An annual kickoff

June Casagrande

Ah, the curse of fair weather, clear skies and warm water. Sure, you

can enjoy your yacht all year long, but it takes all the fun out of

waiting six months for icy Atlantic waters and freezing winds to

wane.

Not to miss out on the fun, yacht clubs in warm West Coast waters

demand the best of both worlds: Superb year-round sailing conditions

and festive annual season-opener parties, too.

“Opening day is an East Coast tradition because there, the yacht

clubs are closed all winter long because of the weather,” said Ray

Kovacs, commodore for the Bahia Corinthian Yacht Club. “Here in

California, we don’t close our clubs, but we still have the tradition

of opening day.”

Thus, come shine or shine, the Bahia Corinthian will hold its

annual opening day festivities on Saturday.

“Yachting season is here,” trumpets a club announcement about the

day’s events, including a “Rock Around the Dock” fabulous ‘50s party,

a color guard and ceremonies to honor dignitaries from other local

yacht clubs.

The day’s events will also include a ceremony to commission the

club’s brand-new 8,000-pound-capacity crane.

“It will be the largest crane facility of any private club on the

Southern California coast,” Kovacs said. “It allows the large race

boats to be transferred from storage to water very quickly and

safely. So we’re very proud of that.”

It’s just one of the blessings Bahia Corinthian members will be

counting throughout the opening day ceremonies, not the least of

which is the weather that makes opening day itself simply a fun

tradition.

“We’re so fortunate out here that we don’t have to contend with

that weather,” Kovacs said. “When it gets to 60 degrees out here,

people start shivering. So opening day is really a formality,

transferred from the East Coast to the West Coast, to observe that

tradition.”