December 16, 2013

The word of the day for Saturday's Island Fever Race at South Beach Yacht Club was perseverance. With a two-knot ebb flowing out of the South Bay and light winds that clocked around the dial, the surprise was that the majority of the boats finished by the 1700 time limit.

Goose tries the leeward pass as seen from Mark Hecht's Catalina 30 Friday's Eagle. ©2013 Kenton Hokanson/norcalsailing.com

The series consists of five races from November through March, and throughout the years has an infamous history of many races being abandoned because of the lack of wind and strong currents.

The crew aboard Friday's Eagle works to keep moving. ©2013 Kenton Hokanson/norcalsailing.com

On Saturday most of the divisions were sent off on separate courses ranging from a simple reach over to Alameda and back for the non-spinnaker crowd, to an ambitious jaunt to Blossom Rock for the fastest boats. The latter were treated to a beat downstream to the windless Slot and a slow grind against the ebb back to the finish.

The race committee at the start. ©2013 norcalsailing.com

Starting in McCovey Cove in tight quarters. Paul Zell's Catalina 25 Sparky on starboard makes her way up and over the rest of the fleet. ©2013 norcalsailing.com

Already late for the line, Leglus ran aground in the McCovey Cove starting area. They had to use the engine to get unstuck. ©2013 norcalsailing.com

With Aeolus and Leglus, two out of the four winds were entered in the race. But who is the god of no wind? ©2013 norcalsailing.com

Shane Palmer's J/105 Kookaburra returns from Blossom Rock in the middle of the current in the hopes of finding more wind. ©2013 norcalsailing.com

Frank Wooten's Farr 30 PneumAddict got stuck temporarily while seeking current relief. ©2013 norcalsailing.com

Onboard Douglas Gooding's islander 36 Moondoggie. ©2013 Adrian Rongen/norcalsailing.com

A serviceable northeasterly at the start turned into nothing, then shifted to the south at 1400. By 1500 the wind had died once more before finally settling in to a 4-5 knot northwesterly for the finishes. Those who stuck it out and did the proper sets and dowses of the chute while maintaining forward motion were gifted with one of the joys of racing on San Francisco Bay in December. Finishing.

Fabio Maino's Flying Tiger Centomiglia was the first boat to finish, at the entrance to McCovey Cove. ©2013 norcalsailing.com

Meanwhile, over on the Olympic Circle, all 52 starters in nine divisions of the Berkeley YC Midwinters were able to finish. Bobbie Tosse fills us in: "A newcomer to the Bay Area joined us on race committee. His comment: 'Oh, I see. Your winter is really your summertime.' That’s right, it seemed like summer – warm and sunny with very light air mostly from the north. Even the fast boats took almost two hours to cover a mere 7.6 miles."

At the half-way point of the four-weekend series, three competitors have recorded two firsts: Richard Von Ehrenkrook’s Cal 20 Can O'Whoopass, John Gulliford’s J/24 Phantom, and Andy Macfie’s Olson 30 Hoot.

"Light to no air greeted us out at XOC," said Bobbi of Sunday's conditions. "We were beginning to believe there wouldn’t be a race when a wispy little effort arrived." It was very northerly and light, so, after a 25-minute postponement, the RC chose a 6.6 mile course. "The 28 boats glided around in the sunshine, with the last boat finishing by 15:21."

Three boats have two bullets for the first half of the Sunday series: Larry Telford’s Islander 30-2 Antares, Will Paxton’s Express 27 Motorcycle Irene and the sole Multihull entry – Todd Craig’s Corsair 24 MkII trimaran Foxtrot.

See www.berkeleyyc.org and www.southbeachyc.org for complete standings. Many thanks to SBYC entries Moondoggie and Friday's Eagle for taking our cameras onboard.