race report
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 Bodacious 1.0 would need the rail meat on Sunday. ©2011 norcalsailing.com |
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Wheeler Regatta, Part 2 April 17, 2011 Continuing where we left off in Part 1 on Saturday… After the racing on Saturday, it was back to the Berkeley Yacht Club for festivities and post-race chit-chat. The race committee on the Wheeler Group course reported that the fog poured in for the finish of the first of three races so thick that they were afraid they were going to lose the pin end. The first four boats overshot the finish and had to douse and come back. Mintaka4 broke their pole on the douse and retired from racing.
Multihulls were new this year; only three showed up, but BYC hopes for more in the future once word gets out. The perpetual trophy, named for Admiral Chester Nimitz, was presented by Captain Phil Roos to winner William Cook of the F-24 Wings. Capt. Roos told the crowd that Nimitz was the first C.O. of the first Navy ROTC in the U.S. at Cal Berkeley in 1926. After retirement, the Admiral was a member of Berkeley YC, so it seemed fitting to name the new trophy for him. The Olson 25 Shadowfax won the City of Berkeley Trophy, and the Rollo Wheeler Memorial Trophy was won by the Express 37 Bullet. Kame Richards' Golden Moon tied Bullet for points, but Bullet got bullets in the first race and third race, and Golden Moon's best were two seconds and a third, so Bullet won the tie-breaker. Kame himself was busy with the Pineapple Sails booth at Strictly Sail Pacific, so his boat partner Bill Bridge drove, with encouragement from Liz Baylis. Said Liz, "The results are all in the starts and in the last race we had a good jump but were being gassed by an over-early boat. They should have headed back to the line to restart, but they didn't, and because of that Bullet got out ahead and stayed there. The last time Bill drove Kame had to have an appendectomy the night before. He did a good job then and did a great job today. He should drive more often."
After the awards ceremony, Berkeley YC's new (and first) race committee runabout was christened, named for the club's long-time race chair. The boat allowed the club to set inflatable marks for this regatta.
Sunday's pursuit race got 34 starters and 26 finishers. The fog that blanketed the race course on Saturday stayed back by the Gate on Sunday, making for sunny but very windy racing.
The windiest part of the course was on the Berkeley Circle at the start/finish line. The windward and jibe marks were Harding Rock and Blossom Rock respectively. The wind lightened up in the lee of Angel Island, where lots of racers headed to get relief from a strong, late flood. Despite the wind, the flood made for flat seas for the long beat to Harding Rock.
Nobody set their chutes at Harding Rock; instead they reached off toward the Cityfront then set closer to Blossom Rock. Many boats had problems with their spinnakers in the high winds (25 knots or so west of Alcatraz; closer to 30 back toward the leeward mark). The Flying Tiger Centomiglia got a wrap from hell around their forestay. About the time the racers turned downwind the tide turned as well. The wind on the ebb whipped up some nice waves to surf on, not so nice for the short beat back to the finish line. The Santa Cruz 50 Deception was the first boat to cross.
There was a big gap between the first and last place finishers with the Santa Cruz 50 Deception finishing first. And who said Santa Cruz surfers don't go to weather?
Results of the pursuit race are available at www.berkeleyyc.org.
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