HDA/ODCA Spring 1

May 23, 2010

It's very exciting spending a Saturday afternoon watching sailboats racing around on the Cityfront. Especially when it's blowing thirty knots with an ebb. The YRA Spring 1 race for HDA and ODCA (handicapped and one design for the acronym illiterate) went off with a noon blast at the Golden Gate Yacht Club in wild conditions with an assortment of knock-downs to entertain shoreside viewers.

The Santana 22 Aquila. ©2010 norcalsailing.com

The starts were pin favored in the building ebb, and the competitors pushed for the best spot on the line. Some attempted a port tack start only to change their minds as a wall of boats were in the way.

The Express 37 Golden Moon dipped their foredeckwoman in a saltwater bath during a lengthy round-down. Fortunately she hung onto the shrouds. ©2010 norcalsailing.com

For Dan Alvarez and crew on the JS9000 JetStream it was a fast and wet day. "By the start time the wind was well into the 20-knot range and the ebb had been building, throwing up a decent chop in the bay. We had a pretty clear start and soon tacked away to the center of the Bay to take advantage of the ebb current."

Even though it was a tough beat for the racers to the windward mark the real fun would begin downwind. "We had a perfect spinnaker set and the race was on. We took off in the fresh conditions and soon were leading the fleet. We were averaging 14-15 knots of boatspeed, with both Mark and Andrew doing an excellent job with the kite. On one of the strongest puffs we plowed into the back of a wave, throwing a wall of water over the decks. The water knocked the crew back and I lost control of the boat and rounded up into a broach. We tried to bring the boat back, but it wouldn't come up with the spinnaker up. So with a quick release of the halyard we brought the boat back and dragged the spinnaker back into the boat."

Spring 1 welcomes summer racing conditions and the start of another great YRA season. You can read all about JetStream's exploits on her blog at: http://jetstreamracing.blogspot.com

"Wet, windy, wild and crazy," is how an Islander 36 crew described the racing. She didn't even dare try to brush her saltwater and wind snarled hair. ©2010 norcalsailing.com

The Berkeley YC ran the race from the GGYC race deck, but you'll find results at www.yra.org.

Leftover Tuna? The Santana 22 fleet holds a group post-mortem on the Marina docks after the races. ©2010 norcalsailing.com