There are many Instant Karma Racing Rules* that happen so frequently that we tend to put them in back of our mind. One is looking forward to a nice spinnaker run that turns into a nasty beat. Another is as soon as you choose your small #3 jib for that windy start, the wind will die. That’s why a medium-sized #2 jib is often the perfect choice.

On Friday evening, as racers were arriving at Corinthian YC, a brisk wind was roughing up the water with white caps, even in mellow Belvedere Cove. Bob Bloom on the J/35 Jarlen chose his #2, but left the smaller one on deck just in case. It turns out it was never needed, as the wind dropped just enough to keep the sailing fun and fast, but not gnarly. Jarlen, sailed with a more-the-merrier Friday night crew, won Non-Spinnaker 1.

The Santa Cruz 37 Tiburon had such a fast race around, zooming past everyone, that it seemed they’d hardly been out at all. But the new boat rates a hurtful 27 and their nearest competitor Hank Easom’s old 8-Meter Yucca rates 90. All the other boats in the division rate more than 100 so Tiburon has to work really hard to correct out. Yucca went on to win Spinnaker 2 with Tiburon just 11 seconds behind.

At the other end of the go-fast spectrum, a trio of Cal 20s raced in Non-Spinnaker 3. If John Nooteboom’s Tension II is out sailing, chances are the old boat will win. John’s had Tension II for 20 years, competing in Corinthian’s Knox course races forever, and his previous boat was also a Cal 20. Like Hank Easom on Yucca, his local knowledge is priceless; if you’re sailing a Cal 20 in a Corinthian race, your best bet is to follow John and George. If you come in second after them your doing alright.

About 45 boats raced in this popular series on Friday night, including a J/105 one design fleet, three non-spinnaker PHRF divisions, and three spinnaker PHRF divisions. For complete results and information on entering the series, see www.cyc.org/racing/fnr.

* Also known as Kriyamana Karma (daily life). See www.healpastlives.com/future/rule/rukarma.htm