race report
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 Suzanne Lee and crew aboard the Merit 25 Bandido. ©2013 norcalsailing.com |
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Windy Sadie February 25, 2013 A bright, sunny, calm morning awaited the competitors in Island Yacht Club's Sadie Hawkins Race. This race for women skippers and mixed gender crew is usually a nice mellow affair in the light winds and flat water of the Oakland Estuary. But this year, a brisk north wind came down the Estuary picked up velocity just in time for the start. With conflicting weather reports about Saturday's conditions from the National Weather Service, skippers made the decision to go with or without spinnaker at the last minute. Between the 1330 skippers meeting and the start at 1500 the wind ramped up to 18-20 knots, prompting some crews to tuck in reefs and choose small jibs.
The race deck is at the end of the dock in front of the club, and the pin is only fifty feet off of side-tied boats, so getting a good start is hard and not hitting a competitor or innocent bystander is even harder. The 20-knot puffs resulted in confusion and collisions, but, strangely, no yelling. A very experienced male racer, observing the start from the dock, commented, "That looked really scary!"
Gen DuLac, at the helm of George Lythcott's Express 27 Taz!!, started three times. First, the crew started with the spinnaker division. Realizing their mistake, they went back and started again with the non-spinnaker division. Only they were over early and had to go back and restart again. They managed to catch up with the division leader, the Laser 28 Stink Eye, and passed them at the last windward mark rounding. On the run approaching the last leeward mark, Stink Eye slid up behind them and parked on their wind, slowing them down, then squeezed by them at the mark rounding. The spinnaker fleet ran the twice-around long course with the windward mark off Jack London Square, while the non-spinnaker boats received a slightly shorter course but twice around also. This gave competitors plenty of time to pass or be passed in the quirky shifts and puffs. On the run some boats hugged the shore while others jibed down the middle. But in the end it was luck and being in the right place for the right puffs that made the difference.
The actual wind speed was debated back at the club, but most agreed it was more than they expected. Although the flat water of the Estuary made life easier, and the wind moderated a bit for the second lap, the crews looked cold and tired and ready for that drink at the bar and a bowl of hot chowder. George Lythcott handed out the trophies. "People traded smiles, people traded fiberglass," he commented. Awards for first and second place in each division consisted of a bottle of bubbly, a package of chocolates, and a bucket. Suzanne Lee on George Gurrola's Merit 25 Bandido was 36 seconds out of second place, which went to Lucie Mewes on the Black Soo Mirage, which was four minutes out of first, which went to Cinde Lou Delmas on the Alerion Express 38 Another Girl. "I've used a bucket my whole life!" she exclaimed. Later, she told the sailing media, "I had two hacks with me who were new to sailing, and they wore kilts, and I couldn't concentrate." Nevertheless, the bright green boat with the big roachy main won the Spinnaker Division without flying a spinnaker.
After the battle with the Laser 28, which rates the same, Taz!! finished a mere eight seconds out of second place in the Non-Spinnaker division. Deb Fehr's new-to-her Santana 22 Monkey Knife Fight (aka Meli'ki) smoked the two faster boats on corrected time and won by five minutes!
Full results will eventually be posted on www.iyc.org/racing.html.
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