June 23, 2014

The old adage that goes like this: "If there are two sailboats close to each other then it's a race." This year's Stockton Sailing Club South Tower Race was down to two boats. As the Delta Ditch Run gains favor this classic marathon lingers on (at least for now.) The race starts off of the SSC clubhouse on the San Joaquin River. The windward mark is Blackaller buoy near the South Tower of the Golden Gate Bridge, followed by a return to the finish back at SSC.

The start, with Mad Dog to windward of Purrfection. ©2014 Marvin E. McDougal, Sr.

It was cat vs. dog in the match which started on Friday and finished on Saturday. The two boats were Dana Badley's Purrfection, a Nonsuch 30 (cat rig), and Mike Little's Mad Dog an Olson 30 – two 30-footers but totally different designs. Although the Olson has an edge with the ability to keep moving in light wind and scoot downwind compared to the heavier Nonsuch, the final result was showed the simple cat rig and steady pace of the tortoise won the day over the hare.

The crew of Purrfection. ©2014 Marvin E. McDougal, Sr.

The crew of Mad Dog. ©2014 Marvin E. McDougal, Sr.

Crew Charles Sanford related some of the troubles on Mad Dog. "Things got messy at night in San Pablo Bay with winds gusting over 30. We had opposing tide, and the chop was severe. There was no moon to see by, so Mike Little taped a flashlight to the backstay to illuminate the wind indicator. The water and wind noise was so loud we had to shout to each other when we were just a foot or two away. This went on for hours." Getting in and out of San Pablo Bay to the City has always has its challenges, but darkness and heavy wind add to the mayhem.

"We rounded the buoy at the South Tower of the Bay Bridge at 3:41 a.m. in flukey, light winds and so tired we didn't set the chute for half an hour until near the southeast tip of Angel Island," continued Charles. "The winds remained light. We would be headed, drop the chute, raise the 130, drop it, raise the chute, etc.

"The wind demons came back in Suisun Bay where we had that awesome chop, winds steady in the mid-twenties with higher gusts – perfect conditions for the Olson! We hit many 11s and 12s with one 13.1... Then, the guy blew off the cleat. It whipped through the cars and wrapped into two half-hitches around the shroud and spreader. The chute, now tied to the spreader, swung to the left, and pulled the boat over on her side with the mast tip in the water. This maybe took a second. With the boom and mainsail floating in the water, one of the crew opted to do a controlled fall onto the sail and put a bear hug on the boom. Two of us were standing on the side of the cockpit and holding on to the life line stanchions. The boat came up twice and was yanked back over each time by the chute, which was still partially flying and dragging us sideways through the water. On the third righting the bow came into the wind enough for the man on the boom to reach down and grab a winch on the cabin top to get back on the boat. We had blown the sheet to collapse the chute, but, now, it flew overhead like a large flag. We got it down after a bit, and I steered while Mike and Perry winched Marco up the mast – still running in chop with winds in the 20s – to untie the guy."

The long stretch to the finish can be frustrating after the exhilarating run through the bays. "The only bad part of the race was when the wind lightened, and the tired four of us spent the last six hours in flukey, ghosting conditions while huge power boats, unmuffled, roared by, their wakes collapsing the chute while the sun came overhead to raise ambient temperatures into the nineties, raising the unsheltered cockpit thermo to some horrid degree."

Purrfection finished second but corrected out over Mad Dog.
©2014 Marvin E. McDougal, Sr.

At the finish Purrfection was only a little under three hours behind Mad Dog and corrected out for the win. Perhaps they had a more comfortable time? This race is one of those rites of passage that the competitors talk about with pride but with a hint of, "What were we thinking?" And so how do you save one of the iconic NorCal races that stands toe to toe with the more popular yet tough long distance races like the Singlehanded Farallones?

See www.stocktonsc.org.