The Santa Barbara Sea Shell Association is a group of about 50 families in Santa Barbara who are continuing a 50-year tradition of teaching young people to race sailboats in the best way possible: by putting them on the water, by themselves, in their very own boat.
A Brief History
In 1948 Ray Kieding was trying to find a small sailboat for his boys which would be suitable to sail in the Santa Barbara Harbor. They investigated a number of designs and finally purchased two Sea Shell kits from the Haggerty Company in Cohasset, MA. Ray numbered them 51 and 52. His sons obviously had a great time sailing them, for within a year there were close to a dozen boats, and competition began. The "John C. Grim" and "Sea Shell" perpetual trophies were awarded for the first time in 1950. The first official races and the first Seamanship Contest took place in 1951. In 1955 the Sea Shell racing fleet was incorporated as a non-profit public benefit corporation, organized for the specific purpose of fostering healthy child development and close family units by teaching, developing and encouraging youth sailing skills.
Membership in the Santa Barbara Sea Shell Association has ranged from 15 to over 100 skippers. In 2004 we expect about 60 skippers representing approximately 50 families.
In 1990, following the death of long-time builder-craftsman Charlie Eldridge, the Association decided to extend support to a commercially available sailboat, similar to the Sea Shell. In 1991 the Association selected the US Sabot by Catalina as an additional one-design class racer to be raced by Sea Shell skippers. The Sabot is essentially a fiberglass version of the Sea Shell, lighter and faster yet similar enough to make an easy transition from the more stable Sea Shell.
The Sea Shell experience
Typically a young sailor starts out with a Sea Shell, either purchased from a departing family or newly built. It is acceptable to start with a Sabot, but since Sabots are lighter and more nimble, they are a little less stable, so starting with a Sea Shell is wise. Racing takes place every Sunday at 1:00 at Sea Shell Beach, with a few 2-day regattas peppered throughout the year. The racing season
begins in April with three instructional meetings designed to teach the fundamentals of sailing to new skippers, and more advanced topics such as right-of-way rules, trimming, and racing strategy to the returning skippers. New skippers join the Novice class and sail with a parent onboard to help them learn the basics of getting the boat around the buoys and safely back to shore. (If a parent is not an experienced sailor, any other adult or older sailor can accompany the Novice skipper.)
After 10 completed races, new skippers are ready to move into the 'C' class, and from there to 'B' and 'A' classes. Thus skippers are divided not by age but by experience.
Races are held every Sunday (except August, the month Sea Shells reserves for family vacations), and there are 2 trips every year for out-of-town racing: Mission Bay in San Diego, and usually-blustery Lake Lopez for a camping / sailing weekend. Skippers are encouraged to participate in all the races they can, but there are no requirements that they attend every Sunday, or race in every race when they do attend. The emphasis is always on fun.
What are the races like?
At about 12:00 on Sunday the boat ramp at the far end of the harbor starts to fill up with families arriving and rigging their Sea Shells and Sabots. The boats, most of which are stored right next to the boat ramp in our "condos," are wheeled over to the ramp and rigged. Experienced skippers sail around to the beach, but new skippers can always find someone to help them "bring the boat around." On a good day we'll get 30 or more boats out there - a stirring sight to see that many boats getting rigged all at once!
By 1:00 all skippers have sailed around and signed in for the day, and the mast meeting begins -- a few announcements, things to watch out for, "Did anybody find a blue sweatshirt on the beach last week," that sort of thing. Then the race course for the first race is laid out, and the countdown to the first race starts with a toot on an air horn. "A" skippers start first, followed 3 minutes later by the "B" skippers, the "C" skippers, and the Novices. Sabots do not sail against Sea Shells. Following the same strict right-of-way as any sailing race, the skippers duck and weave at the start, trying to get that all-important good start without hearing the dreaded "over early" call from the beach. Then all high-tail it for the A mark, with cries of "Starboard!" and "Room at the mark!" reminding those who need it who has the right of way.
While the skippers are racing, parents who don't wish to pace the shore shouting encouragement and (for parents of Novice skippers only) advice relax and watch the races. Several parents man each of our two safety boats in each race, righting boats that capsize and occasionally untangling over-zealous skippers from the marks.
Each Sunday features 4 races - 3 for the kids, and one race for the adults who care to participate. Then it's back to the boat ramp to de-rig, cart the boats back to the condos or the cars, and we're usually on our way home by 3:30 or 4:00.
For More Information
Our newsletter has a lot of great information about the Sea Shells. Feel free also to contact our This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
