March 31, 2014

This year's SSS Corinthian Race had an eerily Three Bridge Fiasco vibe to it despite the rain and gloom. If you are the positive type, you raced with the same goal as the Fiasco – just try to finish. If you are the negative type you just stayed at home by the fire.

Karl Crawford and Greg Nelsen prep Outsider in Saturday morning's pouring rain. ©2014 norcalsailing.com

The course is a Bay tour starting at Corinthian Yacht Club, heading over to the City, down to Southampton Shoals, and back to Marin and the club for the finish, all 18 miles of it in a variety of conditions, for singlehanded and doublehanded divisions.

The sportboat start. They still had some breeze. ©2014 norcalsailing.com

Rain and blustery wind greeted the racers when they got up in the morning to prepare their boats and head out to the start line. But just as the small headsails were hanked on and it looked like it was going to be a rowdy start, the wind shut off. So the first challenge was to just get across the start line.

A slow-motion PHRF start ten minutes later. ©2014 norcalsailing.com

Buzz Blackett and Jim Antrim on the Antrim 40 California Condor. ©2014 norcalsailing.com

Enough wind crept in from the southwest to enable the boats to head out on a tight reach to Blossom Rock. Goal number one had been accomplished at the start, but ahead was another wind hole at Blossom. A dying flood and building ebb made it a little easier to make it around in the light breeze.

More slo-mo 'action' at Blossom Rock. ©2014 norcalsailing.com

After a light air beat to up the Cityfront the next hurdle was in the cove around Blackaller Buoy. With the ebb starting to flow, the wind shut down once more and boats had to work hard to get around in the swirling water. The next challenge was to head off on a run towards Southampton Shoals.

Some boats had to make more than one attempt on Blackaller. ©2014 norcalsailing.com

Just as the ebb was getting stronger and the wind lighter, and many boats were getting swept out the Gate, a fortuitous westerly wind started to fill and send the boats on a great run to Point Blunt in 15 knots of breeze. Without the timing of the wind and good luck no one could have fought the ebb current streaming out of the Bay.

Max Crittenden and Donald Dellis on the Martin 32 Iniscaw (ex-Solar Wind) and James Murphy and James Jenson on the Santa Cruz 40 Void Star at Angel Island's Point Blunt. ©2014 norcalsailing.com

The wind shut down once again for the next mark rounding of the Southampton platform, making life hard and bunching up the boats at the mark.

The mark rounding at Southampton. ©2014 norcalsailing.com

Most made it, and the final beat to the last turning mark, Little Harding, was underway with boats splitting, going either up Raccoon Strait or opting for the southerly route around Angel Island. The wind stayed and held for the mark rounding.

Nesrin Basoz and Reuben Rocci on the J/111 Swift Ness chose the southerly route to Little Harding. ©2014 norcalsailing.com

The last goal was to fight through the light winds and strong current in Belvedere Cove to reach the finish line off the club. Some accomplished their finish by heading for tide relief along Angel Island while others dug down and chugged straight to the pin against the current, hoping the wind wouldn't die altogether.

Sal and Mary Balisteri's Nonsuch 30 Capo Gatto was the last boat to finish before the time limit. A few stragglers didn't make it. ©2014 norcalsailing.com

If your goal for the day was to make it around the Bay and finish a race that was predicted to be a big challenge, consider yourself lucky. If you stayed home you missed some fine racing.

The SSS race committee stuck it out all day in the cold and rain out on the deck at Corinthian YC. ©2014 norcalsailing.com

Of the 127 entries, 88 started and 63 boats finished. The Singlehanded Sailing Society will hand out awards and shirts on Wednesday, April 9, 19:30 hours, at Oakland YC. See www.sfbaysss.org for results.