Another Cup O' Soup

March 4, 2013

"Nash-Easom-Easom-Nash" has a nice symmetry to it. Those are the overall winners of the last four Manuel Fagundes Seaweed Soup Regattas, aka Golden Gate Yacht Club Midwinters. Gordie Nash's (extremely modified) Santana 27 Arcadia won the Cup in 2010. Scott Easom's Farr 30 Eight Ball won in 2011 and 2012. And now the Cup is back in the hands of the Arcadians. (Well, not exactly in their hands; we'll get to that.)

Hanging out on Arcadia. ©2013 norcalsailing.com

"Gordie's a good skipper," said Arcadia's trimmer, Carl Bailey, "because he's quiet, calm, and goes really fast." Gordie gives his crew all the credit.

Arcadia had a perfect score: five bullets in five races. The race has one throw-out, so they had to discard one of their first place scores. Basically, they didn't even have to show up in March and they already had PHRF 4 and the overall victory nailed. But they did bother to race, and once again they smoked their fleet and got the gun. After the throw-out, one other boat had a perfect score: Frank Morrow's IMX-39 Hawkeye, which sailed in PHRF 3. Hawkeye's throw-out was a second place. What determines the winner of the perpetual trophy in the event of a tie for points is the number of boats the winner beat, and PHRF 4 had more boats racing (15) then PHRF 3 (12).

Arcadia's crew (l-r). Seated: Gordon Lyon, midshipman; and David Bacci, "I do whatever I'm told." Standing: Ryan Bailey, bow; Gordie Nash, skipper; Ruth Suzuki, who sailed in all but the March race; and Ryan's dad, Carl Bailey, trimmer. ©2013 norcalsailing.com

Before your eyes glaze over from all the facts and figures, we'll tell you a little about Saturday's final race. After almost two hours of postponement, it was the racers' eyes that were glazing over, especially those who took the opportunity to consume their crew lunches, cookies and beer. They waited in various degrees of resignation or frustration as the steady easterly built from four knots to eight or nine knots, plenty for even the most plodding designs. "What are they waiting for?" asked one crew member rhetorically. "For the wind to shut down," said another, who wasn't far wrong.

Paul Manning's IOD Xarifa waits out the postponement. ©2013 norcalsailing.com

The easterly did die, and was replaced by the expected westerly, which also filled in to about nine knots. Now, with the wind from the correct direction, racing could begin. The race committee sent most divisions on a twice-around windward-leeward course, and the Knarrs and Folkboats on a once-around. The wind built to the low teens before softening just a bit, and soon the race crews were back in the clubhouse enjoying the free food (paid for by the skippers' entry fees), and the awards ceremony.

Tony Pohl's Farr 40 Twisted had the added challenge of sailing through St. Francis YC's Team Race 101. ©2013 norcalsailing.com

The first, second, and third place winners of each division were given embroidered fleece blankets, a nice diversion from plaques, which are useful for bragging rights but won't keep you warm on a cold night. New this year: the Seaweed Soup trophy is showing its age after 42 years of knocking about various yacht clubs, and will retire to its home club. In its place, Gordie Nash was given a keeper trophy, a beautiful silver bowl along the same general lines as the perpetual, but of a more practical size. Race Chair Gary Salvo explained that the perpetual was getting banged around in its travels. "Larry's getting tired of paying to have it renewed," he joked. Larry's other silver trophy did not make an appearance this year.

You can check out all the results at www.ggyc.org.