SSS Wraps Up Their Season

Pictured above is the overall winner of the Vallejo 1-2 (singlehanded up from Richmond, doublehanded back). Sadly, Steve Katzman’s crew on the #0 Express 27 Dianne, Rob Mayberry, passed away of a heart attack two days after the duo achieved this feat in a fleet of 53 boats in difficult conditions, with winds and current inversely proportional to each other. “Rob drove the whole race back because I had the flu,” Katzman told us. Steve and Rob had sailed together since 1991, starting out in a Santana 20. A memorial for Mayberry was held on Friday, October 19, in Sacramento.

Winner of first place in the tiny Wyliecat 30 class was Bren Meyer, who sailed Uno doublehanded on Sunday with his 92-year-old dad. “He’s getting harder and harder to pin down for next year,” commented Meyer.

Trophies were given out at an awards presentation on Wednesday, October 17, at the Oakland Yacht Club, for the V1-2 (which is the last race of the SSS season), and for the entire season.

2007’s Singlehanded trophy winner Ben Mewes, with wife Lucie. ©2007 www.norcalsailing.com

Ben Mewes, who sails the Black Soo Mirage in Sportboats, gained the prize for Singlehanded Division. Ben thanked his wife Lucie, who “Let me use the boat this year.” He also expressed gratitude to Dan Alvarez, who looked like he might come out in first place with his Ericson 30+ Travieso, for DNFing (yes, that’s a verb) in the Vallejo 1.

The Bad Puddy Cats, Chris Lewis (left) and Matt Siddens. ©2007 www.norcalsailing.com

The best Doublehanded boat was a repeat performance by Matt Siddens’ C&C 37 Bad Puddy Cat, sailed again with crew Chris Lewis. Like the 49ers, can they three-peat? If so, it may be in a different boat. For a complete run-down of SSS results, see www.sfbaysss.org.

Ideas in the works for the 2008 season include restructuring the East Bay-Estuary Race to be “more racer-friendly, less of a bingo game,” and renaming the In-the-Bay Race.

The build-up will begin for next summer’s SSS TransPac (singlehanded from Tiburon to Hanalei Bay on Kauai) at the first seminar on Monday, October 22, at South Beach YC beginning at 6:30 pm. Besides a presentation on ‘Getting Started’, the audience will be treated to a screening of a video shot during the 1986 event. We plan to attend, and therefore will not post our weekend report until late Tuesday night. For more info on the SSS T-P seminars, see www.sfbaysss.org/TransPac/transpac2008/documents/seminar_schedule.htm. The 2008 race has one official entry so far: a Cal 20!

No Bull

This week’s edition of the El Toro email newsletter ‘Bull Session’, included the following comments from editor Gordie Nash, which he gave us permission to share with you. The scene was the Sequoia YC in Redwood City following the long distance Corkscrew Slough Regatta on October 13.

“I have never gathered at a round table with eight skippers of racing sailboats on the sun deck of a yacht club with two pitchers of beer and talked about a race course incident that could have escalated into an ugly, yelling and screaming protest committee ‘in the room’ scene. A very interesting, non-aggressive, soft-spoken discussion of a potential racing infraction was carefully discussed. After a while all the different ideas and rule interpretations where on the table. A rule book was not introduced into the airing of ideas that could have clouded the different ideas.

“After some time and another pitcher of beer, all nine sailors had heard and said enough. Shortly, a good, mutually agreeable, negotiated decision was made, and the trophies for first, second and third, and trophy for the sailor for whom this was the first Corkscrew race were ceremoniously slid across the table and presented to their rightful recipients.

“I’m proud of being part of the ‘high-class’ El Toro group that can race sailboats competitively with a joy of good close racing, a true feeling of staying out of trouble, and a knowledge of how the rules work.

“Oh yes, and there was a great race because the weather was ideal for El Toros. Warm sun, flat water, interesting course, moderate wind shifts, and winds in the 6-10 knot range. John Palcholski was able to get away from Gordie on the last run to the finish line after a long 2 1/2 hour battle upwind and down with the two boats trading the lead four times. Dennis Silva and Chris Straub had another two-boat match, with Chris mostly ahead until the last corner and the run to the finish. Fred Paxton, Skip Shapiro and Art Lange had a three-boat see-saw race for fifth until the last big bend of the slough where Fred pulled out a small lead that he held to the finish line.”

For more on El Toro doings, see www.eltoroyra.org. We welcome reports like this one. They can be send to us by email (photos too!). We’ll have coverage of this weekend’s racing in a couple of days, so see you then.