Kaze Victorious at the 2025 Red Bra Regatta

Kaze in the forefront! Photo by Girard Sheridan

South Beach Yacht Club’s 13th Annual Red Bra Regatta brought a bright September breeze, tight mark roundings, and a standout performance by the all-woman crew of Kaze. Racing on the South Bay on September 20, 2025, the Master Mariners members-skippered and -crewed 23-footer delivered a clean sweep in her division—three wins in three races. (Team report; official event page and results hosted by SBYC.)  

The Red Bra Regatta is SBYC’s signature women-only keelboat event—open to boats 18 feet and up with valid Northern California PHRF ratings—and it’s as spirited as it is competitive. The regatta’s tongue-in-cheek name traces back to a 2011 Jazz Cup protest where, lacking a red flag, a sailor hoisted a…red bra. From that moment grew a race designed to celebrate and elevate women at the helm and on the crew across the Bay.  

This year’s race committee ran three races after a short postponement for the wind to settle. What followed was classic late-summer South Bay: building breeze to the mid-teens and a lively chop—perfect conditions for confident starts and decisive boat-handling. Kaze thrived, converting fast, conservative starts into wire-to-wire wins in every heat.  

Crew: Melissa Flick, Diane Walton, Deborah Lage — Skipper: Liz Diaz

About the Boat and Team

Kaze is a 23-foot wooden sloop built in Yokohama, Japan, in 1956—a petite, beautifully maintained classic that turns heads at the dock and holds her own on the racecourse. Skipper Liz Diaz, a longtime San Francisco sailor and wooden-boat advocate, found the boat years ago and has kept her sailing and shining.  

For the Red Bra, Diaz was joined by Melissa Flick, Diane Walton, and Deborah Lage—an accomplished crew who worked the changing current and pressure lines with steady communication and crisp maneuvers. Their three-race sweep underscores what the event is all about: building skills, confidence, and camaraderie among women sailors while showing that classics can still be quick.

Kaze and skipper Liz Diaz.

Why This Win Matters

Beyond the podium, Kaze’s performance is a great example of MMBA members taking classic craft into contemporary competition—and winning. The Red Bra Regatta’s women-skippered, women-crewed format keeps drawing bigger, broader fleets while the club and volunteers run an impeccably organized day on the water and a joyous party ashore. Expect even more boats on the line next year.