Videos – San Diego Argonauts

⛵ New Beginner & Intermediate Sailing Video Series with Coach Jon Rogers

The San Diego Argonauts have published a new video series featuring longtime club member and sailing coach Jon Rogers.

Created for beginner & intermediate level RC sailors, the beginner series introduces the basic principles of sailing and demonstrates the first four or five practical drills every new sailor should master. These exercises are designed to help beginners understand how a sailboat responds to the wind, improve their boat-handling skills, and confidently sail up and down the San Diego Model Yacht Pond.

In the Intermediate Sailing Series, Coach Jon covers how to identify wind direction, recognize and stop sail luffing, and adjust sails for three key points of sail: close-hauled, beam reach, and run.

Whether you are completely new to sailing or simply want to strengthen your fundamentals, Jon’s clear, pond-side instruction provides an excellent place to start.

Learn to Sail with Coach Jon Rogers

Introduction

Back & Forth Drill

Understand Luffing

Tight sails upwind, Loose sails downwind

Tacking, Gybing, and Upwind to the Buoy

Downwind Sailing & Gybing

Intermediate Sailing with Coach Jon Rogers

You can also watch the complete series on our YouTube channel:

– Learn to Sail with Coach Jon Rogers
– Intermediate Sailing with Coach Jon Rogers

We have added all nine videos to our Sailing Classes for All Ages page, where they will remain available as a free learning resource for new sailors, families, students, and anyone interested in learning how to sail an RC sailboat.

To find the page, use the website menu and go to:

SanDiegoArgonauts.org → More… → Sailing Classes for All Ages

[VISIT THE SAILING CLASSES FOR ALL AGES PAGE]

We hope these videos help more people discover the fun, challenge, and lifelong learning that sailing offers. After watching, come visit us at the San Diego Model Yacht Pond and put the lessons into practice!

A big thank you to Jon Rogers for sharing his time, knowledge, and enthusiasm with the next generation of sailors!

📺San Diego Argonauts on CBS News

A piece of fun news 🙂

The San Diego Argonauts were featured on CBS8 San Diego today!

CBS8 story on their website:
https://www.cbs8.com/article/news/local/zevely-zone/san-diego-argonauts-affordable-water-sport/509-d67e58f9-79ec-4434-a3a1-ebc6330861a7

On a related note:
The CBS8 crew helped promote our STEM/Robotics initiative for high school & college students involving GPS-guided robotic buoys and autonomous marine systems. If you know any students, robotics teams, or STEM advisors who might be interested, please send them our way!

More info here:
https://www.sandiegoargonauts.org/2026/05/02/%e2%9a%93-calling-san-diego-socal-robotics-stem-students/

Argonauts Annual Banquet Dinner at the Southwestern Yacht Club

San Diego Argonauts recently gathered for a memorable evening at the beautiful Southwestern Yacht Club in Point Loma. With brisket on the buffet, a lively no-host bar on the deck overlooking the slips, and display tables showcasing the craftsmanship of our scale and racing divisions, the setting was perfect for celebrating another great year at the pond.

A highlight of the evening was the debut of a spectacular 22-minute video produced by former Commodore Tom Warren — a true labor of love capturing scenes from regattas, casual sailing days, boat builds, cookouts, and the countless moments that define our club culture. The video beautifully reflects the spirit of the Argonauts: competitive yet supportive, serious about rc boating & sailing yet never taking ourselves too seriously.

The banquet once again reminded us that the Argonauts are about far more than toy boats. It’s about friendship, shared stories, good-natured banter, and recognizing the accomplishments of members across all divisions. Awards were presented, laughter filled the room, and spouses and guests were warmly welcomed into our unique world of wind, water, and meticulous detail.

We invite you to relive the memories — or see what you missed — by watching this video. It’s a celebration of our boats, our pond, and our community.

Points Day Results – DF95 & IOM (Dec. 27th 2025)

Last Saturday was a beautiful winter day in San Diego! We had an exceptional turnout with DF95 and IOM skippers eager to finish the points season on a positive note..

