Three Bridge Fiasco Race
This report continues coverage begun after the start of the race on Saturday.
Despite how it might have felt, boats were indeed moving at the start. © 2010 norcalsailing.com
As is often the case in the go-any-way-you-want Three Bridge Fiasco, counterclockwise turned out to the ‘right’ way to go. All the early finishers came from Blackaller, finishing west to east. As the afternoon waned and shifted to evening, the number of finishers from east to west took over. The majority of boats which finished after dark came from Treasure Island.
The race committee kept a close eye on this cruise ship, Albatros, via AIS online. Once it entered the Bay, of course, you couldn’t miss it. The sailboat in the shot isn’t one of the racers. © 2010 norcalsailing.com
It was a good day for Moore 24s, Wylie Wabbits and Express 27s. These classes often fare well in pursuit races.
Eight Ball, Scott Easom’s beautiful Moore 24, with Matt Siddens crewing, was first to finish at 2:41:11. They were way ahead of their competition. © 2010 norcalsailing.com
The Moore 24s were again the largest division in the race, with 38 boats entered. Since this is the first race in their Roadmaster Series, they all sailed doublehanded.
Taz!!, an Express 27 sailed by George Lithcott, was the first singlehander to finish, at 3:59:43. © 2010 norcalsailing.com
The first finisher east to west came in at 3:20, about 40 minutes after Eight Ball. This was Amy Wells’ trimaran Wingit, an F-27, which have a one design class this year.
The IOR 2-Ton Tiger Beetle and the Cal 20 Can O’Whoopass finish from opposite directions. © 2010 norcalsailing.com
Doublehanded finishers numbered 213 out of the 295 at the start; half of the 44 singlehanders who started were able to complete the race.
The Nonsuch 22 Blueberry was the second boat to start. This photo shows their finish from east to west. © 2010 norcalsailing.com
The last racer to finish was the Islander 36 #420 Lunasea, singlehanded by Dan Knox, which came in at 6:56:32. No other boats were within sight of the finish line at the deadline of 1900.
The Wylie 39 Gavilan finished after dark. A movie light illuminated the sail numbers of the later finishers. (It wasn’t raining, despite the optical effect in this photo. However, steam from the Golden Gate YC’s lobster pots fogged up the finish line.) © 2010 norcalsailing.com
If you’d like to send us comments about your race or photos, please email us via our contact page. The next installment of our TBF coverage will feature photos and stories from contributors. For a complete list of entries and more (final results coming soon), see race organizers Singlehanded Sailing Society’s website at www.sfbaysss.org.
The race committee put in a very long day, including cross-checking the starters, drop-outs and finishers after the 1900 time limit. About a half-dozen skippers they couldn’t account for received phone calls. © 2010 norcalsailing.com
January 31, 2010
Boats that took Blackaller last finished first. © 2010 norcalsailing.com