Plastic Classic

July 19, 2010

Plastic is fantastic on San Francisco Bay! With more classes reaching the 25-year minimum age limit to participate, the Plastic Classic, now in its 26th year, is showing no signs of slowing down. Bay View Boat Club hosts the race, a dockside Concours d' Elegance, and a smashing party afterwards, with copious barbecue and two bands. The Bay's favorite turning mark, the 'T' mark, has lost none of its luster over the years, and distracted sailors must pass it three times in the course of their race.

The most distracting mark on the Bay. ©2010 norcalsailing.com

The sailors aboard the Triton Viking appreciated the efforts of the T mark volunteers. ©2010 norcalsailing.com

The fog pulled back in plenty of time; sunshine and flat water prevailed. The mild breeze and strong flood made it a tactical race. On the second T mark rounding, the two Santana 35s, Spirit of Elvis and Breakout, split jibes, diverging by 45 degrees. Elvis maintained their lead over Breakout.

The two Santana 35s were hip and hip at the first mark rounding, but Spirit of Elvis stretched out a lead over Breakout. ©2010 norcalsailing.com

The healthiest one design fleets were the Tritons and Ranger 23s. A Wylie Wabbit, mywifetoldmenottobuythisboat, was first to finish; a Pearson Commander, Mephisto Cat, corrected out first overall. The 'big' boats (everyone but Lasers) had one long race; while Laser dinghies had two shorter ones.

The lone Wabbit was first to finish, and corrected out fifth in the large PHRF Spinnaker division, which was won by the Olson 25 Shadowfax. ©2010 norcalsailing.com

Among the Laser sailors was Tracy Usher. He's from the St. Francis YC and races in the Masters. "Not a lot of Lasers came out today because of the upcoming race at the Gorge in Oregon. In fact, I'm loading up and heading out tomorrow." The race Tracy is referring to is the Laser Gorge Blowout on the 22nd.

"The Plastic Classic invited Lasers starting in 2006 while they were hosting the Masters," said Tracy. "They included the Lasers because we were here anyway. The racing today was a lot of fun but very tactical. With the light winds and big current it made for a long day. And mixing it up with the big boats was interesting."

The flat water was nice for the Lasers, but the current was challenging. ©2010 norcalsailing.com

Fellow Frisco Laser sailor Terry Palu was late to the start of the first race. "The current was strong, but I was playing it and doing really well. It was a bummer - at the end I got pinned behind some big boats." He came back to the club after the first of two races, because he said he preferred a burger, a beer and a bathroom break to another "45-minute tour of the Bay."

The Concours d'Elegance is a dockside beauty contest - for boats, not T mark volunteers. This year, Robert Crawford brought over his Cal 20 Black Feathers, veteran of the 2008 Singlehanded TransPac. Black Feathers was a shoo-in for 'Easiest to Singlehand'.

The race itself is now a classic and the funky boat club is holding its ground as a waterfront classic, a stark contrast to the sterile new development surrounding it. For complete results, see www.plasticclassic.com.

Paul Harris's International Folkboat Wind Song was a winner last year but mid-fleet this year. ©2010 norcalsailing.com

L-r: Cape Hudson; Brigadoon, a Blackwatch 37; and Cape Horn. Only one of these boats was racing. ©2010 norcalsailing.com

All is chill aboard the Ranger 23 Crazy Horse. ©2010 norcalsailing.com