Chris Davidson posted this regatta report:

Thanks to all that turned out for the last races of the season.
Ty & Sandra Beach did an amazing job as Race Directors for both classes on the day with a mixture of medium and long courses giving competitors plenty of racing.
A big thanks to Jack and the several guys that lent a hand with the marks and boat. Many hands do make light work. 🙂
A glorious day at the pond with plenty of sunshine and although somewhat testing breeze, the competition was top notch.
Plenty of winners to share bragging rights!
A very warm welcome to our newest member, Connor Albertson, who I am sure will share some wins himself in the future.

See you all soon! 🙂

Regards

Chris

Steve Ross captured video footage of todays racing action. Thank you Steve!

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLUqSjmQqM9o_vIH3DZKLCDUG3IVYniOy

Smooth Sailng!

2025 AMYA Region 8 IOM Championship Regatta

The San Diego Argonauts are hosting the AMYA Region 8 IOM Championship Regatta in less than two months. Start making your plans for a fun 3 day event on Mission Bay Model Yacht Pond. Registration is open.

https://www.iomusa.org/upcoming-events

OCT.21-DF95 & IOM Points

A fantastic day greeted a nice group of skippers, on our last points event for October. DF95 and IOM fleets experienced consistent 6-10mph north west breezes that held trough out the day.

Craig Mackey was our volunteer Race Director for the DF95 fleet and managed 6 races on our standard medium course. There was some tight racing in the in the top ranks but Dennis Rogers came out on top with some beautiful sailing.

Chris Staiger stepped up as Race Director for the IOM fleet. The wind was favorable for long courses, so five longs and one modified (“Freddy”) medium course filled up the day. Mike Fruciano made the road trip from Arizona.. Thank you Mike for your participation! Congratulations Dennis Rogers for some very consistent sailing!

Bob Williams, once again, pushed that semi-portable grill half way around the world to serve up his specialty.. HOT DOGS!! Thank you Bob!!

Thank You Pat Nevitt for the beautiful score sheets.. YOU ROCK!! After all, scores are the meat of this post!

2023-Argonauts-Calendar-2 Download

DF95’s DON’T FORGET NOVEMBER 11

SEE YOU AT THE POND.. Gil

AUG.12 Points-DF95 & IOM

Blockbuster Turnout for the DF95 Fleet!

A HUGE starting line for twenty seven DF95’s was the image today. Likely a record number of yachts participating in a club points race! We welcome new member Jim Sears and returning local sailor Jack Kingston. Also, visiting skipper from Australia, Barry Donaher showed us some excellent pond work. We wish Kerim Baran Smooth Sailing on his new home in the Bay Area!

Greg Williams, our Race Director managed the work load with ease and deserves special recognition for an excellent day of race management. Jason Brooks assisted with score keeping on an action packed finish line.. A Standing Ovation for our volunteers!

A fairly consistent onshore breeze held through most out the day with each class completing 6 medium courses. I’d call it an excellent day on Mission Bay Model Yacht Pond!

Pat Nevitt delivered the scores! THANK YOU FOR WHAT YOU DO!

2023-Argonauts-Calendar Download

Smooth Sailing, Gil

Everyone is a Winner Today!

Yes!

We had at least 6 adults attempting to mount our industrial strength BB Grill on a mobile unit (dolly). One person was being instructed by 5 professional observers! Truly great entertainment and worth the price of admission!

We actually had a fun day of sailing with a nice mix of fleets on the water. DF95 were well represented. IOM’s, ODOM’s and Soling 50’s all made for some good tune up racing. The day culminated with Bob Williams cooking up some of those fantastic HOT DOGS! One heck a good day!

Our traveling grill adventurers are rumored to be more frequent so don’t miss your next opportunity to score a fun day of sailing and one of Bob’s famous hot dogs!

2023-Argonauts-Calendar-2 Download

SEE YOU AT THE POND!

JULY 1 Points-Soling 50 & ODOM

Mission Bay has come to life with summer activities.. beaches, barbecues and lots of boats and cars! Our pond was equally active with much of the same action, only in miniature scale! We even experienced a water skiing demonstration prior to our day of sailboat racing!

Dave Woodward drove from Yuma to volunteer as Race Director. He set the marks, called the line, and fetched everything at the end of the day! Dennis Rogers assisted with scoring the finishes. Great job guys!

Our pond was overcast most of the day with light and variable onshore breezes. Fleets experienced a mixed bag of long, medium and short courses as the winds fluctuated. A challenging day of sailing!