The midwinter season is really in high gear now, with three separate series on adjacent race courses on the same day, this past Saturday. We covered the Encinal YC’s Jack Frost on the previous page; here we take a quick look at the RegattaPRO One Design Midwinters, and hear a bit about the Berkeley YC’s weekend.

Fourteen Moore 24s, seven Melges 24s, and five J/24s showed up for the first two races of the RegattaPRO midwinter series for one design fleets. They’re not just for 24-footers, as nine J/105s and seven J/120s also made the scene. Run by Jeff Zarwell independent of any yacht club or association, this series features drop-mark courses and two-race days in the area north of Treasure Island and southwest of the Berkeley Circle. The racers enjoyed fine weather on Saturday, with 10-12 knots of breeze and lovely flat water. Since they didn’t have races on Sunday, they didn’t suffer the long wait for wind that the Berkeley YC racers did.

The Berkeley Midwinters use the Olympic Circle marks for one race on Saturday and another on Sunday. The two days are completely separate; racers can sign up for either day or both. Race Chair Bobbi Tosse comments on Saturday’s race: “What a super lovely day! The wind gods kindly brought the pleasant 7-10 knot breeze around to 270 degrees after sitting most of the morning from the north. The sun was shining and all was well on the Berkeley ‘Bowl’ (aka Olympic Circle).

“Of the 71 registered entries in 8 PHRF and one design divisions, 63 showed up and enjoyed the 8 nm double windward/leeward course.

The Sunday sailors had to be patient. “I guess the wind gods felt they had been too generous the day before and opted to rest at bit,” philosophized Bobbi. In fact, it took one hour and 20 minutes of postponement to convince them that we weren’t going home without a race. They begrudgingly came up with a 5-knot effort from about 225 degrees.

“Thirty-seven of the 44 entrants showed up, drifted around with us and finally were sent on a 7 nm double windward/leeward minus one windward. The shorter course seemed to be accepted by all the racers.  And the sun continued to shine gloriously!”

Results of the Berkeley YC Midwinters can be found at www.berkeleyyc.org. The next race in the dual series will be on December 12 and 13. The next RegattaPRO races will be on December 12. The results so far can be found at www.regattapro.com. Many thanks to Sergei Zavarin for sharing his fine photos.