June 16, 2014

Pat Broderick of the Wyliecat 30 Nancy continues his series of ocean race reports:

The OYRA Jr. Waterhouse start on June 7, run by the Richmond YC, got off at 1000 using Little Harding Rock as the starting mark. Almost all the OYRA boats plus some "one timers" showed up, so the start was busy, but everyone got off well, although we thought the Race Committee had a great deal of optimism about wind. Course #3 was 42.7 miles and the wind was forecast to be pretty light. Pat Wertz crewed on Nancy in the smaller boat doublehanded division.

The first leg from the start out to Entrance Channel Marker #7 (green), a little over 5 miles beyond the Golden Gate Bridge, began with wind in the 10-knot range, and we passed under the bridge about 23 minutes after the start with a lot of help from the ebb. We rounded Channel Marker #7 at 1130, again helped by the ebb, which easily reaches out that far. Then things began to go downhill, wind-wise. But, we had caught several boats that started ahead of us and were leading the boats in our division.

Taking #7 to port, we then sailed to the South Entrance Buoy about 7 miles to the southwest. Since the wind was coming directly out of the southwest and was on the lighter side, we spent a lot of time tacking our way down and out. The South Buoy is about 9 miles west of the north end of Pacifica. The wind died down into the single digits the further out we went, and we slowed down without the ebb's assistance. Visibility was limited by the haze, so we didn't see the South Buoy until we were about a mile away. We also began to put our competition further and further behind as the yellow buoy became larger and clearer in the light fog. We rounded the South Buoy at 1400, about two and a half hours after #7. It was a slow slog!

David Nabors' Olson 34 Temerity, between the South Buoy and the Lightship. ©2014 Pat Broderick

At the South Buoy we began a reach/run to the "SF" Buoy (Lightship) about 5 miles to the north. The wind dropped into the 4-5 knot range for this leg of the race, and it took an hour to get there. We were listening to Vessel Traffic when a harbor tour boat came on saying they had found a body floating under the Golden Gate Bridge. We switched to Coast Guard Channel 22A and listened as the tour boat stood by while the CG got a boat from Horseshoe Cove out to mid-span. After the CG had recovered the body they issued an "all clear" and things went silent. About two dozen jumpers commit suicide each year on the Golden Gate Bridge, but these are very seldom reported since "jump-alikes" often occur. Gruesome entertainment for sure!

Rounding the Lightship. ©2014 Pat Broderick

Along with two larger boats, we arrived at the Lightship about 1500 with a tanker coming up from the south. We'd been hearing its fog horn for over an hour, and when it appeared out of the murk it was inshore of us, proceeding very, very slowly. The pilot boat put a pilot aboard, and then we began hearing a discussion between the pilot and Vessel Traffic on Channel 12 about a steering problem the ship was having.

As we rounded the "SF" Buoy about an hour after the South Buoy, the ship was still inshore, directly blocking our intended course, so we bore off to the northeast, thinking the ship would begin a turn into the Shipping Channel. Instead, our courses continued to converge, and the AIS told us we were going to collide if someone didn't change course. Our visual observation confirmed that. So, we bore further off, heading for Pt. Reyes instead of the Golden Gate Bridge. And the ship continued to parallel us, moving about our speed.

Nancy and Atlantic Aquarius racing to Point Reyes. ©2014 Pat Broderick

The pilot/Vessel Traffic conversation continued with the Coast Guard jumping in now and then. Finally the folks back on Yerba Buena told the ship it couldn't enter SF Bay until the steering issue was solved and requested that it continue northeast and make a large turn to port when it could. Finally the ship moved far enough ahead that we could tack and begin sailing toward the bridge. In the meantime, the wind had dropped to 2 or 3 knots and it was beginning to look like an awfully long day since the race deadline was 2359.

Skipper Pat Broderick, back inside the Bay. ©2014 Pat Wertz

We slowly approached Entrance Marker #1 (green) and began passing the next three pairs of channel markers, with the wind picking up the closer we got to land's end. It was flooding, so our progress was aided by the flood as we approached Mile Rocks and then jibed over for the North Tower. With lots of help from the current, we arrived at the North Tower at about 1715 and passed under the bridge near Lime Point.

Thinking the southwest wind would continue, we sailed too close to Pt. Cavallo, and we spent too much time moving very slowly. Once into the mouth of Richardson Bay, the wind picked back up and we sailed for Raccoon Strait. Watching a larger boat with a blue spinnaker ahead that appeared to have wind and was making good progress with the flood, we decided on Raccoon Strait.

All of this time we'd been sweeping the horizon astern for any competition. The only boat in our division we saw was the Olson 911S Plus Sixteen which had called in earlier announcing they were dropping out. We sailed out of Raccoon toward RYC, and about halfway across looked back and saw the Dogpatch 26 Moonshine's blue and white chute. Damn! It looked like the wind had filled in behind us since several other chutes were full and moving as well. The RYC race platform got larger and larger.

We finished with a gun at 18:16:35, but Moonshine was too close, so we knew they'd beaten us when the handicap was applied and they did. It took us 8 hours and about 17 minutes to sail the official 42.3-mile course. But with the tacking on the way to #7 and then to the South Buoy, I think we sailed at least five additional miles. And, then there was the beat back to Sausalito against a still headwind and full flood; that's another story!

– Pat Broderick, Nancy, Wyliecat 30

For complete results, see www.jibeset.net.