International Knarr Championship

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The 51st running of the International Knarr Championship (IKC) returned to its founding venue at The San Francisco Yacht Club on September 6–14. Twenty-five teams from three countries—the U.S., Denmark and Norway—battled it out on the Bay in varying conditions for six days of racing.

In addition to this fleet sharing a long and proud history, and being uniquely tight-knit despite fierce rivalries, there are two aspects that set this regatta apart. First, the organizers place a large emphasis on creating an “experience” throughout the week, with planned social events nearly every night. All visitors are hosted in locals’ homes or on boats. Second, the boats are rotated every race, removing any potential equipment advantage.

The regatta began on the Cityfront on Sunday, September 8 in fairly classic 17-20 knots of breeze and an ebb tide. On Day #2, the breeze built to 24 knots and racing was halted after just one race to make sure all of the boats stayed in one piece, knowing there were many races yet to be sailed.

On Tuesday, racing was moved to the Berkeley Circle for the remainder of the event. There was a lay day on Wednesday and then on Thursday, a heat wave came in and

parked. Conditions were atypically hot and breeze-less, which did not permit racing until well after 1400 hours for two days. But, in true San Francisco Bay style, the breeze couldn’t stay away for long. By the final day of racing on Saturday, September 14, the fog was back and the breeze was perfect in the 17-20 knot range for a final two great races.

Of the 25 competitors, Jon and Chris Perkins were the two entries from SFYC. Both are previous champions and Jon also co-chaired this regatta with their other brother, Phil. After 11 races only one point separated Chris and Jon, with Jon edging out Chris for third place overall. The winningest skipper of all time, Lars Gottfredsen from Denmark, ran away with the regatta with a 9-point advantage over Bay Area native Russ Silvestri in second.

Thank you to all of our visiting sailors for making this such a great regatta and of course to our many member-volunteers for your tireless work on the race course and at the socials following the races. We look forward to welcoming this fleet back again.