race report
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 Jeff McCord's N/M 36 Quiver reaches off west of Alcatraz during Sunday's pursuit race. ©2013 norcalsailing.com |
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Big Daddy Regatta March 11, 2013 The talk at the dock for Richmond Yacht Club's Big Daddy Regatta this weekend was all the same. "How could you get more perfect racing in March?" Saturday was buoy day on two courses set up near Shouthhampton Shoals and further south in the deep water outside of the Berkeley Pier. Three windward/leeward races were planned for each course and three races were delivered. The first race at the Deep Water course saw a light westerly requiring the big jib if you had it. As each race was completed the wind picked up more speed.
"We started with the number one for the first race, worked down to the number two and finally the three as the day progressed," said Bruce Nesbit of the Olson 34 Razzberries. The sunny skies were predicted, but not the wind that the racers experienced. "We were quite surprised how windy it was by the last race," said Tony Castruccio on the aptly named J/30 Wind Speed. By the last race the wind built to 18 knots. On both courses the race committee kept everyone busy by turning the boats around to the next race as soon as they finished. "We want the boats to be racing, that's what they're here for," said Chris Straub, whose El Toro Grande served as startline boat for the Southhampton course. Crews had to eat their sandwiches and get the boat ready for the next start quickly on Saturday.
On Sunday's pursuit race the weather stayed the same except for zero breeze at Southampton at the planned 1230 start. PRO Fred Paxton postponed the starts for ten minutes while the westerly creeped in. The course is around Angel and Alcatraz Islands any way you want with a finish off of the Richmond channel. 99% of the boats went clockwise to Alcatraz first. as that's where the wind was, and it ended up being an easy beat, reach and a run to the finish. One of the only snags was dodging the St. Francis YC's Spring Dinghy racers, whose course set up west of Alcatraz. The Big Daddy big boats on port did a good job staying out of the little boats' way.
Down the homestretch from Raccoon Strait to the finish can be an agonizing affair most years, as the wind drops and the current pushes you sideways. But this year the wind stayed around and out of the 101 boats that started 89 finished. Not bad for racing in March in Northern California.
The first six boats to finish were catamarans, led by Ian Klitza and the D-class cat Rocket 88.
In a new twist, 12 racers took 27 RYC juniors along for the ride on Sunday, a new tradition in the making. Among the hosts was Swiftsture II, Sy Kleinman's Schumacher 54, which was the first monohull to finish.
For complete results from both days, see www.richmondyc.org.
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