Wheeler Regatta, Part 1

April 16, 2011

The Wheeler Regatta is actually two, two, two races in one, with three trophies: the Rollo Wheeler Memorial Trophy, the City of Berkeley Trophy, and the Nimitz Trophy for multihulls. The Wheeler Group races on a deep water course on the Berkeley Circle, and the City of Berkeley Group and the Multihull Group race together in the shallower water to the northeast. Each group gets three races on Saturday, with the City of Berkeley/Multihull boats finishing at host Berkeley YC's clubhouse.

The first boat back to the club was Mark Simpson's Olson 25 Shadowfax, closely followed by Dan Coleman's Balein. ©2011 norcalsailing.com

Wind predictions for today hovered around the 10-knot range, but the forecasters must not have foreseen the fog which poured in the Gate, switching on the wind machine and ramping it up to 20 knots. The second race was the windiest, but the fog pulled back and the wind mellowed by the time the third race got going.

Willam Cook's F-24 Wings in the windy second race. ©2011 norcalsailing.com

The party's the thing now, featuring a rockin' dance band, a shrimp and oyster bar, pitchers of beer and margaritas, and dinner at a very reasonable price. The fun continues tomorrow with a Bay Tour pursuit race.

Chrysalis, Peter Beaudry's Dufour 34, sailed in a City of Berkeley Group PHRF division. ©2011 norcalsailing.com

For more information, see www.berkeleyyc.org/racing. Our story is continued in Part 2.

The BYC clubhouse finish team: Steven Wierzba on times and Myriam Chapman on the whistle. ©2011 norcalsailing.com