With fewer boats and more of them in PHRF divisions than usual, Richmond Yacht Club’s Big Daddy got by with two racing areas on Saturday instead of the typical three. The smaller boats sailed on the Olympic Circle while the bigger ones got the ‘Deep Water’ course to the southwest. The first gun on Saturday was scheduled for 1125, but, as with many midwinters, this proved to be optimistic. The wind came and went, and couldn’t settle down between west and north. The RC trawler Pelican sent a Whaler on their own Bay Tour dropping and picking up the windward mark for the windward-leeward drop mark course.

While the RC worked hard to set a square course, the waiting racers spotted a bouquet of helium balloons drifting just above the surface of the water. Since balloons don’t belong in the Bay, a teenage crew member made it his mission to catch them and put down humanely.

Finally the wind settled on a WNW compromise, settling in at summerlike 20-knot windspeeds for the afternoon, and racing got underway.

On the Olympic Circle course, Olson 30s, J/24s, Ultimate 20s, Wylie Wabbits, and a PHRF division raced. The deeper water hosted three PHRF divisions plus the J/105s and Beneteau 36.7s.

The day was not without mishaps. “They’re going to have to require fishing licenses for all the shrimping,” joked the crew of an Olson 30, referring to unfortunate spinnaker drops. A protest between Wabbits Hoppy Hare and Weckless left Weckless with a DSQ in the third race. This and another protest delayed the awards ceremony held amid the Saturday night dancing.

Round-ups were numerous; one resulted in a crew in the water. Lifelines kept her onboard, though under water, until she could be pulled back in. Strangely, the crew forward of the helm didn’t even realize what had happened until she was back onboard. There’s video…

Just like good old summertime in the Slot, there was some damage done. A collision between the Express 27 Eagle and the J/105 Jam Session took both of those boats out of the third race and will result in time spent in the boat hospital.

Other boats had trouble with crew canceling at the last minute, with various excuses ranging from the common cold to divorce. Bruce Nesbit’s Olson 34 Razzberries sailed under jib only due to losing six crew and replacing only one. In the same PHRF division, Charlie Pick on the Olson 911 Elusive thought they sailed pretty well, but apparently they were too elusive for the race committee, which scored them DNC (Did Not Compete) in all three races.

In another odd snafu, both the Big Daddy and the Doublehanded Lightship race had been assigned VHF channel 72, and the DHLS had their own drama playing out on the radio. See that story for details.

Saturday’s racing was followed by Saturday’s partying, this year with a superhero theme. Suspiciously green Jello shots were called ‘Kryptonite’, and ‘Liquid Kryptonite’ tasted a lot like margaritas. Shark Sandwich kept the dancers swinging on the dance floor. ‘Sweet Polly Purebred’ won the costume contest, along with her sweetheart Underdog.

Is a pursuit race in a rain squall really the perfect cure for a hangover? Read our story of Sunday’s race to find out.

Thanks to Erik Simonson for contributing photos. He was all over the Bay on Saturday - you can see more of his photos in our DHLS story, and in our coverage of the Spring Dinghy Regatta coming up tomorrow. Thanks also to Bodacious for letting us attach a camera to their mast.

Results of the Big Daddy are available at www.richmondyc.org.