Leukemia Cup

October 3, 2011

It is for a good cause, but it was still the racing that brought them out on Sunday for the Leukemia Cup, hosted by San Francisco YC. Sixty-eight boats started with a big variety of boats including the new kid Farr 400 (born 2011) and the old schooner Yankee (born in 1906 but she still looks great). The rest were a timeline of designs that have sailed the Bay throughout the years.

Yankee started but wasn't able to finish in the light winds. Note the vintage race committee boat. ©2011 norcalsailing.com

The noon start next to Pt. Knox saw plenty of sunshine but with high clouds reminding everyone that rain was just around the corner, and with just a wisp of fog at the Gate to let the racers know they might get light winds.

With a little bit of fog creeping in the Gate, the wind picked up speed on the way to Yellow Bluff. ©2011 norcalsailing.com

The Nothing Ventured crew did get to enjoy the thrill of hiking out on a Melges 24 for at least a little while. ©2011 norcalsailing.com

The race committee set up short courses mimicking a windward-leeward layout with fixed marks and a finish in Raccoon Strait just west of Elephant Rock. Although there was never enough wind to get the big light boats up and running like in summer, they had enough breeze to fight the flood and even the little slow boats got around the course with plenty of daylight left. Yes, all was well in the North Bay sailing world until a hole of death in Raccoon Strait.

Assessing the situation at Elephant Rock aboard John Wimer's J/120 Desdemona. ©2011 norcalsailing.com

Everyone agreed the course selection was good, but with the fickle winds right at the finish and a big flood current a lot of frustrated racers saw their lead whittled down to nothing in the last 100 yards.

The Cal 20 Can O'Whoopass hits the wall. Of boats. ©2011 norcalsailing.com

"Well, for this day I don't think it was us that did wrong," said Paul Sutchek, crew on Richard vonEhrenkrook's Cal 20 Can O' Whoopass. "Sometimes the tides and low winds just don't work for slow boats. That also shows in the division standings as every slower boat except one finished in line according to rating. It's all good though ya know!"

Trig Liljestrand's J/90 Ragtime heads for the finish line. ©2011 norcalsailing.com

Just before the first boat was to finish, the RC contemplated moving the whole line out of the hole and into the wind, but that plan was thwarted by the Farr 400 finishing too early to accomplish the logistics, so all the rest had to suffer. The RC did mercifully shorten the course for the last divisions, thus averting a mass DNF cluster.

One trick to keep moving was douse late. Left to right: Desdemona, Eight Ball and Recidivist round the Elephant Rock mark. ©2011 norcalsailing.com

But was it worth it? Tina Lundh on the other Cal 20 Fjording sums it up nicely. "We ended up second place in Division 8 Non-Spinnaker. A Santana 22 had waterline advantage in the light air from Little Harding to Elephant Rock. A fun day racing with friends, and I was met on the dock by family, which included my young niece and nephew. They were so excited to come sailing that I almost has to pry them off the boat! And we raised $7,015 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society!" That's big money for a 20-ft waterline.

Tina Lundh's Cal 20 Fjording sailed non-spinnaker. ©2011 norcalsailing.com

For more information on the Leukemia Cup, see www.leukemiacup.org/sf. For results, see www.sfyc.org.

This is how you get to the club after you finish on your Bird. The only one of the flock to race was Grey Goose. ©2011 norcalsailing.com