavigation voyage. http://www.soloman.us.
• Andy Turpin of Latitude 38 and other Encinal Yacht Club speakers: http://www.summersailstice.com/encinal-yacht-club-seminars
ADDITIONAL BAY AREA COVERAGE OPPORTUNITIES
• Travis Lund (at the Treasure Island Sailing Center event) – Executive Director of Treasure Island Sailing Center, a non-profit business and US Sailing Certified Community Sailing Center providing affordable access to sailing and watersports to youth, adults and families. http://tisailing.org/about-tisc/welcome-to-tisc
• Stephanie Evans (at the Cal Sailing Club event) – Commodore of the Cal Sailing Club, a non-profit, volunteer run sailing club providing inexpensive public access to sailing. Stephanie sailed from China to San Francisco with the Clipper Race. http://www.cal-sailing.org
About SailSFBay.org
Founded in 2008, SailSFBay is an association of Bay Area sailing individuals and organizations committed to growing participation in sailing.