Things were pretty ugly out there on Saturday off of San Leandro and in the main shipping channel. When all was said and done it appeared the most fun of the day was the raft-up in the shallows off of the marina during the no-wind postponement.

There Torin of Jet Lag had numerous ‘suggestions’ as to what type of music to play on his Catalina 34 ‘sailing sound box’, as the classicists and rock 'n rollers competed for air time. Libations could have been flowing at that point but as the Chairman of the SBYRA I see and hear no evil.

Besides, the small-but-spirited crew over on Wired, dutifully checking in on the San Leandro Yacht Club race committee boat, was licking their chops over what appeared to be a real drifter of a day - perfect for a Choate 27 that only needs a tiny puff to move out smartly. And to think her skipper was worried he didn't have two more crew for rail meat!

Naturally Luther on Paradigm made comments during the postponement over VHF 71 about what an easy day Wired was going to have of it - and we even believed him - ‘psyched again’ by our nemesis captain and feeling way too smug for our britches before the race even began. Well, Summer #5 finally got underway at 1245 hours as the wind went from nada to ten knots or so in about ten minutes as the frivolous rafters scrambled over to the start-finish line.

There probably most of us thought we'd be headed out to Marker 6 or 4 in the main shipping channel, but we were in for a surprise. The RC instead gleefully sent us on a reach down to Marker 8 in a 4+ knot flood even after Captain Hu on Mist gently questioned the wisdom of such a transit.  Unfortunately, that's about as much commentary as I can shed on the race itself. Ahem. (Note the writer's self-effacing tone here). Wired was so far back from Mist (Beneteau First 38) and Paradigm (J/32) as the little boat flew her #3 and double-reefed main most of the afternoon in what felt like winds in the 20 range with gusts over 25. The waves were so high that the Choate spent most of her afternoon in first gear (stop-start, stop-start, etc.) except for the spinny run from Marker 3 to "A" near the San Leandro channel.

After well over 13.5 miles of sailing, Paradigm edged Mist (Robert and Keith) by a mere 13 seconds in real time in the Spinnaker Division. Nice work guys.

Paul McCarthy on his Wylie 34 Lucky Duck took third place 4:40 minutes later - even after his traveler had exploded just before the start of the afternoon's festivities. Nice jury-rigging Paul!

Over in the Non-Spinnaker Division Rob Hutchinson on Osprey (C&C 35) soundly trounced the Swansons on their Islander 36 Zingara along with Jack on his Catalina 42 Mk II Vita e Bella. Rob had help from Dave Few (and perhaps others) who looked like a wet puppy back at the marina. It appeared like most of Dave's afternoon was spent under water - as it was for most of us. 

In all fairness to Steve and Jocelyn on Zingara, they were racing with a ripped jib, were totally soaked, and had trouble finding Channel Marker 3 after making their way up from #8. Several other racers found themselves in the same predicament.

The never-say-die guys Alan and Mark (x-Spirit) had their new toy on the race course for the first time - an Ericson RH 36 named Sweet Grapes. The guys took fourth and, of course, never gave up. They were even spotted going daysailing on Sunday and not looking the worse for wear from the day before. What troopers.

However the gutsiest person on the race course that afternoon had to be Paul Zell on Sparky. He singlehanded his Catalina 25 OB out there and spent almost 3.5 hours fighting through the steep chop and wild winds. Way to go Paul for your fourth-place finish - or just for finishing period!

After the finish, Torin Knorr reported 32-knot winds on his way back to Coyote Point. However I guess the folks on Jet Lag didn't let that deter them from more sailing that afternoon, as I noticed the Catalina 34 making its way back out of the marina around 1800 with what looked like a group of tourists. Was this just a "family and friends" chardonnay cruise or was Torin using his six-pack license to generate funds in a slow economy?

Meanwhile, back at the committee boat, the boys and girls sipping cocktails had a rather rude afternoon of it with five to six-foot waves slashing over the top of the RC boat. It was even tricky for them to retrieve the race markers afterwards. Thank you Dale Snearly and your comrades from San Leandro YC for enduring a non-Newport Beach afternoon.

I look forward to seeing you hardy survivors at SBYRA Summer #6 off of Coyote Point on September 6 - the Saturday following Labor Day Weekend.

- Larry Westland, South Bay Yacht Racing Association

For more on SBYRA racing, see http://sbyra.home.comcast.net/~sbyra/