“CAUTION” “HEAVY FOG” announced the sigalert sign at the north end of the Golden Gate Bridge, as sailors returned to the San Francisco Marina this morning for Day 3 of the 2009 Rolex Big Boat Series. Staggered foghorns played a symphony, and cars splashed through puddles, with rain still spattering their windshields. Racers who slept aboard their boats in the Marina reported thunder and lightning, loud, bright, and nearly simultaneous, in the wee hours. The showers washed the boats clean of spilled blood, wine and cookie crumbs. Although most entries had left the St. Francis YC docks by 1030 hours, they were sailing into the pea soup.

This setting contrasts sharply with the last two days of racing here, when mostly sunny conditions and moderate breeze prevailed. The tropical warmth enjoyed elsewhere in the Bay Area didn’t quite reach the Cityfront, and a trickle of fog teased the Slot, but the seasons changed overnight.

Tidal currents always influence the racing on San Francisco Bay. For the last couple of days, the tide’s been ebbing in the morning, switching during the first race, then flooding all afternoon. Tacticians must balance currents against winds and pick which side of the course will offer the most favorable combination.

Paul Cayard is tactician aboard the TP52 Flash in IRC-A. He said of the first race on Friday, "It was better to go to the right for current, but the wind went left as we went west. The boats that were City-side got a lift that compensated for the bad current. It was a trade-off that worked. The City side was better." Flash got a third in that race, but a first in the second race of the day.

Samba Pa Ti, John Kilroy Jr.’s TP52, won the first race on Saturday in IRC-A. Then in the second race, they snagged the anchor rode of the windward mark. They cut the rode, did their one penalty tack and jibe, and sailed on. The delay cost them; they got fifth place in that race. They are currently in third place in the standings behind Vincitore and Flash.

Chris Welsh of Newport Beach entered his Spencer 65 Ragtime, a barn-built boat from 1964, in IRC-B. He’s having a great time racing up here. “The SSS Richmond-South Beach Race was a lot of fun. The Bridge to Bridge was a blast. The St. Francis was really accommodating about letting us in.” They called up to talk to him about his entry, and he was afraid they were going to say he couldn’t race. But instead they said, “We really want you.” In the Big Boat Series, Chris said “We’re figuring out the buoys and the breeze, what makes the boat go. We had a #4 today for the first time and were able to really go boat to boat and see what worked. The bigger boats like Velos and the new one, Wasabi, are our main competitors.” Velos is leading IRC-A with four straight bullets. Wasabi is in second.

Michael Radziejowski, roving grinder and ballast on Brad Copper’s Tripp 43 TNT, sailing in IRC-C, said of Friday’s racing, “It’s a crap shoot. It was pretty windy down by Berkeley, and light in San Francisco. So do you put up your heavy sails and suffer in the light wind, or do you put up your light air sails and suffer in the windy stuff?” TNT is in fourth place; Dan Woolery’s Soozal is leading IRC-C.

Advantage3, one of 25 J/105s, went around the windward mark in first place in the first race on Friday. Crew Simon Bell commented that, “It was all downhill from there.” Good Timin’, Chris Perkins’ perennial winner, is leading the fleet.

Friday evening’s Mount Gay rum party is loud, but if you can sneak away from the crowd a bit, it’s an excellent opportunity to chat about the racing at the mid-point. Some photographers who’d been observing all day on Thursday and Friday noted that no ships came or went during the racing on either day, but as soon as the racing ended, a bunch came out. With major members of business and commerce among the St. Francis YC movers and shakers, could they have actually had some influence on shipping traffic?

One of the sailors we talked to yesterday evening said she needed Vicodin to get to sleep Thursday night. A scrap of a note torn up and discarded on the table in the press room read, “Tylenol Extra Strength 100 caps.” The full four days of racing can be brutal, especially for the crews that fling themselves across the cabintops with each tack on each beat. A pharmaceutical dispensary would do well alongside the sail and rigging repair trailers.

We’ve posted a movie shot on Friday, including footage of racing with commentary from the racers. We’ve also posted a photo gallery. Much more, including full results, can be found at www.regattanews.com, www.big-boat-series.com and www.stfyc.com.