If Chris Exell isn’t jetting to Southern California to race with his team on The Power Play, he’s sailing with his Northern California mates on The Great Sensation.
The nine-man crew of the 35-foot one-design boat — or 1d35 — will be vying for the Golden Gate Cup on San Francisco Bay the weekend of July 24-26.
A Canada native and resident of San Francisco’s Laurel Heights district, Exell excels at sailing. He spends most weekends from April to August racing on the high seas with one of his two teams.
“It’s a lot of fun,” he said. “When racing, you’re often within 18 inches of another boat. It’s the teamwork that allows you to come that close to other boats and pass them.”
As the pit person, Exell’s job is to manage all of the lines in the middle of the boat, working with the mast person to hoist the sails up and down.
“It’s one of those multitasking jobs,” said the versatile Exell, who has performed all of the roles on the boat with the exception of skipper and tactician. “It can be very draining, especially in Northern California, because the wind can be blowing at 35 knots. The wind is normally double that of Southern Cal. It makes it really, really exciting.”
Mario Yovkov, owner and skipper of The Great Sensation, is delighted to have the “invaluable” Clemson University computer science graduate on his crew.
“He can fix anything on the boat, from electronics to rigging,” noted the captain. “He’s always the first to arrive at the dock and the last to leave at the end of the day. Every crew on the water wishes it had a guy like Chris on the team.”
Exell and his teams have enjoyed recent success on the water. The Power Play won the Pacific Coast Championships last summer and missed winning the 1d35 National Championships by one point. Likewise, The Great Sensation missed winning last year’s Rolex Big Boat Regatta by a mere point.
A diabetic since being diagnosed as a toddler at 23 months, Exell has made it a point not to allow the disease to impinge on his sailing.
“It’s definitely a challenge, keeping the blood sugar at the right levels so that I can keep doing my job,” said the 27-year-old, who works at Industrial Light and Magic as a software developer. “Both of my crews have gotten safety demonstrations on what to do in the event that I pass out.”
Exell credits advances in diabetes technology for enabling incident-free racing during his three years on The Great Sensation and five years with The Power Play.
“It’s become a really big joke in Southern California of who gets to stab me,” Exell offers. “If it ever happens, that will be very interesting.”
Golden Gate Cup Inter-Yacht Club Challenge
Vessels: All competitors will be in identical nine-person crew, 1d35 design boats.
Schedule
- July 24: Round Robin One
- July 25: Round Robin Two
- July 26: IYCC Final/Gold Gate Cup Presentation
Where: Chris Exell recommends that spectators watch the action from the San Francisco waterfront between the St. Francis and Golden Gate yacht clubs
Info: ggyc.com/iycc
