race report
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 The National Park Service Scow Schooner Alma, looking graceful at Alcatraz. ©2010 norcalsailing.com |
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Master Mariners Regatta June 1, 2010 Saturday's Master Mariners Regatta was the official blow off the clouds and rain and bring in the bright sun and warm wind day. Although big wooden boats like a good stiff breeze, at the start they had only fifteen knots. However, the breeze filled in to the high twenties in the Slot halfway through the race. Perfect conditions for the big boats, and the Birds and Bears, which were designed for these Bay conditions.
All the fleets got off on time, and the run around the Bay seemed to be faster than some years, so that part of the fun ended early, but no one was complaining back at the Encinal Yacht Club. Fifty-seven boats signed up, which is fewer than some recent years, but the no-shows apparently had really good excuses like weddings, births and such.
"It was an incredibly beautiful day," said tactician/crew manager Peter Schoen on Sunda, a 1939 Ben Seaborn design built in Seattle in 1941 at Blanchard Boat Yard. Sunda's foredeck wrangler Steve Sarsfield elaborated, "In the morning when we left Sausalito, there was no wind. By the time we started at 12:40, we had plenty of wind. The best part for me was that there were four tacticians. So all I had to do was foredeck. I didn't have to think about it."
Like many Master Mariners boats, Sunda has a lot of history. "The first owner was the CFO of Boeing," Bob Rogers, her current owner, told us. "The second owner was Carl Schumacher's father. The third owner had her for 30 years in Southern California. I bought her in 1989." Carl Schumacher redesigned the sail plan after a dismasting in the 1998 Master Mariners. "It was a masthead rig in SoCal," said Bob. "The new one is more Bay friendly. With the old rig, in ten Master Mariners we had never placed. Since the new rig we've had four wins." Among the victims of damage this year were two Farallon Clippers. Credit came in first, despite some damage to their rig. A spreader broke when a crew member got launched up the spinnaker halyard during a set. A knot in the halyard broke the spreader. The crew member shimmied back down the mast. VIP had to drop out. They were the third Farallon Clipper at Pt. Knox and heading to Harding Rock when they lowered their sails. We heard later that their mast had split but not fallen down. Echo finished within a boat length of Credit to garner second.
The first boat to finish the race, the SF Sea Scouts' whale boat Viking, came in at 14:12:28, just after the race committee got the finish line set east of Treasure Island. Their race only lasted two hours and two minutes, and they won their division. The last boat to finish, Varuna, came in just past five.
The post-race party back at EYC was a delightful affair in the warm sunshine. Families enjoyed the pool while sailors bench-raced with friends. Many others toured the historic craft on the nearby docks, a boat show you race hard to get to.
Final results are now available at www.mastermariners.org. Also be sure to take a look at our photo gallery, now online. Photos can be ordered through our store. Several videos are on YouTube, including eight shot from the docks by Fred Felker. The Master Mariners Regatta is a joint effort between three yacht clubs: St. Francis YC (luncheon and start line), Sausalito YC (start line boat) and Encinal YC (post-race party). Race committee work was provided by SYC and RegattaPRO. Many sponsors contribute cold hard cash; we were pleased to be among them for the first time this year.
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