A trifecta of races were staged over the weekend with the opening race being the Encinal Yacht Club’s Jack Frost on Saturday. Three PHRF fleets plus Olson 25s and Santana 22s ran around the windward/leeward course in a nice fifteen-knot north to northeasterly with only a hint of rain. The only problem was a killer ebb making it difficult to square up the course, with most boats following each other in a drag race around the buoys. How does one create an even course in a lot of cross current? Let us know if you’ve got the answer. EYC was able to get in two races in the afternoon, and the series has one more set for March 27. Check the results and series standings at www.encinal.org.

On Sunday, Berkeley Yacht Club had their Midwinters Champions race at the same time as a Sunday Chowder. The Circle was full with bright sunshine, a nice westerly and lots of people having fun on boats (and back at the club for awards).

Race Co-Chair Bobbi Tosse reports on Berkeley’s Winners Race:

“February 28 saw 19 of the 39 Midwinter winners come out to the Circle to enjoy the first sunshine in weeks. This event is a bit different than other races. We pit all the first place winners against each other. The winner of this group is the official ‘Champion of Champions’ and gets their info engraved on the Kirt Brooks memorial trophy. The next group is all of the second place winners against other second places and all the third places, etc. We have three starts and give everyone an extra five minutes between starts to try to help out the slower-rated boats from being run over by the next division’s faster-rated boats.

“The weatherman had suggested a very light southerly, but some other wind god must have overruled. Soon after the noon start, with the fleet slowly heading to EOC from X, the wind shifted to a more westerly direction and definitely became more robust! Thus the fleet zipped around the mostly reaching course, and we were all off the water by 1400 hours.  There were hardly any complaints, however. After all, the sun did shine!

“The overall winner was the repeat of Richard von Ehrenkrook’s Cal 20, Can O’Whoopass.”

Back at the Berkeley clubhouse, Richard and his crew Paul Sutchek described the conditions: “The wind went from really a light southeasterly to hull speed - about 12 knots - so no one was planing, and it clocked around to the west. We got to the course about a minute and a half before the gun - and we didn’t have a course sheet. We asked the other racers what the course was. ‘Five,’ he replied. ‘We know, but where does it go?’ One of our competitors was corinthian enough to tell us.”

Results can be found at www.berkeleyyc.org.