This past Saturday, Memo and his Mom, Mary, took his 35’ Elliott 1050 sailboat “Basic Instinct” and grabbed the win in the annual SSS Corinthian Yacht Club Double Handed race held in the San Francisco Bay. The CYC SSS race is open to a maximum of two people per boat for the 18 mile course. It is a popular race with 140 sailboats and teams to show their stuff with a very limited amount of crew doing the work.
Memo and Mary took “Basic Instinct” up against twelve sailboats in their class all going for the win. “The details required of putting together a sailboat win is big,” said Gidley. 
“The race took us about three and a half hours and during that time you have to be thinking about tenths of knots, meaning finding better speed out of the boat all the time. Constant adjustments of the sail trim, course, and strategy make boat racing very challenging and so much fun for a win. And to do it with my Mom as my only crew… super awesome!”
Memo is no stranger to winning with four wheels. Currently, he is once again reaching out to car teams since his recent medical clearance to get back driving since his Rolex Daytona 24 accident in 2014. Memo has renewed his FIA and IMSA license and is now classified as a “Silver” ranked IMSA driver.
“Everything is feeling so nice to be able to be searching for a car ride again; of course having a ride would be even better!” said Gidley. “But physically and from a training side of things, I am back to doing what I was doing before the Daytona accident and I feel strong. I am also out driving my 125cc shifter kart a couple times a week and this feels fantastic. I am very excited to the day I find out which team I will take first race car laps with… and race!”