”Which way are you going to go?” was the burning question of the gray but dry morning. Much discussion about strategy preceded Saturday’s Three Bridge Fiasco, in which more than 200 single- and doublehanded racers start in either direction, take the marks in any order, and finish in either direction (regardless of the direction of their start).

“We had a good first part. We’ll find out when we see the score sheet for the second part,” said Nathan Bossett of his race with Nat Criou aboard the San Francisco-based Express 27 Elise. “When the wind died in Raccoon Strait, we lost track of everybody. We were in the counter-clockwise crowd, meaning Treasure Island first, Red Rock second, and Blackaller last.”

That sequence, with an eastbound start and finish, seemed to be the favored, and most successful, course for the 224 boats which competed in Saturday’s Three Bridge Fiasco, put on by the Singlehanded Sailing Society off the Golden Gate Yacht Club race deck.

Some opted to ‘knock off’ Blackaller first, then proceed to TI for a counter-clockwise course. “That adds three miles to the course,” said Mike Bruzzone of the Express 27 Desperado disapprovingly. The Express 27s and Moore 24s both count the Three Bridge as their season opener. Seventeen E27s and 39 Moore 24s signed up. A lot of entries may have been scared off by the previous day’s storm, however, as 80 of the 295 boats that were entered didn’t start.

Racers had winds at the start of about 12 knots from the southeast. Some competitors did opt for a westbound start, giving the line that unique ‘Fiasco’ look. A very experienced race committee led by Max Crittenden managed to keep track of everyone in the pursuit race. The handicaps are taken care of at the start, with the slowest boats starting first, and the remaining boats starting according to their PHRF. No sound signals are given after the first start; everyone is responsible for crossing the line at the correct moment according to a start times list. Over earlies don’t go back, but receive a 20-minute penalty.

The morning breeze was enough to require hiking out on tender boats, but racers soon found parking lots in Berkeley, Richmond, Raccoon Strait, and, at times, the finish line. At 12:20 the first DNF called in - John Foster’s BlueBerry ran out of wind. “The better boats to windward are walking away from me, so I’m also-ran. But you know, I’m having a great time. This little Nonsuch 22 goes like hell on a reach.”

“Where are you now?” asked the race committee on the VHF.

“I’m in the wrong bay between the oil pier and Point Richmond,” answered Foster. “For one brief and shining moment, I thought ‘Holy shit, what if they gave a race and nobody came,’ because there was no one behind me for a long time, and then all of a sudden I saw them converging on Red Rock through Raccoon Strait. And then I knew: I’m 100% over.”

About 45 minutes passed with no more DNFs. Around 1:10, the Coast Guard called to request that the race committee remind sailors that the Richmond Long Pier and its ships are restricted for 100 yards. Not long after, a batch of racers called in to drop out, led by Doug Storkovitch on the Andrews 56 Delicate Balance. “We just didn’t want to bounce off the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge,” said Doug. Hank Easom’s 8-Meter Yucca had to DNF as he needed to use his engine to get out of the mud.

Bill Erkelens, Jr.’s Mumm 30 The Word sailed counter-clockwise, taking Blackaller last, and came in first at about 2:40. Will Paxton’s Motorcycle Irene finished next at 2:45, followed closely by Andrew Schwenk’s Moore 24 Lowly Worm. Gordie Nash’s modified Santana 27 Arcadia finished soon after, then three more Moores and Sam McFadden’s Olson 30 Dragonsong.The first clockwise boat to finish was Bart Hackworth’s Moore 24 Gruntled. 168 boats finished in all.

Complete results are available at www.sfbaysss.org. The trophy meeting will be held on Wednesday, February 6, at 7:30 pm at Oakland YC in Alameda. All participants should come and pick up their shirts! Be sure to check out the photo gallery and the 16-minute movie. Steve Green also photographed the start and finish; you can view his photos at http://cid-16fa8d944f627867.spaces.live.com/default.aspx.