race report
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 Surf's up in Berkeley. ©2011 norcalsailing.com |
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Big Daddy Saturday Wrap-Up March 14, 2011 On Saturday Richmond YC's race committee was kept busy running three fast drop-mark races. The steady westerly got the racers around and back to the bar quickly. On the Olympic Circle course, they started with one single lap race, followed by a couple of 2.5-lap races since there was plenty of wind. Volunteer Ben Mewes called it a "perfect day." Although protest flags were thrown, a lot of boats were politely doing their turns.
The crew of John Wimer's Desdemona said the J/120 is a fun boat. "We like to win, but having fun is everything." We had to press them to get them to admit they'd won. "We picked right up where we left off last year. In the J/120 fleet you race against such good sailors, it really raises the bar."
Mark and Anne Thomas's new-to-them Santa Cruz 37 Wildcard went out on the Deep Water course for their first day of racing, with Jeff Thorpe calling tactics. They claim the record for the boat that hit the windward mark the most times (three times in two races). The ebb, much stronger than the predicted 1.5 knots, was pushing boats toward the mark. "Oh, we're not going to make it!" and a mad dash to throw in a quick tack at the last minute. Others overcompensated, allowing competitors to get inside. Wildcard tried to shoot the mark, just pointing the bow up into the wind at the last moment, but that didn't work.
On the Olympic Circle course, the offset mark was off, so that crews were able to set their spinnakers before getting to it. With that current, the offset mark wouldn't have made any difference.
"A beautiful day," said a J/105 crewman, "No spray top, shorts, good tight one design sailing in the J/105 fleet. The conditions weren't flukey at all, so if you made a mistake you knew about it right away." Orion and Roxanne battled each other all day, leaving the win to Wonder, with Roxanne taking second.
We asked Steve Katzman about his Express 27 Dianne's new transom paint job. The old one had a wooden look. He told us he had to strengthen the keel to hull joint, and had to glass over the stern. "It's the end of the wooden transom, but it's still wood underneath." Dianne is the cold-molded prototype for the production boats, which explains the sail number 0. "How did you do in today's racing?" we asked. "We got three first places," answered Steve.
Alisa Hawkins sailed aboard Tony Pohl's Farr 40 Twisted. Alisa's new to the Bay Area, having just moved here in July from L.A. "The crew on Twisted worked well together, despite the newbies," she said. She was excited about Sunday's pursuit race, as it would be her first close-up look at Alcatraz.
Saturday's post-race discussion turned to which way to go in Sunday's pursuit race. The belief was that the wind would come from the south, with a front coming in, and it might be preferable to reach off into Raccoon Strait to ride the ebb. Continue on to Sunday's report…
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