Rick Van Mell, webmaster for the Islander 36 Web site, reports on last Saturday’s Islander 36 Nationals, hosted by Golden Gate YC:

This is the way a regatta should be. A beautiful venue with front row seats. Seven beautiful Islanders on the line. Lots of great skippers and crews - with eight more boats represented by folks on shore.

Golden Gate Yacht Club, on the shore of San Francisco Bay, has sight lines right out the Golden Gate, north to Sausalito, Tiburon, and Angel Island, and west to Berkeley and the hills beyond. Their big glass windows in the dining room protect you from the wind, and the race deck, on the east end, is sheltered too. A perfect place from which to run a race.

Mother Nature was trying her best to huff and puff and blow us away - the forecast was certainly something to be concerned about. It read like this on Friday: west winds 5-15 knots, increasing to 15-25, with local gusts to 35. By Saturday morning, they kicked it up a notch: west 20-30 with gusts to 35, increasing in the evening to 25-35 with gusts to 45. So how did Saturday start?

Light winds and a flat Bay greeted the boats as they arrived. Eight knots were blowing at GGYC for the first start at 1205. The first course was a 5.7 mile windward-leeward with the windward mark the Blackaller buoy near the south tower of the Golden Gate Bridge. The first leeward mark was the starting mark right off the club, back to Blackaller, and then down to #6 off Fort Mason and back to the finish. This course made for great viewing from the race deck, particularly exciting on the first leeward rounding when a bit of contact took place. [See the video clip at www.islander36.org/nationals09/nationals09.html.]

But it was blowing up into the teens by the time the first race ended about 1320, and race 2 started at 1345. This time the course was shifted a bit east to stay away from the strongest winds coming in the Gate. A short beat to the St. Francis YC starting mark made for lots of action at the weather mark, then a long run east to Blossom Rock, and a beat back past Alcatraz to the finish. By then a good ebb tide was helping push everyone toward the finish around 1445.

Then it was all boats back to shore to swap stories about the races, the crews and the skippers. Vice Commodore Michele Williams, who sailed aboard Windwalker, handed out the embroidered T-Shirts. First Place went to Captain Hooke, Tom & David Newton - who are also our Season Champions. One point back was Windwalker, Rich Shoenhair, with Cassiopeia, Kit Weigman, in third.

What a great way to wrap up the racing season. Special thanks to the great Golden Gate Race Committee. Erik Simonson dashed about in a RIB snapping some great shots on the water. See www.h2oshots.com.

- Rick Van Mell

For many more pictures and video, the complete report, plus results of the Nationals, the Season Championships, and more races, see www.islander36.org.