race report
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 No, there's nothing wrong with your screen, and no, this wasn't done in Photoshop. This is what IRC B looked like on Friday. ©2010 norcalsailing.com |
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Rolex Big Boat Series Day 2 September 18 , 2010 Fog was the word of the day for Friday's Rolex Big Boat Series. Fog and light winds. "We thought the wind might fill in by the second race this afternoon," said Tom Warren, bowman on the J/120 Dayenu. "It ended up getting lighter, and that's when you try hard to keep the boat moving. J/120s don't accelerate very well, so keeping momentum up is key."
Deyenyu leads the J/120s after day two, and that's all good but with the forecast for the weekend winds being iffy there may be plenty of time for the others in the fleet to catch up. Tom added, "It looks like Sunday will be the trickiest as the predicated front moves off. It may be a minefield of holes out there." John Cabrall, racing with four other Got Wind and Water members on Kuai, a Sabre 386 in IRC D, observed that, "San Francisco is famous for its fog, so it's appropriate that the 2010 Rolex Big Boat Series include at least one race where the committee boat can see the pin end, but the boats approaching the line can not. 'Socked in' has an interesting connotation when you are buoy racing and are navigating to the windward mark in the Slot… alone, with 100-yard visibility. As soon as the boats start to separate, they are lost in the gray shroud. Approaching the weather mark, dark shapes begin take form and become your competitors. The A fleet starts to lap the D fleet and it's a once in a lifetime experience as a dozen boats round a yellow shape and disappear again.
"Learning a lesson from Thursday, the Race Committee delayed the starts on Friday for the IRC class until conditions improved to 'limited' visibility, an improvement over socked in. Breeze was less, the air was 'visible' - meaning that you could see the fog, including edges and breaks. At the first weather mark in the afternoon IRC D race, Kuai made it to the mark on a very tight lay line, stalling the boat so that the current could carry her to the west of the mark. Vincitore is so huge (in comparison) that all crew members, including the helmsman were on the weather side. A lusty 'STARBOARD' call form Kuai got their attention in time, and they ducked Kuai to round both the mark, and Kuai. When you can reach out on one side and touch the mark and reach out on the other side an touch a boat the likes of Vincitore, you know you are in a Big Boat Series." You can see John's pictures from Thursday at www.gotwaw.com/calendar/12213651 and from Friday at: www.gotwaw.com/calendar/12213656.
The light winds today came with light currents, so staying out of the rivers was not as important as staying with the wind. A cold front may move in for Saturday and liven things up for the fleets, including the Melges 32s who seem to enjoy the light winds as much as your cat at home enjoys a nice cold shower. One of the Melgi that seems to like the light breeze is John Porter's Full Throttle with a second and bullet in Friday's racing.
Photographer Sergei Zavarin posted some video from onboard Bliksem. Pieter Tasselaar's Scarsdale, NY-based boat won the Melges 32 Worlds, and they are leading this series after four races. See www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMp465M22Yw.
It's not your usual Big Boat Series conditions, and every day brings something different to the course. All the crews got out of the cold fog to enjoy cold rum drinks after the racing Friday evening, and the navigators and tacticians were already discussing the plans for Saturday. If you can make plans.
For results, see www.yachtscoring.com/emenu.cfm?eID=343.
Saturday started out with a shoreside postponement, which was dropped at 1106.
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