Express 27 Nationals and More

September 13, 2010

The Express 27 Nationals were served up three very different Goldilocks days, partly by design and partly by chance. The courses varied by design; the conditions varied by chance. Hosted by Encinal YC on Friday-Sunday last weekend, the 16 competitors were sent on three windward-leeward races north of Treasure Island on Friday, an ocean romp out the Gate around Bonita buoy and back down the Estuary to Encinal for the finish on Saturday, and three more windward-leewards on Sunday, this time in the South Bay. The conditions ranged from perfect on Friday, too light on Saturday and too windy on Sunday. Erik Simonson's photos that follow were taken during Saturday's race out to the ocean.

Light'n Up sails out past the Marin Headlands. ©2010 Erik Simonson/http://pressure-drop.us

Eventual winner Motorcycle Irene reaches the turning mark. ©2010 Erik Simonson/http://pressure-drop.us

Wile E Coyote stretches out on the way back. ©2010 Erik Simonson/http://pressure-drop.us

Brendan Busch's Get Happy!! got second place. ©2010 Erik Simonson/http://pressure-drop.us

Friday started out light and built to pretty typical Bay conditions. The Bay was already ramping up for some even sunnier weather and lighter wind on Saturday. Then the fog returned and the Bay was back to her typical summertime wind in the high teens in time for Sunday's racing.

Consistent throughout the three days of racing was a very high high tide (6.5 feet at 1335 on Saturday) and a strong flood (3.9 knots at 1220 on Friday). Playing the flood was the game for all the racers on the Bay.

Motorcycle Irene beat her sisters in the long distance race on Saturday, and in the seven-race series. Complete results can be seen at http://express27.org and at www.encinal.org.

An Interclub regatta in the South Bay on Saturday featured light winds from the south and flat water for 25 boats. Results and series standings can be found at www.sfbama.org; for a photo gallery go here.

The OYRA Southern Cross ocean race endured a longer course on Saturday, and so were enveloped in the returning fog as they re-entered the Bay. The fog came in so dense and heavy as to make navigation by GPS critical. The fog cleared right at the Gate: the edge of the fog, the windiest place on the water, was right at the demonic South Tower. For results, see www.yra.org.

The Fall Classic for WBRA classes was hosted Saturday and Sunday by San Francisco YC. On Sunday they shared the Knox starting area with Sausalito YC, which was running the YRA Fall #3 race for HDA and ODCA fleets. The windiest part of the course for those fleets was Point Blunt buoy - the jibe mark. The wind on the southeast shore of Angel Island was wild: 30-knot gusts with 30-degree shifts. For results from the HDA/ODCA race(s), see www.yra.org. This wraps up the fall series for those two divisions. All that remains is the Party Circuit Season Closer on September 25-26.

The WBRA classes raced around inflatable marks and didn't venture east of Angel Island, but the two race committees shared a windward mark - an inflatable tetrahedron in the vicinity of the old Yellow Bluff buoy. The Folkboats had 11 boats, the IODs had 6, and the Knarrs numbered 17; the Bears and Birds stayed home. For results from the Fall Classic, see www.sfyc.org.