Approximately 175 little boats showed up for the first of Richmond YC’s Small Boat Midwinters series, sailed on three courses this Sunday. The haze came and went and returned; the wind came and went and never returned.

The four classes of one design and mixed boats on the Southampton course had fun despite the low wind velocity. This group didn’t get going until noon, so they missed the best breeze of the day. Light winds didn't dampen the race committee’s hopes of getting in four races for the day, although race three and four had to be shortened for the Lasers by making the windward mark the finish (no one likes going dead-downwind on a Laser in three knots of wind).

The Wylie Wabbits, skiffs and other fast boats completed the full course. With the Thistles and such left out of race four altogether, the Lasers had the most boats with 28 showing up and showing off with the most interesting starts. The skill level in this fleet is varied, so it sometimes took three minutes for the stragglers to just make it across the start line. And as the races ended, some of the last boats had to finish then immediately go for the next start. No rest for the weary on the ‘ironing boards’. And when the RC yelled out that they would attempt a fourth race, some yelled back "You’re kidding, right?"

At the end of the day when the wind died for good, the Southampton crash boats became tow boats, and the fleet headed home to the warm clubhouse under the setting sun. And tule fog.

On the middle course, for mid-size boats near the Richmond Harbor entrance, the race committee set up the course for a nice westerly, but midway through the first race the wind shifted to the north and kept shifting. The marks were reset, but the wind kept clocking around, almost 100 degrees. And it dropped, making the first race the windiest of the day. Fortunately, Dick Taylor and his seasoned crew had gotten the racing started right on time at 1100 and got in three short races before lunch, followed by more of the same after.

On the most protected course inside the harbor, the smallest boats competed in some of the biggest fleets. Seventeen El Toro seniors were given the first start, followed by 14 juniors. The Optimist fleet topped them both, with 37 boats, all sailed by juniors, many of them teams from other clubs such as San Francisco YC and St. Francis.

We’ll send you over to Richmond YC’s site for the results, but with the warning that they were not complete when we looked at them tonight, which is why we’re not sure of the exact grand total of participating racers. Next Small Boat Midwinter: Sunday, January 4. We have many, many more photos from all three courses on our Photo Gallery, so be sure to check it out!