Summer Sailstice Race

June 19, 2011

On Saturday, the Yacht Racing Association ran their Spring #3 race for PHRF and one design fleets. The race is held to coincide with the local Summer Sailstice celebration. In past years, Summer Sailstice HQ was Treasure Island; this year the big event was moved to Encinal YC, but the race still finished off TI.

South Beach YC started the race on the Olympic Circle using their trawler, Anabel. But they finished it from the Treasure Island shoreline in Clipper Cove. ©2011 norcalsailing.com

Appropriately for the holiday, a typical summer westerly howled in the Gate, with wind speeds in the high teens and gusts into the mid-twenties. The fog even rolled in during the afternoon. The courses used Harding Rock as a windward mark. The Express 37s had a dust-up at the start, when Bullet's pulpit sparred with Golden Moon's pushpit. They'll both be in the shop for some costly repairs.

From Harding Rock, the boats had a downwind run to Treasure Island. They had to hang a right around the island to finish, so most dropped their spinnakers. Golden Moon (left) doused late. The Santana 35 Ahi is the boat just ahead of her. ©2011 norcalsailing.com

The J/105 Yellowfin was able to keep the spinnaker up until the finish, but you can see that they are on the edge. ©2011 norcalsailing.com

Ohana finished amid a flock of Clark's grebes, which lately have been plentiful on the Bay. Racers spotted porpoises too. ©2011 norcalsailing.com

Meanwhile, back at the Encinal YC festivities, a wooden boatbuilding contest was underway, which old hands Berkeley Marine Center won.

Team West Marine Alameda's catamaran with a wing sail, the Leaky Tiki, proves itself on the Estuary. ©2011 norcalsailing.com

Results will be available at www.yra.org. For more on the Summer Sailstice, see www.summersailstice.com/sf.