On Saturday, while the YRA fleets were bashing their way to Bonita, the little Santana 22s were bashing around outside Angel Island in their 2009 Nationals. Eighteen boats showed up on what was to be a total of five races in a windward/leeward setup arranged by the Corinthian Yacht Club. Both Saturday and Sunday saw light winds for the first starts, morphing into the usual 20-25 knots for the afternoon. All this in a three-knot flood just to make it more interesting. “I was soaked for most of the weekend,” said Jennifer McKenna.

Jennifer, who crewed on Stephen Buckingham's Tchoupitoulas, remarked, "Overall, the regatta was a great time, plenty of wind, sunshine, and good times at the Corinthian. The strong flood made the windward mark and offset a challenge. Quite a few boats hit the mark and/or the offset or had to throw in extra tacks at the last minute, which always makes for some extra excitement."

There was a little bit of rubbing going on as well. Craig McDows' Sweet Reward and Derek Meyers' Aquila got together in one start resulting in Sweet Rewards' bow getting smashed. McDow MacGyvered a fix and finished racing on Saturday as well as Sunday.

The winning boat, Michael Andrews’ Bonito’ had all bullets except for one fourth place finish, keeping all the others trying hard for second place. All in all a great weekend for the class and owners and crews proving that these fun little boats will sail on into the future exactly as they were designed to do. 

For results, see http://cyc.org/race/results/santanastandings.html. Also see http://santana22.com. For more of Jennifer’s photos, see www.flickr.com/photos/jenmck/sets/72157621859940700