race report
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 Stephen Ritz's Ideal 18 Proverbs 21:21 raced in Island YC's midwinter race on the Estuary. ©2014 norcalsailing.com |
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Midwinter Catch-Up
January 14, 2014 The Bay Area racing scene now has two weekends of midwinters completed in 2014, so we'd better get caught up before next weekend's big Corinthian Midwinters are upon us.
Golden Gate YC's third Seaweed Soup race kicked off the new year on January 4 with a light easterly. A double-sausage course proved too much for many of the competitors, as the wind fizzled and the ebb powered up. With the backwards wind direction, the upwind finish was against the afternoon current. Peter Stoneberg's Prosail 40 catamaran Shadow made a guest appearance in the race, but couldn't reach the finish line. When they radioed the race committee to drop out, they asked, "How close did we get"? The RC replied, "We were getting the gun ready."
But many boats did finish, led by Richard Courcier's Farr 36 Wicked. Of the two J/111s, Mad Men finished after some anchoring, while Aeolus dropped out. The slower divisions with a shorter, single-sausage course had a higher percentage of finishers.
The wind and tide on Sunday the fifth were kinder to the Sausalito YC race in the Knox racing area, and all of the competitors were able to finish.
The following weekend featured the Berkeley YC Midwinters. Race Committee stalwart Bobbi Tosse reports: "Wow. I’ve always said you can’t predict one day’s weather based only on the day before. The weekend of January 11-12 proved this in spades. Saturday we almost saw rain and the wind was mostly from the south. Sunday there were no clouds and the wind was primarily from the north. "At one point during Saturday's race, the not-quite-rain mist shrouded the fleet, leaving us feeling almost alone. But then the sun peeped through the clouds shining only on the RegattaPRO fleet that were racing west of the Berkeley Circle. Have they worked something out with the weather gods?" RegattaPRO's Winter One Design Series got in two races after a postponement for shifty, light wind.
"Sunday appeared to be the better day to come out and race," continued Bobbi. Two boats that were signed up for the separate Saturday series showed up to race on Sunday also. For the last three Midwinters, the BYC RC has been fortunate to have a new sailing forecast from Sailor’s Energy. "Mike Dvorak, a BYC member, has been working to produce a graphical presentation of wind direction and strength over the small area of just the Berkeley Circle and the whole Bay," explained Bobbi. "It’s really pretty slick and has proved extremely useful in choosing courses." To check it out, go to www.berkeleyyc.org and scroll down to 'Current Wind and Temp at BYC'. This will take you to the Sailor’s Energy site where you can sign up to get the demo Berkeley Circle sailing forecasts for free.
Also racing on Sunday was Island YC's Island Days series, with one race on the Estuary. The usual windward-leeward breeze that follows the Estuary had more east in it than usual, making starboard tack instead port favored on the windward legs, of which there were two, since there was plenty of wind.
Adding to the challenge of dodging competitors and other Estuary traffic, was a surprising amount of flotsam, including big boards, carried on the ebb tide from a little bit of rain the day before somewhere upstream.
The big news at IYC in the new year is that they're looking for a new home. Rumor has it that Alameda Marina has given them a year's notice, since Svendsen's wants to use their building for offices.
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