May 20, 2013

Racers this year's Singlehanded Farallones Race, run by the Singlehanded Sailing Society on Saturday, contended with a variety of conditions. "Like a Clint Eastwood movie, the race unreeled in segments: the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly," said Pat Broderick of the Wyliecat 30 Nancy. "The Good was getting into the ebb after the start and making the bridge in one long tack, then a series of tacks out to Pt. Bonita.

Jackie Philpott's Cal 2-27 Dura Mater about to clear Point Bonita after the start. ©2013 Sergei Zavarin/ultimate-yachtshots.smugmug.com

"The Bad and Ugly were reversed. Ugly began shortly after departing Point Bonita: short, steep, wind-blown waves. Crashing, bashing, dropping off the backside, spray (well, more than spray), and wind growing into the 20s."

The race started late with a one hour postponement, as the race committee had to leave the St. Francis Yacht Club race deck and hunker down off the rocks along the breakwater. "The insurance certificate didn't show up, so we couldn't start at the St. Francis," said SSS race chair Bob Johnstone. "Robbie Dean was as helpful as possible – helping me track down our agent in Illinois on a Saturday morning. It turned out he was racing and unavailable to help. We postponed, packed up and walked across to the GGYC, but they were painting the race deck."

Eventually the boats were sent off successfully, and with a nice ebb pushing them out the Gate all was well. But outside the Gate was a different story. Stephen Buckingham on the Black Soo Starbuck saw a little too much wind and waves on his way out to the islands. "It was a hate mission actually. I put in two reefs and hunkered down for the beat, and once around the Island all I could do was hand-steer as the swell was on the beam and the autopilot couldn't handle it."

The Beneteau First 42 Coyote in the rinse cycle near the islands. ©2013 Steve Hill

Almost all of the skippers coming back home didn't set spinankers as it was too windy and too tight of a reach. "A couple of times I steered with the waves to see what it's like and shot off. Max speed was 17 knots, but I would have ended up in Pacifica," said Stephen.

Of course the Wyliecats couldn't set if they wanted to, as they have no spinnaker, but Pat on Nancy was having a nice ride even with some gear problems. "Surfing down the swells, including the occasional big one, brought consistent surges up into the low teens on the GPS. The problem was at the bottom of some swells since the boat was moving faster than the sail. Slides popped out of the track. Since there are only six slides, half were now free. Does 'Ugly' have four letters?"

Even the monosail Wyliecats get spaghetti in the cockpit. ©2013 Pat Broderick

An interesting contrast between competitors is Singlehanded Farallones recidivist Stephen Buckingham and first-timer Jackie Philpott on her Cal 2-27 Dura Mater. Jackie didn't finish because of the conditions but is learning a lot from the SSS. "When I was coming back in there were big breaking waves and my wide-hipped boat was surfing down them. One wave washed over me from behind, half filling the cockpit and over the hatchboards. Thank you, race committee and thank you SSS for being full of such impressive sailing warriors. Yesterday was a real learning experience."

James Murphy's Santa Cruz 40 Void Star approaches the Golden Gate Bridge on the return leg. ©2013 norcalsailing.com

Back inside of Pt. Bonita the conditions moderated, and that is where we see a lovely scene of tranquil sailing under the Golden Gate on a beautiful afternoon. Deceiving isn't it?

Andy Hamilton's Moore 24 The Bar-Ba-Loot placed second in monohulls. ©2013 norcalsailing.com

See results at www.sfbaysss.org. The Singlehanded Farallones trophy meeting and the mandatory LongPac skippers meeting will be held on Wednesday, May 29, at Oakland YC at 1930 hours.