“Everyone won,” said Corinthian YC PRO Mike Moradzadeh after Saturday’s ‘race’. “Does that mean everyone gets a glass? Okay, nobody won and we’ll give out double glasses tomorrow.” And they did.

Saturday’s five-knot ebb was just too much for the weak, maybe five-knot easterly to overcome. About half of the divisions started, and all drifted off to the Golden Gate Bridge. Mid-way through, a postponement turned into an abandonment of the divisions yet to start. Those who had started were to continue racing, but boredom must have set in, as the triple shotgun was fired at 4:46 with the party already underway.

The 1D-35 fleet provided a free keg on Saturday in honor of their season championship, awarded on the sunny deck of the club. Gary Boell of Diablita presented a beautiful silver cup to Gary Fanger for the best race record in 2007. Fanger raced Great Sensation to a first place finish this weekend.

The belle of the ball was the eye-catching Mull 82 Sorcery, raced by new owner John Walker and a crew from Cal Maritime Academy, also eye-catching in their red T-shirts. We asked the VP of Sorcery Ocean Racing, Peaches Torassa, how they got their crew. She said that because they are staying at Glen Cove (in Vallejo on the Carquinez Strait), “We decided to go to Cal Maritime to see if we could find crew. Twenty or so kids came out and started climbing around the boat. It was great.” Sorcery takes a big crew and is still looking. See www.sorceryoceanracing.com for the yacht’s history, future plans and much more.

At the famous Saturday night party in the Corinthian’s beautiful ballroom, the young Sorcery crew wound through the crowd in a conga line, sucking up the sitters and turning them into dancers. The dance floor was packed until the excellent band quit at ten and the die-hards headed over to Sam’s.The bar quote of the night: “Hey dude, I’ve been getting attacked by three cougars already!”

After a few Sunday morning Alka-Seltzers, the partiers got back on their boats for a second try at racing.

The second try was hugely successful, as “We got every bit of the 15 knots promised us,” for the romp to Southampton Shoals and back. The shifty puffs kept everyone busy and almost everyone finished. Notable exceptions were the two boats - the 1D-35 Yeofy and the Hunter 33.5 Kelika - involved in a collision at the Elephant Rock turning mark just before the finish. A sportsmanship award went to Kame Richards of the Express 37 Golden Moon, “Who kicked everybody’s butt and then withdrew because he ran his engine within the 4-minute limit.”

CYC Rear Commodore Sharon Marsh Barr told us that they had more than 160 entries - even more than they’d expected, and a record for this regatta. For complete results, see http://home.pacbell.net/cycsf/080120.html.

We expect another heavy ebb for the second and last weekend of the Corinthian Midwinters, February 16-17, so pray for wind. Of course, CYC encourages you to sign up even if you missed the fun this month. See http://race.cyc.org/midwins.html for all the details.

Love,

Windy