Bullship Reschedule Picks a Perfect Day

April 25 , 2010

Who will be Vencedore this year? That was the big question in Saturday's fifty-seventh running of the Bullship, the classic El Toro stampede across the Slot from Sausalito to San Francisco. As the boats left the dock at Sausalito Yacht Club to sail to the starting line off the Horizons restaurant, all looked calm, a little too calm for the 0900 start, as the wind was fickle and light. At the loud ten-minute gun before the start (good morning Sausalito!) a wind line quickly formed to the south, finally reaching the start line with perfect timing. And they were off, with the race to be sorted out in the first quarter mile.

The lefties head out for the Slot. ©2010 norcalsailing.com

The majority of the fleet went right in the shifts while a breakout group went to the left. The leader of the left was Max Fraser, who made the bold move right off the line. He maintained the lead all the way into the Slot. The race across the Slot was a reaching drag race, and, as the boats stretched out the leaders were already heading for the finish less than an hour after the start.

Chris Nash on a roll and a wave after the start. ©2010 norcalsailing.com

And this year's winner of the coveted Perpetual BS Race Trophy is the young Max Fraser. This was Max's second Bullship in a row. "The first time I was swept out the Gate and had to be rescued." This year, he was in front the whole way. He beat all the seasoned veterans who have been doing this for a while. His friends on the dock teased him, "Why are you beating up on the old men?" "Because it's fun, he replied."

The victorious Max was first to finish and first to hit the guest dock at St. Francis YC. ©2010 norcalsailing.com

"I started at the committee boat, furthest from shore." said Max, when we asked him to describe his tactics. "Most boats tacked toward land for better breeze and possibly some current benefit. I did one tack up with them to cover, then decided it wasn't really worth it. I kept going out on starboard deeper into the Bay, and crossed over a current line within the first 15-20 mins of the race. It ran parallel to the shore about a quarter-mile offshore. I just sort of pulled away from everyone once I got over it. Once I got into the Bay I starting centering up on everyone left and right." Max is a member of Richmond and Santa Cruz Yacht Clubs.

Skip Shapiro looking for wind at the pre-start. ©2010 norcalsailing.com

Last year's winner Skip Shapiro summed up the win: "Max stuck to his convictions, so good on him. He took a flyer, while Gordie Nash played the shifts." Gordie was the second place finisher earning him the Joaquin Koepler Memorial Perpetual for second overall. All in all a great day for the Toreadors and Toreadoras in this year's Gran Concurso Barco-Toro, and many are already planning venganza for next year.

2008 winner Artie Lange looking for wind near the finish.. ©2010 norcalsailing.com

John Amen, who came in third, organized the regatta. We asked him about the rescheduling of the race from April 10 due to weather. "We got it done in one week. By the next Friday we had everything in place: Coast Guard permit, Sausalito YC, St. Francis YC. We had a great crew of about 10 people. Each person has a specific job, so all you have to do is get out an email, but was a little nerve-wracking to get it done that fast. The original set-up took a couple of months and was a lot of work. We lost about seven to eight people in the rescheduling due to the junior program at Santa Cruz YC today - a lot of Santa Cruz people couldn't make it. But we picked up some new entries, so it about evened out."

Some of the little El Toros mixed it up with the starters in the Duxship ocean race. ©2010 norcalsailing.com

Be sure to watch our time-lapse video of the race. To learn more, see www.eltoroyra.org.