Elite Keel Regatta

May 21, 2012

San Francisco Yacht Club ran the two-day Elite Keel Regatta on the north side of the Olympic Circle course for Etchells, Express 27s, Open 5.70s, J/24s, International One Design Class, and Knarrs, in rather more wind than had been forecast. As new Open 5.70 owner Dave Peckham observed, "BTW, weatherman, 5-10 is not the same as 20-25!" (Go here for the complete story of Dave's adventures.)

The Express 27s Dianne and El Raton, with two Open 5.70s in the background. Ray Lotto and his El Raton crew won their class – as they often do. ©2012 norcalsailing.com

"The fleet of 10 Open 5.70s had a blast at the Elite Keel," said Marc Finot, whose Frolic came in second after Tom Baffico's The Maker. "20-25 knots. Very good surfing."

Bill Melbostad's JR was one of six Etchells. ©2012 norcalsailing.com

Nathalie Criou of the Express 27 Elise described the race: "Saturday was a little lighter, with the breeze building up as the day progressed, probably about 17 knots or so of wind. For the first race the E27 fleet was split in terms of headsail decision. We went with a #3 and we were underpowered, however, we were keeping up with some of the boats with a #1 who were at the top end of the sail toward the top half of the course. Because of the flood, our tactical call was to stay in shallow water as long as possible, then tack over to the mark in deeper water. A lot of layline calls were missed because of the current. The fleet was very compact both days finishing very close to each other – except for the third race when El Raton did a horizon job on everyone else."

John Rivlin's Peaches came in second in Express 27s. This regatta counts in their championship series. ©2012 norcalsailing.com

"Sunday was definitely on the heavy side with pretty large chop," said Nathalie. "I estimate one of the waves to be about four feet high, pretty uncommon on the Bay. The long upwind crawl called for very similar tactics." Elise had interesting last leeward mark rounding. "We had an Etchells coming on starboard tack at the gate and some confusion as to which gate mark each boat was going to. We ended up having to take their stern which seriously messed up our windward douse – but hey, we recovered and finished fine!"

Jason Holloway's Knarrly Boo, one of 15 Knarrs, the biggest class. ©2012 norcalsailing.com

Ron Young's IOD Youngster, one of five in their class, prepares to round a leeward gate mark. ©2012 norcalsailing.com

Val Lulevich's J/24 Shut Up and Drive hauls in their spinnaker. They placed second out of five boats after Richard Jepsen's Rail to Rail. ©2012 norcalsailing.com

For complete results, see www.sfyc.org.