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Bounty
The Sparkman & Stephens yawl Bounty sails past Alcatraz in Saturday's windy Master Mariners Regatta. ©2012 norcalsailing.com

Master Mariners Regatta

May 29, 2012

Memorial Day Weekend on San Francisco Bay was all about old stuff – the old Golden Gate Bridge turning 75 on Sunday and old boats racing on Saturday. The Master Mariners Regatta for classic boats started off with a bang on the Cityfront. "The winds were strong as is typical this time of year, and made for a challenging regatta," reported Ariane Paul, Junior Staff Commodore of the Master Mariners Benevolent Association.

Alma, Grace Quan
The National Park Service boats Alma and Grace Quan started first, at noon, along with six Bear Boats. ©2012 Erik Simonson/www.pressure-drop.us

"Several vessels did not make it to the starting line, and a couple had to drop out due to difficulties, including one tiller that snapped." One of the older and arguably the coolest boats was the 82-ft M-Class Pursuit born in 1929.

John and Ron
Tactician John Hayes and owner Ron MacAnnon check over the lengthy crew list for Pursuit. ©2012 norcalsailing.com

Ron MacAnnon has owned her for 53 years and she sits proudly front and center at the Sausalito Yacht Harbor boardwalk.

Pursuit
Pursuit looked good in the windy conditions. ©2012 Leslie Richter/www.rockskipper.com

Because of her speed Pursuit started last at 13:05 and, with the flood current, the crew had to throw in a couple of 'quick' tacks at the reaching start (between Golden Gate YC's mark X and St. Francis YC's mark A) but quick tacks they are not as there is a big jib and staysail to turn around and two sets of runners that if not locked down could result in dropping the 96-ft mast. The crew rigged a spinnaker, but because of the high winds on Saturday it wasn't flown.

Running back
Operating the running back stays for the huge mast is a team effort on Pursuit. ©2012 norcalsailing.com

Runners
Locking the lever on the running backs takes two people. ©2012 norcalsailing.com

John and Hank
The afterguard on Pursuit: John Hayes and Hank Easom, who drove Pursuit for most of the race. ©2012 norcalsailing.com

Main
The main sail on Pursuit is trimmed with a coffee grinder winch. ©2012 norcalsailing.com

Foredeck
Dana Riley, second from left, ran the foredeck on Pursuit. ©2012 norcalsailing.com

The wind built from about 15 knots at the start to 25+ in the Slot in the middle of the afternoon. Besides the wind velocity, a big swell was running through the Gate and Pursuit buried her leeward rail repeatedly. She also took a few waves over the high side, getting the crew wet, but none wetter than Jim Linderman, who fell overboard during the first jibe at Blackaller. The main sheet tripped him and he slipped under the lifeline. Photographer Leslie Richter was out taking pictures on Emmet Yeazell's Bertram 31 Legend, and the two of them quickly rescued the MOB.

Man overboard
Legend's crew prepare to pick up Pursuit's man overboard. ©2012 norcalsailing.com

Jim felt fine when they picked him up, but once the adrenaline wore off he started to feel worse, and the Legend crew took him to San Francisco YC, where they met by paramedics. He was then taken to Marin General Hospital to be checked out, and they kept him overnight.

Man onboard
Once onboard Legend, Jim gave Pursuit the thumbs up to let them know he was okay. ©2012 norcalsailing.com

Except for light air behind Angel Island, the wind continued to build throughout the afternoon, making for a fast running of this classic race.

Gaslight
Billy Martinelli's schooner Gaslight. ©2012 norcalsailing.com

Brigadoon
Patty & Terry Klaus's topsail schooner Brigadoon. ©2012 norcalsailing.com

Bird boats
Birds on the wing: Grey Goose, Curlew and Widgeon. ©2012 norcalsailing.com

Spirit
George Kiskadden's sloop Spirit rounds the second jibe mark, Blossom Rock buoy. ©2012 norcalsailing.com

Elizabeth Muir, Seaward
Elizabeth Muir and Seaward prepare to jibe around Southampton Shoals platform, where the wind was much lighter. ©2012 norcalsailing.com

Jib trim
Brian, who supervised the sail trimmers on Pursuit, grinds in the jib, as the wind built in the middle of the afternoon after the finish. ©2012 norcalsailing.com

The first boat to finish was the Bear Boat Chance at 14:08, after racing for two hours and eight minutes. The last boat, the Farallon Clipper VIP, finished at 16:37, in time to make the post-race festivities. "We had a wonderful raft-up and party afterwards at Encinal YC, sharing stories and checking out each other’s boats," said Ariane. Awards were handed out there too. "Pursuit took home the Dead Eye Perpetual Trophy. The largest class was M-1 with Bolero taking the first place gun. It was also good to have Spirit out racing with us again, taking first place in the Ocean Class. The Bears and Birds also had strong turn-outs." Curlew won the five-boat Bird class.

Some links to check out:
Photos by Tom Zinn on Flicker
(Tom also sailed on Pursuit).
Photos by Erik Simonson on SmugMug
.
Master Mariners Regatta Web page.

Yucca
The Golden Gate Bridge wasn't the only one celebrating her 75th birthday over the weekend. Although Yucca didn't sail in Master Mariners on Saturday, she took her people out for a spin on Sunday. ©2012 Leslie Richter/www.rockskipper.com

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