St. Francis YC hosted the Frank Stone Invitational on Saturday and Sunday for J/105s, J/120s and two IRC divisions. They got a late start on Saturday due to the conditions which were ideal for sunbathing and picnicking, but not so ideal for windward-leeward drop-mark racing. The first gun was supposed to be at 1130 but the first division (IRC-A) actually hit the start line for the first race at 1330.

The course for the first race was a double sausage with a downwind finish. All divisions but the J/105s were sent to a windward mark east of the Golden Gate Bridge and north of Anita Rock; the J/105s started last and went to a windward mark very close to the west entrance of Aquatic Park. The start and finish lines were positioned just west of Treasure Island.

For the second race, the course was shortened for some of the divisions to a sausage and a half, with the finish at the windward mark, closer to the marina. During the second race starts, the pilot of a barge called the race committee’s WL Stewart III start line trawler to ask how he could get from Richmond to the Bay Bridge without interfering with the race. Very polite! RC suggested that he could go behind the WL Stewart, or go between the WL Stewart and the yellow inflatables set up for the leeward gate. The pilot called back and said he would go around Alcatraz to stay out of everyone’s way.

On Sunday, two races went off without so much delay. When the results were tallied, Blackhawk had won the J/105 class handily, and Gerard Sheridan’s Elan 40 Tupelo Honey won IRC-B by five points. The other two divisions came down to one point. Chance beat Mr. Magoo in J/120s, and Mayhem topped Soozal in IRC-A. For all the results, see www.stfyc.com.

Thanks to Erik Simonson for contributing photos; you can see more at www.h2oshots.com.