
Fleet & History
Welcome to San Francisco Bay Knarr Sailing! Celebrating over fifty years of friendship in the most beautiful and competitive sailing fleet on San Francisco Bay! The San Francisco Bay Knarr Fleet grows each year as skippers and crew discover the most fun, yet intense, competition the Bay has to offer.
After 54 years, the Knarrs remain the pioneers of afterwork fun -- the Wednesday Night Series. And many sailors call it "The weekend in the middle of the week". From May through August, you will find an average of 15 - 20+ Knarrs that compete afterwork, then race to the Club for a cold beverage, a hearty meal, entertainment and trophies with 100 of their closest friends. Between our Summer Series, Wednesday Nights, Woodies and Mid-Winters, the Knarr Fleet offers nearly fifty (50) races each year! What draws sailors to the classic lines of the Knarr? There are so many reasons; it's hard to narrow it down. However, the proof is on the water. Many owners have lovingly restored their woodies while others simply polish the same beautiful lines of their fiberglass to keep them the jewels of San Francisco Bay.
We enjoy more camaraderie, participation, International competition and racing than any other fleet on the Bay; and we're thriving after over 50 years! Whatever your pleasure, fiberglass or wood, come enjoy tight racing amongst friends on San Francisco Bay in the most beautiful fleet around. Pre-Owned Knarrs can be purchased for as little as $20,000 and campaigned for less than $7,000 per year (including new sails). With only a main and a jib, the Knarr is easy to sail. With a little experience, crews learn to remove or replace the cover and rig the boat in less than fifteen minutes. A Knarr can be easily raced with three people, yet most teams race with four positions: helm, mail, jib and foredeck. Since the core of most teams is the skipper and mainsail trimmer, people new to sailing can start on the bow, and work their way aft to trimming the small jib. This allows teams the flexibility to bring inexperienced people aboard and remain competitive while training new crew and sharing the experience.
We are a strictly amateur fleet with skippers ranging in age from their 30's to their 80's. We don't allow anyone to hire crew, and no one can hire a skipper. There is no need to spend weekend's practicing maneuvers to get your spinnaker up and down while learning 6 new names.
All of the boats are kept in the water, most of them in the San Francisco Marina near the St. Francis Y.C. and a few at the San Francisco Yacht Club in Belvedere. This has created a community of racing in the Bay unlike any other. On any given race day, you will find most of your fellow competitors enjoying a beverage and making friends after the races.
Whether you are new or an alumni to our fleet, we invite you to update your contact info in the membership directory to stay in touch with friends and receive invitations to our events.
Membership: We want you to join our community. We encourage participation and we love making new friends. Using our contact page you can get in touch with us. We have a strong community online and in the water.
Sincerely,
The Knarr Fleet Admiralty