July 21, 2014

Plastic was fantastic on Saturday at the Bay View Boat Club in San Francisco. The 30th running of the Plastic Classic Yacht Race had it all: sunny weather, funky and fluky winds building to 20 knots, and the always great BBQ and post-race party at the funky club.

The Concours d'Elegance overflowed the Bay View Boat Club docks, pictured here, and spread out onto the city dock next door. ©2014 norcalsailing.com

Besides the regatta, the event includes a Concours d'Elegance wherein entries are judged for their beauty, their interior, being most stock, etc.

The judges boarded John Mazza's Cape Dory Hunky Dory, which won for best rigged for singlehanding. John's usual first mate is the tiny pooch barely visible on the starboard cabintop under the dodger. But he raced with human crew on Saturday. ©2014 norcalsailing.com

Sixty boats raced and the one design fleets included Pearson Tritons, J/24s,Olson 25s, Catalina 30s and Merit 25s. The rest were a hodgepodge of various boats and divisions with Islander Bahamas, a Freedom 21, Rangers ranging from 23 to 26 to 33 feet, a Kettenberg 41, and the ubiquitous Cal 20, 25, 29… Well, you get the picture.

Suzanne, Dave, and Jeff were pretty relaxed before the race, while the conditions were still pretty mellow, on the Merit 25 Faster Faster! ©2014 norcalsailing.com

Ian Elliot's Triton Sanctuary in the starting area. ©2014 norcalsailing.com

Although the mood of the racers was happy and everyone was having a good time, Mother Nature made the going around the South Bay course a bit of a challenge. The winds were up at the leeward side of the course and light and shifty as you got closer to the infamous T-mark back towards the City.

Orion Litzau's Ranger 33 The Hard Way, Michael Satterlund's Catalina 27 Miss Kate, and Mark Hecht's Catalina 30 Friday's Eagle approach the windward mark. ©2014 norcalsailing.com

With big puffs coming down off the new high rises at Mission Bay, the boats got bitch-slapped by the gusts just as they were trying to negotiate the tricky turning marks in the channel with many round-ups and near misses. One hapless boat caught the anchor chain on the T-mark boat.

The Catalina 34 Sea Spirit tangled with the T-mark. ©2014 norcalsailing.com

Down by the leeward marks off of the old Naval Air Station in Alameda the chop increased as did the wind, with boats changing down to small jibs. And the wind was still shifty and puffy even far from land.

The reaching legs were iffy for spinnakers, as the wind was on the beam. This is Grant Hayes' Hobie 33 Vitesse Too. ©2014 norcalsailing.com

John Ford's Catalina 30 Avalon was one of five racing. Jack McDermott's Adventure won their division. ©2014 norcalsailing.com

Jeff and Pat Sullivan and crew on the Pearson Commander Nemesis were all smiles when they won the PHRF >225 division. ©2014 norcalsailing.com

Riding the rail on Lloyd Richey's Santana 35 Breakout. ©2014 norcalsailing.com

To see who toughed the crazy breeze the best, see www.plasticclassic.com. And now, the shot you've all been waiting for…

The T-mark crew did their best to distract the racers just when they're supposed to be raising their chutes. ©2014 norcalsailing.com

Some of the T-mark crew enjoying dinner at the party after their long day of hard work being fabulous. ©2014 norcalsailing.com