Tuesday Night in Sausalito

May 29, 2011

Everyone who walked into Sausalito Yacht Club last Tuesday had cold faces and cold hands. They called the Sunset Series race that evening, "squirrelly, tricky, shifty, puffy." No fog could be seen, not even beyond the Gate. Chuck Cihak of the J/105 Hazardous Waste described the conditions as 0-30, with 90-degree wind shifts. The race committee reported 20 knots of wind at the Little Harding start, which started to mellow out toward the finish, and the usual light and shifty area near Knox buoy, the leeward mark. They also report one collision and one blown spinnaker in this, the third race of the series.

J/105s Hazardous Waste (ahead) and Nimbus. ©2011 norcalsailing.com

Kaki Brystwa, Catherine Boucher, and Cathy Stierhoff on Tackful. ©2011 norcalsailing.com

A couple of ships sailed through the race course past Harding Rock on their way out to sea. The first of them, a Matson ship, was an issue for some of the racers. When the Santana 22 Tackful rounded Harding Rock, skipper Cathy Stierhoff said, "We'll take the ship's stern." But then they realized they'd would be crossing in front, with plenty of room to spare. The ship didn't sound any horns, although a Newport 30 got really close.

Tonnage rules: Homus, Josh Dvorson's Ericson 27, lets the commercial traffic go by. ©2011 norcalsailing.com

Cathy described the key factors in their win: "We were in a good position at the start, to windward of the other boats. It was still flooding, and the bigger boats went into the flood. We stayed to the right, where we found flood relief. I had a great crew - they were really on top of things. Kaki calls tactics; she has a feel for when to tack. This was Catherine's first time racing with us." Catherine also owns a Santana 22, in the City. "We had 25 knots, with no reef. I was not scared."

Nimbus, Pat Broderick's Wyliecat 30 Nancy and Ron Anderson's J/105 Streaker. ©2011 norcalsailing.com

The first race in the series was abandonned due to lack of wind. The second race had too much, resulting in carnage like torn sails. "I'm glad I didn't sail in that one," said Cathy.

They're Willin'. ©2011 norcalsailing.com

The series continues on June 7, with another race two weeks later, then a break until July 26, followed by two races in August and two more in September. Results are available at www.sausalitoyachtclub.org/racing/raceresults.