Splintered Wood

October 17, 2010

This weekend was a busy one on the main Bay, with St. Francis YC running more than its share of races on the Cityfront and beyond. Among the events was the Albert T. Simpson Sportboat Regatta for Express 27s, Etchells, IODs and Wylie Wabbits (their Nationals). Two of the International One Designs, classic racers from the wooden boat era, did not have a nice day today. The two boats pictured here, Ron Young's Youngster (blue bottom), and John Wright's Stark Terror (red bottom), both out of San Francisco YC, got caught in a crossing situation.

Youngster rides up on Stark Terror's gunwhale. ©2010 Sergei Zavarin/http://ultimate-yachtshots.smugmug.com

Photographer Sergei Zavarin explains that Stark Terror (#75, but sailing with 85's main) was on port and was hit by Youngster, #82, which was bearing off while on starboard.

The two boats separate, and the gash in Stark Terror's gunwhale is visible. ©2010 Sergei Zavarin/http://ultimate-yachtshots.smugmug.com

Neither skipper was in a position to win the series at the time of the collision, but we wish them both well with restoring their boats to their previous sound good looks. The top finishers were: IOD, James Hennefer's La Paloma; Etchells, Bill Melbostad's JR; and Express 27, John Rivlin's Peaches. The Express 27 fleet was somewhat split, as five of them raced in the singlehanded-doublehanded Vallejo 1-2, and eight in the fully crewed Simpson. We'll have a complete report on the Vallejo 1-2 soon. In the Wylie Wabbit Nationals, Tim Russell's very successful Weckless has won the championship after three days of racing.

The results for all the St. Francis YC races this weekend can be found at www.stfyc.com.