Berkeley YC Midwinters

February 11, 2013

Wow! February 9-10 was another gorgeous weekend! Once again we were treated to sunshine and mild temperatures. A tad more wind would have been like icing on the cake. (I confess, it’s a bit tacky to complain about the weather while our fellow citizens around the U.S. are buried in snow and blizzards.)

We saw 50 starters and finishers on Saturday. All but the two lower-rated divisions were given a full eight miles. Those two mentioned were given a four-mile course. Most racers were thus able to enjoy almost two hours of that nice gentle sunshine.

Twenty-three boats came out for the Sunday event. After a 50-minute postponement, the full 8-mile course was called for all five divisions. This proved to be too long a course for the prevailing wind, and we shortened the course after only five miles. Again, two hours seemed to be the average time, and we heard no complaints about the short course.

February concludes the 2012-13 series. All that remains is the upcoming Champion of Champion/Trophy Winners Race on February 24. At this event, all the first place winners of all the divisions, both Saturday and Sunday, meet to determined who is the fastest of them all. Also, in order to provide even more reasons to go sailing, we gather all the second place winners in one start and all the third place winners in a third start. At a suggestion from Will Paxton, new this year is that a Saturday first place is ineligible for a Winner’s place slot from Sunday also. This new rule means that in the Express 27 fleet, Motorcycle Irene's Sunday first place will be represented by the Sunday 2nd place winner Dianne. In the Olson 30 fleet, Hoot's Sunday first place slot goes to Chaos. 

After the race, all the winners adjourn to Berkeley Yacht Club for free munchies and the trophy presentation, while enjoying the view of the sun setting under Golden Gate Bridge.

The results can be found at www.berkeleyyc.org.

- respectfully submitted, Bobbi Tosse, BYC Race Committee person

*Actually, this is Express 27 Elise's trimmer Michael Sowa modeling the latest in après-race gear.