race report
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 The Knarr fleet winds up for their start in Saturday's GGYC Midwinter. ©2015 norcalsailing.com |
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Seaweed Soup #4
February 8, 2015 February's Golden Gate Yacht Club Manuel Fagundes Seaweed Soup Regatta race #4 fielded 55 boats that started in an optimistic low-double-digit SSE wind with Blackaller Buoy as the first mark. The wind speed held for the first four divisions and then began to drop into single digits and oscillate between SSW and SSE. Many spinnakers blossomed on the first leg while other boats stuck with white sails in what became a series of running and reaching segments into the building 1.7-knot flood.
The PHRF fleets and Catalina 34s rounded Blackaller and headed for Harding Rock, with the earlier fleets able to carry their chutes, but later fleets changing down to white sails. Late arrivers at Blackaller were stuck in a wind hole while earlier arrivals enjoyed a brisk close reach toward Harding Rock until their wind also tapered off about halfway across. Both speed and direction were aided by the 12:24 1.7-knot flood. The four largest PHRF fleets sailed back and forth twice between Harding Rock and Ft. Mason before finishing, while the smaller PHRF fleet and Catalinas finished after a single rounding at Ft. Mason.
In the meantime, the Knarrs and Folkboats sailed a more or less windward/leeward two-lap course using Blackaller and a temporary mark near Aquatic Park. They did not enjoy as much wind since the southerly breeze was blocked by San Francisco's skyline.
The first boats to finish hoisted chutes for the short Ft. Mason to X (finish) leg, but later boats found themselves beating into a developing SW wind, which finally clocked around to NW and built into the mid-teens. All in all it was an interested exercise in wind direction and speed. Full results are available at www.ggyc.org. — Pat Broderick
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