‘It was honking at Blossom Rock, making for some very exciting jibes. Do you know why Wicked dropped out?” asked norcalsailing.com. “They got through their jibe fine, unlike some others.”

Race Chair Bobbi Tosse: “Wicked didn't 'drop out', they simply stopped just a few feet from the finish due to lack of water under her keel. They were about to finish in fifth place. It was very sad. I wish to assure anyone who is reading that in 2009 there will be deep water courses. If the tide is anywhere near what it was today, we will move to a more friendly place to start and finish.”

The subject of the above conversation was Sunday’s pursuit race in Berkeley Yacht Club’s Wheeler Regatta, a two-day event following a fun format for Bay racing: divisions sailing around the buoys a few times on Saturday, with everyone chasing each other in a reverse-handicap pursuit race on Sunday. Throw in a yacht club party on Saturday night and you’ve got a winning formula.

“We never saw more than 12 knots down at XOC,” added Bobbi about Sunday’s race. “Beautiful day!” The course began and ended at XOC, the center of Berkeley’s Olympic Circle, and went around Harding Rock buoy south of Angel Island and Blossom Rock buoy southeast of Alcatraz.

“Saturday was also great. Winds were from the west in the neighborhood of 10-12, the water was flat, and it didn’t rain. The party was super, the oysters were avidly consumed and no one broke anything. What more can a person ask?

“Oh, yes - for the first time that I can remember, there are no leftover trophies for me to drag home,” concluded Bobbi.

For complete results of the Wheeler Regatta, see www.berkeleyyc.org/racing/wheeler/index.html.