race report
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 Frolic (blue boat) and Boudicca frolic in the Elite Keel Regatta. ©2011 Sergei Zavarin/www.ultimateyacht-shots.com |
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Elite Keel May 18, 2011 San Francisco Yacht Club hosted the Elite Keel regatta over the weekend with one design racing the focus, and, like the Stone Cup on the Cityfront, the racers found conditions tricky and very unseasonable. Barry Demak of the busy Open 5.70 fleet wrote this report. The Open 5.70 reached “Elite” status this past weekend, fielding seven boats for its inaugural appearance at San Francisco YC’s Elite Keel Regatta. Saturday delivered chilly but mild conditions on the race course between the Berkeley circle and Point Blunt, taunting the fleet to reach for plane-inducing puffs downwind. Big gains (and losses) were made downwind in the shifty conditions.
Newcomers to the fleet demonstrated that they are accelerating along the learning curve. Starts were competitive and tight. After a great day on the water and a reach back to Raccoon Strait, SFYC greeted the racers with ice-cold beer on the deck and a great outdoor barbecue.
Despite a forecast promising showers on Sunday, Mother Nature provided plenty of sun and wind - while rain could be seen to the north and south. GPS trackers on the boats clocked the boats planing at 15+ knots in the second race of the day, but failed to capture the grins on the sailors faces!
Tom Baffico’s The Maker dominated both days with consistent bullets. Marc Finot’s Frolic took home the second-place trophy and Paul Dorsey’s Diabolic Little Red Boat took third, edging out Whale Tale.
The eleven-boat strong Northern California Fleet is heading south to join the Southern California fleet in June at Long Beach Race Week, with more than 20 Open 5.70s expected on the line, followed by the High Sierra Regatta in July. - Barry Demak and Marc Finot, Open 5.70 Fleet
Complete results for the Elite Keel can be found at www.sfyc.org.
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