By the middle of last week the ocean prediction for the OYRA Drake's Bay weekend didn't look great: 2 knots gusting to 4, rain likely, and possible thunderstorms. Judging by the light turnout most people opted for the popular Delta Ditch Run. Those 18 or so boats that decided to give the ocean a chance were rewarded with quite possibly the most beautiful weekend imaginable. Conditions on Saturday could have been a little windier but the 8-12 knots that the fleet saw were a big improvement over what was predicted. Add to that a nearly flat sea, a cloudless sky and a temperate climate and you could easily imagine being in the Caribbean were it not for the beautiful rugged coastline view. Santa Cruz 52 Emily Carr led the fleet up the coast to as the wind blew from about 230-240 degrees. 

 

The anchoring and raft-up at Drake's Bay was clear, flat and calm. Boats were tidied, beers opened, tunes cranked up, and the early finishers sat back to watch the smaller and shorthanded boats cross the finish line. Cinnabar (a Schumacher 52) was in the middle of their happy hour when they were joined by cruisers Timo and Hilari from the J/120 Twist, and later by George McKay, the lone singlehander, aboard his Santa Cruz 27 Velocious. As the last boats finished and the full moon rose, the sounds of laughter and music and the aromas of dinners wafted through the bay. Could life be any more sublime?

 

The sky remained clear and the bay flat all night. The fleet was ‘serenaded’ by the guttural grunts of the elephant seals hauled out on shore. Those who got up during the night to check their anchors were rewarded by a spectacularly cloudless view of the night sky.

 

In the morning the winds picked up to the mid-teens, and the cheerful race committee was able to start the race on the very line where it had finished the day before. The racers were rewarded by another stunning day. It was a terrific spinnaker run back to San Francisco with the winds more or less in the mid-teens and a great view of the Farallon Islands nearly all the way home.

Predictably, the breeze piped up to the mid-20s as we approached the Golden Gate, however the finish line at the Corinthian YC made it impossible to finish under spinnaker. The biggest challenge of the day was the wind hole at the finish line, but that was a momentary inconvenience in an otherwise perfect weekend.

- sylvia seaberg, cinnabar

Results are available at www.yra.org. More photos can be seen at http://picasaweb.google.com/sseaberg/2009DrakesBay# and http://picasaweb.google.com/rnutball/DrakesBay2009?pli=1&gsessionid=vuAXJCu_N9K0sQdXfqrhYA#.