July 29, 2013

In June, Bears returned to Berkeley. "Friday evening was as good as it gets," wrote Berkeley YC fleet captain Patrick Hind-Smith about June 7's beer can race. They had a nice 15-18 knot breeze and lots of sunlight, "with a flood pushing our racers home well before the coals had cooled off on the grill. Seventeen racers crossed the line in three divisions, and, as usual, everyone was in the mood to get wet and close to the action.

David Gross's J/105 Nirvana tackes away to port at the start of June 7's race. ©2013 Sharon Hind-Smith

Bob Walden's Cal 34 Sea Star. ©2013 Sharon Hind-Smith

"Of particular interest is that we had three Bear class boats from Berkeley (Little Dipper, Panda and Renegade), which hopefully is a sign of good times to come for this iconic San Francisco Bay sailboat. I will reach out to bring the whole fleet over to BYC." Little Dipper won their eight-boat division.

Little Dipper has been sailing since 1946. ©2013 Sharon Hind-Smith

As the summer progressed, BYC's pictures of their Friday night races appear to get darker and darker, as the sunshine of June gave way to the fog of July. "The competition is hot!" said Patrick, and so are the coals on the barbie back at the club. The racers themselves, not so much. He described July 19's edition: "Blustery and wavy conditions with a nice July evening breeze to 20+ knots on the Berkeley Olympic Circle saw 13 boats to the start of what all said was a very wet ride. The committee boat agreed! The longer evenings and stiff breezes dictate medium to longer courses and we still get in with good coals on the grill."

The Olson 25 Balein on a fog-shrouded Friday night. ©2013 Sharon Hind-Smith

The crew on Diva, a Ranger 33 which won Div. 1 on July 19. ©2013 Sharon Hind-Smith

After 16 races (as of July 19), the following boats were leading their divisions:
Div. 1: Mad Max, Santana 22, Megan Dwyer
Div. 2: American Standard, Olson 25, Bob Gunion
Div. 3: Nirvana, J/105, David Gross

BYC's busy fleet captain, Patrick Hind-Smith, relaxes after the race. ©2013 Sharon Hind-Smith

The Friday night series continues through the end of September. For more on BYC's races, see www.berkeleyyc.org.

As twilight falls, Twilight Zone approaches the finish off the BYC deck. ©2013 Sharon Hind-Smith