The ‘soup’ in question is Golden Gate YC’s midwinter series, officially named ‘the Manuel Fagundes Seaweed Soup Regatta’. Manny was a Portuguese chef at GGYC, famous for the hot concoctions he’d use to warm up cold, tired sailors after a day of racing.

Carrying on the tradition, GGYC served up hot food including minestrone to the racers on Saturday, but the heat wasn’t needed so much this month, as the race coincided with a break in the weather. The sunny, pleasant skies brought no wind with them however.

At the Park and Ride lot on the way to the City, we had to drive through standing saltwater to rendezvous with other crew. On the spit heading out to the club, waves were crashing over cars parked along the driveway. At the club, the tide was so high that the gangplank to the guest dock was flat. “Gee, guess it’ll be ebbing today.”

When we got out on the race course, it was instantly clear that the light zephyrs were no match for the raging ebb. PRO Matt Jones got on the VHF radio shortly before the 11:30 first gun to chat about the day. He told the racers that there would be a nice sunset at 5:40, moonrise around four, and max ebb around two. ”We’re going to postpone for an hour during which time you can do whatever you choose.” Many skippers chose to head back to the docks and relax, while others practiced their backwards spinnaker sailing or burned fossil fuels out on the race course.

An hour and about twenty minutes later, enough of a westerly had filled in that it was time to start racing. Matt wisely gave the boats all port roundings, meaning they could ride the ebb out to their windward marks and stay inland on their downwind legs. The first four divisions were given a 9.1 nautical-mile course. “Nine miles! We’re not even starting until after one o’clock!” exclaimed a crew who will remain nameless. But the wind cooperated and - trust in Matt - the course turned out to be a great choice. Only one boat didn’t finish it.

The Catalina 34, Knarr and Folkboat divisions were given a shorter, 6.8 nm course, and all them were able to finish too - in time to pour into the clubhouse for libations, sustenance and shade.

This series has only one more race to go, on Saturday, March 7. Here’s how the leaders are shaking out (low point scoring system):

In PHRF 1, the first three boats are separated by only one point: Richard Courcier’s Farr 36 Wicked has 7 points, Brad Copper’s Tripp 43 TNT has 8, Glenn Isaacson’s Schumacher 40 Q has 9. Nipping at their heels in fourth place with 11 points is Jeff McCord’s Nelson/Marek 36 Quiver.

PHRF 2 is a little more spread out. Hank Easom’s 8-Meter Yucca leads  with only 3 points. The Knowles’s Wyliecat 39 Lilith has 5. Trailing those two is Peter Szasz’s J/105 One Trick Pony.

In the small PHRF 3 (seven boats) division, last year’s overall champion Steve Waterloo’s Cal 40 Shaman leads with 3 points. Tim McDonald’s Tarten Ten Lazy Lighting has 6, and Mike Mannix’s Catalina 38 Harp (another former overall champion) follows with 8 points.

In PHRF 4, Steve Wonner’s Wyliecat 30 Uno leads with 4 points, Gordie Nash’s rad Santana 27 Arcadia has 7, and Pat Broderick’s Wyliecat 30 Nancy has 11.

Chris Owen’s Mottley leads the Catalina 34 fleet with 4 points. Ray Irvine’s Crew’s Nest and David Sanner’s Queimada are tied for second with 6 points each.

In Knarrs, Chris Kelly’s Flyer has 4 points, J. Eric Gray’s #134 has 5, and John Jenkins’ Narcissus has 8.

Folkboats: Peter Jeal’s Polperro leads with 3 points. With 5 points if Chris Herrman’s Thea sails a halfway decent race in March, he is almost assured of second place, as Richard Keldsen’s Nordic Star is 5 points behind with 10.

For the series standings and the results of each race, see www.ggyc.com/raceresults.php.