While the fog never lifted for the SSS Corinthian Race on Saturday, at least the winds didn’t die. The day may have looked gloomy but the racers in seven singlehanded and six doublehanded divisions still had a good time.

John Lymberg on the Flying Tiger 10 Savage Beauty was one of them. “We nailed the start and rolled over a lot of boats ahead of us to the first mark. We were able to carry our chute all the way from Blackaller to Southampton. It was a fun run.”

The 61 starters saw consistent winds in the mid-teens to 25+ knots at the height of the race. The only thing making things uncomfortable was the slop around Pt. Blunt because of the ebb. It seemed like an easy course except for a new windward mark this year. Because of the missing Yellow Bluff buoy, which has been on walkabout for a while now, the course was shortened by a mile. Harding Rock became its replacement while Yellow Bluff is on vacation.

Mike Bruzzone, on the Express 27 Desperado, still had trouble figuring it out. “We were in second in the Sportboat fleet, and after rounding Southampton we went the wrong way around Angel Island (to the south, starboard) while the rest of the fleet including the first place boat went though Raccoon Strait and won.” The first place sportboat was fellow Express 27 sailor Steve Carroll on Tule Fog. “I shoulda coulda followed . . . Circumnavigating Angel Island was the right way to go on the last two legs: a shorter course, essentially two fetches, with more ebb through the strait to push you through.” But at least there was no need to figure out the tricky winds and currents around Yellow Bluff in Sausalito’s Hurricane Gulch - until next year.

Preliminary results are up for the SSS Corinthian Race at the Singlehanded Sailing Society’s website: www.sfbaysss.org. For more on the Corinthian Challenge for CYC members, see www.cyc.org/race/index.html#cyc.