“Boy, oh boy! Were we the lucky ones,” exults Berkeley Midwinter race organizer Bobbi Tosse. “Two whole days of no rain, almost warm and enough breeze to run a race. Maybe it was those untold (and extremely rare) virgins that we sacrificed last week to the ‘Old Ones’? (No, I will not reveal any more info on this subject.)”

Berkeley YC runs a Saturday series and a separate Sunday series on the Berkeley (Olympic) Circle. “On Saturday, we started 79 boats and finished 78,” reports Bobbi. “The course was an eight mile windward/leeward with HOC as the windward mark. The wind was about 8-10 and the boat speeds ranged between 4 and 5.3 kts.

“On Sunday, 30 yachts came out to enjoy the sun, the light and a bit flukey wind. Again, the eight mile windward/leeward course was chosen - this time, however the windward mark was AOC.

“For both days, the cumulatives are showing quite a few ties in the trophy positions. We anticipate that the third and final race of the series in February will clear most of those. And, for those who keep track of these things, please notice that we used both H and A this weekend. Two circumstances allowed us this luxury: 1) The Circle had enough water and 2) Special thanks to Peter Lyons of www.lyonsimaging.com. He graciously set H for us and then on Sunday when the wind swung north with only 10 minutes to go, he zoomed up to pick up H and turn it into an A for us. What a hero!

“The results are up at www.berkeleyyc.org and will be up later on

www.yra.org.”

Just to the west of the Berkeley Circle on Saturday, Jeff Zarwell’s RegattaPRO held two races in the Winter One Design Series. J/120s, J/105s and Beneteau 36.7s shared the same pleasant sunshine, moderate breezes, and mild flood with the Berkeley Midwinters and Encinal YC’s Jack Frost, neatly slotted between the two. Though they didn’t cross courses, when going downwind the RegattaPRO fleet appeared to be on a two-way highway with the Jack Frost going upwind. See www.regattapro.com/regattas.html for results and more.