Like last year, the middle Saturday in October this year saw a multitude of races in a small bit of Bay. The St. Francis Yacht Club has almost only itself to blame for scheduling so many diverse races on the same weekend - but the YRA throws in the Champion of Champions and Yankee Cup for good measure. Add Sausalito and Berkeley YC races to the mix, and we were all connected, as you’ll see if you read on.

The fog came and went, and foghorns struck up a duet, with the Golden Gate Bridge singing bass and Alcatraz baritone, sometimes joined by the horns of ships coming and going. But sun shone on most of the racers most of the time, and the wind built from nothing with a strong flood (which postponed the first of three YRA races) to a westerly fluctuating in strength, with a strong ebb.

Over at St. Francis YC, the “yachts of traditional design and construction with a minimum of 30-ft on deck” in the Jessica Cup had their starts and finishes off the race deck, two on Saturday and one on Sunday. Two one design classes fielded entries: Farallon Clippers, won by Don Taylor’s VIP, and Lapworth 36s, won by David James’s Leda. Terry Klaus’s Brigadoon won the Gaff division, and Bob Rogers’ Sunda won the Marconis.

Meanwhile, ten Mercuries had four races in the Joe Logan Regatta, with Randy and Lauren Smith emerging victorious. The Star boats were also invited to race in the Calvin Paige, but failed to field a fleet.

Unlike last year, when the Finns mixed it up with all the keelboat fleets, St. Francis wisely put the Finn Pre-Gold Cup over on the Berkeley Circle. Ed Wright pounded the 16-boat fleet, garnering seven bullets in nine races over three days. Berkeley YC held their Oktoberfest pursuit race on Saturday, but their course was to round Alcatraz in either direction, not to race on the Circle. Vaughan Seifers’ Moore 24 Flying Tiger won that challenge. See www.berkeleyyc.org/racing/oktoberfest/index.html for the Oktoberfest; see www.stfyc.org for the Jessica Cup, Joe Logan and Finn Pre-Gold Cup.

Island YC ran Saturday’s races for the YRA, off the Golden Gate YC race deck. The three races for two divisions were a victory lap for the season winners and first runners-up. Each race had two starts, one for the HDA and Party Circuit champions, vying for the Yankee Cup, and one for the ODCA, racing for the Champion of Champions. Due to the light wind and strong flood, the race committee gave the fleet a short windward-leeward around Blackaller and Fort Mason Buoys for the first race. This was followed by a triangle, with Harding Rock the wing mark, then a longer triangle-sausage in good wind and a strong ebb. Jim Lindsay’s Tarten Ten Topgallant won the Yankee Cup, and Ralf Morgan’s Alerion Express 28 Ditzy is the new ODCA Champion of Champions. This was an invitational, with participants invited with only a couple of weeks’ notice, and about half didn’t show up for what was a really fun day of racing. For complete results and more, see www.yra.org.

While the YRA racers shared water with the Jessica Cup and the Mercuries, they shared the airwaves (VHF 71) with Sausalito YC’s last of three Twin Island races. The ‘twin islands’ in this case are Angel and Alcatraz, the latter of which was also used by Berkeley YC as previously mentioned - thus completing the circle of connectedness in Saturday’s racing on the Bay.

But wait - there’s more. Not to be left out, San Francisco YC held their Fall Classic Saturday on drop-mark courses near Treasure Island. Chris Hermann’s Thea won the Folkboat class with two second place finishes in two races, Rich and Mark Pearce’s Fjaer won the IODs with three bullets in three races, and Jon Perkins’ Fifty-fifty took the 18-boat Knarr fleet with two bullets in two races. For complete results, see www.sfyc.org. The Bird boats had been invited to both the Fall Classic and the Jessica Cup, but didn’t make it to either.