Submitted by Pat Broderick of the Wyliecat 30 Nancy, this report continues coverage begun after the start of the Three Bridge Fiasco on Saturday. Nancy sailed in the seven-boat doublehanded Wyliecat 30 division.

Michael Andrews and I discussed our strategies as we motored across from Sausalito, looking at the mass of white shapes congregated around the Golden Gate YC. As the mass grew closer and divided itself up into groups of sails, it became obvious that wind and congestion were going to play in important part in any early decision making. We were thinking Start - Blackaller - Yerba Buena - Red Rock - Finish.

Because of the healthy flood at 0945, we stayed well west of the start line, sizing things up. Around 1015, just 02:15 shy of our start time, and with the timer counting down, we observed several things. 1) None of the boats attempting Blackaller was going anywhere fast. 2) A wall of Express 27s were lined up on the other side of the start line. 3) The current was rapidly pushing us toward the start line and those Express 27s. [They rate the same, so would share a start in the pursuit race. - ed]

We decided that perhaps Start-RR-YB-Blackaller-Finish looked better.  Go with the flood. So, at 10:17:15 we wove our way through a bunch of semi-stalled boats and broke free on the other side to find ourselves with several other Wylies - Uno, Bandicoot, Dazzler, and Crinan II - all headed toward TI. That is until Dazzler and Crinan II peeled off for Red Rock. We looked at each other, looked at the lead boats headed for Red Rock, then at Uno and Bandicoot, who were ahead of us 25 yards or so, and changed our minds again. It was to be a genuine counter-clockwise passage: Start (we'd already accomplished that much)-YB-RR-Blackaller-Finish. No turning back.

Under the Bay Bridge we managed to pass both Bandicoot and Uno. We sailed wide and headed for the Emeryville flats to get into the counter-current. Past the end of the Berkeley pier, and downwind toward Richmond, we lost Uno in the background (you’ll find out why later in this article), and Bandicoot who chose stay close to Treasure Island and sail up the middle. Boat speed averaged about four knots over the ground, but sometimes dropped to a knot or less.

When we looked ahead to Red Rock we saw lots of white shapes clustered around it. Those were boats that had headed there first, we figured, and sure enough pretty soon Dazzler, Crinan II, and Punk Dolphin (more about Dolphin later) came past us, headed for TI. We figured we were about 2/5 of the way around and they were 3/5, so it looked like it was over. So, we switched our strategy to, "Let's finish the race."

We did notice lots of sails to the west in the far distance clustered around Blackaller and under the Golden Gate Bridge, but by now the wind had shifted to a westerly, so we figured they'd gotten it first and lots earlier.  Red Rock was a challenge. We tried to sail up the cone against the current, but had to tack off toward Castro Rocks for awhile before flopping over and squeaking around. I didn't want to "find" that rock at the NW corner again this year!

It was one long tack down toward the entrance to Raccoon Strait; on the way Sylkie and another Wylie passed on their way to Red Rock. We tacked over and the current brought us right into Raccoon. At first we stayed in the middle, then noticed the current looked better on the Island side since the boats on the land side weren't doing so well, so over we went and out we popped near Pt. Stuart.

We saw sails along the Cityfront, so knew we weren't going to take the Grand Prize. But having passed several Wylies, we figured we could place fairly high in the funny sail fleet. And besides, Michael had never managed to finish the race, and it had been several years since I had, so on we sailed, crabbing across the Bay, hoping to not get washed out the Gate by what must now have been 5+ knots of ebb.

We managed it pretty well, missing Blackaller by only a couple of dozen yards, then began the slog upstream against the current toward the finish line. Going in too close to get out of the current looked like getting out of the wind too, so we decided to sail a straight line. That's when we noticed two Wylies on their way west out near the center of the Bay. Hmmm.  Another strategy meeting. They were the boats that passed us near Richmond going the other direction. Now they were behind us! Maybe we were still in the running?

Back to sailing fast; enough of the, "We'll finish this year!" crap. This was amplified when Punk Dolphin came up from behind to pass us near the finish line. Wasn't Jonathan one of the boats that passed us near Richmond, too? And he rates 72! New hope!

After eluding several very large overtaking boats and a pair of dueling Antrim 27s, we crossed the finish line a little after 1500. It was truly a "Fiasco" in the best sense of the word. Ahead, behind, confused, distraught, puzzled, and maybe ahead at the finish? Only the results will tell.

Thanks to the SSS Race Committee that ran a great day's sailing. I thought the radio work was superb and I know the on-deck work was equally wonderful.

- Pat Broderick

Results are still preliminary, but it looks like Nancy takes the top prize in her division. Good going, guys!

The following is from Steve Wonner, who sailed the sistership Uno singlehanded:

Outside of going the wrong way and being dog slow, it was a bit tedious for Uno. First, while motoring out the Estuary for the start, I hit something underwater that almost stopped the motor. There was obviously something around the prop because the whole boat was shaking from being out of balance. I put it in neutral and started to sail back to the dock to investigate. On the way back I tried it in gear again and it worked fine... problem solved (I thought). I made it to the start and was leading the other boats who also went the wrong way with me. I was doing fine until the wind died down and then the Wyliecats behind me went by like I was anchored.

When I hauled Uno this morning, I found my case of the ‘slows’. See the photo below of someone's warmup pants attached to the Saildrive. I dragged them around the Bay all day! I ended up retiring when I couldn't get around Red Rock in the building ebb. 

- Steve Wonner

See www.sfbaysss.org for preliminary results and more.