April 16, 2014

On April 12-13, it seemed as if summer had arrived a tad early. Fog in the morning, strong breezes, steady wind direction, lumpy seas, sunshine  – all the usual summer ingredients were on hand for the sailors in Berkeley Yacht Club’s 42nd annual Rollo Wheeler Regatta. 

Buoy races were held on Saturday, and Sunday was the pursuit race. The Saturday event is divided into two groups, each group vying for a venerable perpetual trophy. By having two groups, a large rating spread can be accommodated. Faster-rated boats can be given longer courses than their slower-rated cousins.

The Wheeler group this year consisted of four of the faster divisions, with 27 boats racing in the deep waters of central San Francisco Bay. Two windward/leeward 7.2-mile races were run, using Harding as the windward mark. The strong ebb and brisk breezes allowed the boats to practice a variety of tactics. Some were even able to practice unusual spinnaker take-down methods.

John Clauser’s 1D 48 Bodacious+ won Division A, second went to Bryce Griffith on his Antrim 27 Arch Angel, and third went to Frank Morrow’s IMX-38 Hawkeye. Bill Bridge’s Golden Moon led the Express 37s, second went to Jack Peurach’s Elan, and Bob Harford’s Stewball snagged third. In Division C, Andy Newell’s Santana 35 Ahi got first, George Ellison’s Schumacher 30 Shameless grabbed second and third went to Bob Waldon’s Cal 39 Sea Star. Tim Russell's Weckless led the Wylie Wabbits, John Groen’s Mr. McGregor got second, and Colin Moore on Kwazy got third.

But the day overall belonged to Wabbits. When the four divisions were scored together with no division breaks, the top four in both races went to the Wabbits, and the overall Wheeler trophy went to Weckless. (Some practice headlines? “Wabbits Wuled the Wheeler” or maybe “Wheeler Won by a Weckless Wabbit”?)

Simultaneously, the City of Berkeley group, consisting of two divisions, raced three shorter courses on the Olympic Circle. Their third race finished in front of the yacht club, and thus this group got to the free margaritas and other tasty morsels first. Tony Castruccio’s J/30 Wind Speed dominated Division E with three firsts. Second place went to Falk Meissner’s Olson 25 Shark On Bluegrass, and Robert Schock’s Newport 30 Achates took third. The seven Santana 22s were also dominated by a boat with three firsts. Jan Grygier’s Carlos claimed that honor, second went to Deb Fehr on Meliki, and third went to Garth Copenhaver’s Oreo. It was close for the overall City of Berkeley trophy, and only one point separated first and second. Congratulations to Jan Grygier and Carlos.

The next day was the pursuit race. Again, we had the nice breezes and summer-like conditions. The course went from FOC on the Berkeley Circle, to Harding Rock, then to Blossom Rock, then down to a turning mark .75 miles leeward of FOC, the finish. And guess what? Wabbits wuv weaches.  Colin Moore on Kwazy along with two new crew had a wonderful romp around the course to take the day. Chasing after them and only 1 minute 21 seconds behind was Richard Courcier’s bright red Farr 36 Wicked.  Bodacious+ came in third.

The Wicked crew had smiles and waves for the race committee. ©2014 Rachel Butler

It was a fine, fine weekend – a lovely sample of the summer to come on San Francisco Bay. See complete results at www.berkeleyyc.org.

– Bobbi Tosse, Berkeley YC