Jeff Zarwell checks in with reports on three recent regattas for which he has been PRO:

Finn Holiday Regatta

On the weekend of November 28-29, the Finn fleet had their Holiday Regatta organized by RegattaPRO.

Looking out over the water off Sausalito YC at 0800 that Saturday after Thanksgiving, it looked windy, but not too bad. By the time Doug Workmaster and I left the dock at 1000, things still didn't look that bad. However, by the time we exited the northeast side of Raccoon Strait, it was full-on nuke with sustained winds from 35 to 40 knots out of the north, with gusts recorded at 47-50 kts. To make matters worse, we were seeing five-ft square waves that kept splashing over the port beam of our race committee boat.

I wanted to go home, but I had no way of communicating with the Finns to let them know there would be no racing that day. My only choice was to continue on over to Berkeley Marina, so that I could meet up with the majority of the fleet. Once I got there, no one had issue with my decision.  

While we were standing around talking, someone noticed a Finn sail coming into the harbor. We all stood there in disbelief. We knew this dinghy had to have come from Tiburon, as the Pegasus boats (three of them) were the only ones not splashing at Berkeley.

Once he reached the docks, we realized it was Jeff Madrigali. He had capsized several times on the way over and had become separated from the other two Finns and their Protector. Madrigali figured the two had decided to take shelter at Treasure Island, as it would be much easier to fetch with wind and waves coming from the their stern, unlike the beam seas he faced going over to Berkeley.

No one had heard from them though, so Doug and I took off from Berkeley to try and find the two boats at TI. Fortunately both boats were almost at the entrance to Clipper Cove when we arrived, but had to take assistance from their Protector to actually get into the cove.

Sunday was just about as opposite as you could get. Yes, we still had a northerly, but we had to postpone for about 40 minutes just to get enough wind to get the boats moving. The wind was light and variable to say the least, which of course makes it so easy to set a square course. Then with a 2-3 knot current 75 degrees off from the breeze, setting a reasonably square line was an arduous task.

The first race was two laps, race 2 was one lap and race 3 was two laps.  Wind bounced all over the place throughout each race. However, right at the end of race 3, the wind made a major shift to the west at 240, with nice building pressure. Ultimately, we were able to bang out two more races with a steady breeze of 8-10 kts and never straying from 240.

Ed Wright topped the fleet with four bullets. His one throw-out was a second. See complete results at www.regattapro.com.

Match Racing

On Friday, December 4, I went over to assist with the practice session of the J/22 Match Race, organized by Kristen and Peter Lane, out of Tiburon YC. To say that Kristen and Peter were putting everything they had into it is an understatement. The two of them were working non-stop the whole time. Unfortunately, there was absolutely no wind whatsoever, so any attempt at practice starts was out of the question. Too bad too, because Molly Carapiet volunteered to work with the competitors with a full starting drill that afternoon.

On Saturday, I left the dock on the signal boat at 0815 with very optimistic plans of starting at 0900 based on rumors that there had been wind in the early morning all week, and I had a full round robin to complete.

So much for rumors. We postponed until almost 1000 and I think I started a race in the lightest air I ever had. And so the day went, postpone, start, postpone, start, with each postponement requiring a full course reset. In all we were only able to complete three flights, plus three matches in a fourth flight.

I hope Sunday worked out better. I couldn't be there because I was committed to Sausalito's midwinter race.

Sausalito Midwinters

With the storm front moving in, Sunday gave Sausalito YC's midwinter race a nice steady breeze from 240-245 all day. It did lighten up a bit after 1330, but was still enough to keep the boats moving nicely around the course.

The faster fleets sailed from Little Harding, up to Yellow Bluff, down to YRA 8 (R4 1 nm east of Pt. Blunt) and up to finish, while the slower fleets sailed to Yellow Bluff and down to Knox.

Due to the moderate flood, the water stayed nice and flat and there were only a few rain drops felt on the course.

For results, see www.syconline.org.

Next weekend it’s the RegattaPRO Winter One Design Series.

- Jeff Zarwell, National Race Officer