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PHRF 2 start
Scott Easom's Farr 30 Eight Ball won December's PHRF 2 start at GGYC's midwinters. ©2014 norcalsailing.com
Easom Repeats Win

January 2, 2014

Aaaah, but which one?

Hank Easom and his 76-year-old 8-Meter Yucca won Golden Gate Yacht Club's Manual Fagundes Seaweed Soup Regatta more than once. And so has his nephew Scott, sailing the Farr 30 Eight Ball.


Yucca, seen here shortly after Saturday's eastbound start, has won the perpetual trophy six times. ©2014 norcalsailing.com

Going into Saturday's last of five races, we thought Uncle Hank was looking good. Sailing in the 17-boat PHRF 3, the biggest division of the midwinter series, Hank had three bullets and a fourth (his throw-out). Similarly, Scott had all bullets in the 13-boat PHRF 2 (his throw-out was a third). Also carrying only 3 points into Race 5 was Bill Moore on Shenanigans, an Express 27 sailing in the 10-boat PHRF 4 (his throw-out was a 12th – he didn't compete in Race 2.

Bodacious and CA Condor
The 1D48 Bodacious+ (red spinnaker) and Antrim 40 California Condor sailed in PHRF 1, seen here sailing the first downwind leg. ©2014 norcalsailing.com

The 52 boats who started the race did so on time in a nice weather window – no rain, 4-10 knots of easterly breeze, a dying flood and a swell from the ocean. The first three divisions were given a double windward-leeward course, and the remainder got a single lap around the same inflatable marks. Unfortunately, just as the ebb really got going, the wind petered out. At times the racers were teased with breeze from the north, then the south, and a westerly even started to fill in, only to die off.

USA 76
USA 76 sailed non-spinnaker. ©2014 norcalsailing.com

The first boat to make it all the way around the 6-mile double-lap course and rejoice to the sound of a shotgun blast was Brad Webb's USA 76, a former Oracle IACC boat now in charter service (Gary Redelberger's Farr 36 Racer X would correct out over the America's Cup boat). Meanwhile, others, especially those out in the middle of the Bay, were languishing. Those who got in closer to shore and thus out of the worst of the current fared better.

All Hail
A mishmash of boats, including the Catalina 34 All Hail sailing, the J/111 Topzy Turvy, the Beneteau First 40.7 Inspired Environments, and the Jeanneau SunFast 3200 Dare Dare. Note that the wind direction has done a 180. ©2014 norcalsailing.com

The rain held off until about 15:00. The last few stragglers either called it quits or actually made it across the finish line in the fresh easterly carried on the rain. And it was time for the Race Committee to crunch some numbers.

Shenanigans and Eight Ball both won their divisions and were tied at 4 points for the series. Yucca placed third, after Hawkeye and Arcadia. Since Eight Ball had beaten more boats than Shenanigans, the big silver cup went to Scott Easom. This is Eight Ball's third win.

Winners
Among the winning crew, Michael Rohde, Scott Easom, and Matt Siddens accept the take-home trophy from Dave Santori. ©2014 norcalsailing.com

In accepting the award from race chair Gary Salvo and rear commodore Dave Santori, Scott addressed the crowd. "Two races ago we were called over early." They didn't think they were so they didn't go back to restart. They won that race and protested the race committee, and at the hearing witness Hank Easom said he saw that they were not over early. But what really decided the protest was Leslie Richter photo of the start, showing Eight Ball clearly behind the line. Scott called it, "the most beautiful photo I've ever seen in my life."

Eight Ball start
Leslie Richter's "beautiful photo" of the January start. ©2014 Leslie Richter/www.rockskipper.com

Gary Salvo reminded the crowd that Friday night races start on May 2, and suggested that they might include a non-spinnaker division next year (actually, November 1), if there's enough interest. After the awards ceremony ended, Scott thanked PRO Matt Jones and promised to return next year. For complete results, see www.ggyc.com.

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