race report
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 Tuna on the run under foggy skies on Sunday. ©2013 norcalsailing.com |
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Santana 22 Nationals
July 15, 2013 Last weekend's Santana 22 Nationals at Richmond YC started out with a very healthy fleet of 20 boats. By the time the five races were done, the fleet was little the worse for wear.
On Saturday, they sailed three races on the north Olympic Circle, with all double-sausage drop-mark courses. The wind built from 20 knots at the first start to the mid-twenties, and surprisingly lumpy water given the flood tide. "We were soaked before the first start," commented David Ross, crew on Deb Fehr's Meli'ki. The first race progressed without major incident, and Michael Andrews' Encinal YC-based Bonito scored their first bullet. The troubles started in the second race.
Frank Lawler's Sausalito-based Tackful lost their whisker pole overboard and decided to sit out the third race. Jan Grygier's Carlos was leading at the top mark. One of the crew slipped and bent her fingers back, incurring what was probably a bad sprain and hopefully not broken fingers. They continued racing, but interefered with Bonito and had to a 720 to exhonorate themselves. Things got worse in the third race for Carlos, when they jibed on the downwind leg. Jan thought maybe the vang was on too tight – that's where the boom snapped, ending their regatta. The bright side: Jan loaned Frank Carlos's whisker pole so that Tackful would be able to race on Sunday, and Jan joined Megan Dwyer's Mad Max crew for the second day of racing. Mad Max had a crew member with the most painful of the day's injuries: a major back spasm. It was a long time waiting for the Ibuprofen to kick in before he could even crawl off the boat. His wife picked him up and took him to the hospital. The lost whisker pole and even boom paled in comparison to what Pueo lost at the start of the third race. Rob Macfarlane was driving girlfriend Kristen Sotebier's boat. "It was the first tack of the third start. We were talking through the tack. I looked back and saw this trapezoid shape floating away from the boat." He realized that the tiller was no longer doing anything, and that it was the rudder that had separated from the boat, which completed the tack on its own, suddenly pitching Kristen onto the low side, where she hung on, getting soaked and bruised. "The crash boat dragged our sorry boat in," she said. With no steerage, the tow in itself was nerve-wracking.
During a jibe on Jennifer McKenna's Zingaro, the main came over hard and fast and the foredeck crew lost his balance. He did what he called a "backward swan" and was heard to utter, "Oh dear." The Scottish bowman says he swims in the Bay for fun. "The water was balmy. I recommend it." The boat sailed away from him, and the other two crew tried to go back and get him, but he was rescued by Erik Simonson, whose RIB photoboat, Red Snapper, has a boarding ladder. Erik also rescued Zingaro's whisker pole, which had gone overboard as well. With mayhem in their wake, Bonito stayed out of trouble and managed score another two bullets.
The crew on the last place finisher in Race 3, Leah Pepe's Kelly Shawn, was thrilled with their accomplishments. "We scored on five counts. 1. Nothing broke. 2. No one was hurt. 3. No fouls. 4. No crew overboard. 5. Finished all 3 races."
Sunday's wind never climbed out of the teens, but the more moderate conditions seemed to switch up the gears from survival mode to full-on aggressive competition. Two collisions (and protests) were reported, one of them serious, but no injuries. Although everyone behaved themselves on Saturday, there were several over-earlies on Sunday, including the one that put paid to Bonito's first place. In the first race on Sunday, Bonito had a big knock and the high side suddenly became the low side. Skipper Michael Andrews and his 11-year old son Jonathan both fell overboard. Michael still had a hand on the tiller, but Jonathan was drifting away, so he let go of the boat to stay with his son. "Knowing the competence of the remaining crew, I swam over to Jonathan and we had a little chat." Fortunately they had four onboard, so two were still on the boat to recover them. They climbed back aboard over the transom cutout, and continued on to finish that race in fifth place, but after their OCS in the last race they would have to settle for second place in the regatta. First place went to Garth Copenhaver, sailing his second year on Oreo. The Richmond-based boat is now leading both the Santana 22 White Sails Series and the Spinnaker Series (the National Championship is sailed under white sails only). Coming in third was Chris Klein with Alegre. Full results are available at www.richmondyc.org. For more on Fleet 1, see www.santana22.com. Our photo gallery and slideshow is posted now too.
Co-fleet captain Jennifer McKenna observed that, "Being around so many other boats at the marks is exciting and exhilirating but it will shake you up. It's cool and fun but stressful at the same time."
On August 3-4, Tunas will converge on Santanarama at Stillwater Cove YC in Pebble Beach, which promises a barbecue on the beach, games, and a hoist. PHRF racing allows boats to fly spinnakers if they want. Co-fleet captain Anna Alderkamp of Byte Size called it, "The most fun I've had on a Santana 22. Bring a net."
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