The last hurrah of last week’s heatwave, Friday evening promised a rare sail on the Bay without foulies, and maybe a bit of breeze in the usual places for the Corinthian beer can racers. We’d imagine most of the race was like that for almost all of the racers.

Despite the calm conditions in Belvedere Cove, a loud crunch could be heard during the pre-start maneuvering for Non-Spinnaker 1. The J/35 Jarlen, on starboard tack, took a blow by Salient, a port-tack Cal 39 coming head-on, along her starboard rail. Jarlen’s hefty stanchions were bent like twigs and her lifeline broken. After seeing that the damage to the hull itself appeared to be superficial and the crew not reporting any immediate injuries, Jarlen went ahead and raced. Salient dropped out.

Some confusion ensued at during the post-race wait for results, as a rumor went around that the race deck numeral boards for the course had been put up backwards and should have read 21 instead of 12. The momentary nervousness passed as results were announced and top finishers added to their glass collection. The Corinthian continues to have a fun Friday Night series, despite this week’s freak collision. See www.cyc.org/race/friday.html for more.