Sunday Sailing Smorgasbord

Mon, 8 Mar 2010 18:29:59 -0800

Spring Keel Invitational

More Spring Keel (and Moore Spring Keel): In a previous report, we ran a photo sequence from Erik Simonson of an MOB on Saturday. The following photos were taken by Sergei Zavarin on Sunday, when it was obviously much windier.

 The Express 27 Motorcycle Irene has a beautiful floater douse. © 2010 Sergei Zavarin/http://ultimate-yachtshots.smugmug.com

Moore 24s, Express 27s, Folkboats, Knarrs and Melges 24s were invited by the St. Francis YC to compete in four races on the Cityfront all weekend, opening the club’s spring racing. For results, see www.stfyc.com.

 More Cowbell!, a Moore from Seattle, rounds up into her fleet. © 2010 Sergei Zavarin/http://ultimate-yachtshots.smugmug.com

Sausalito YC Midwinters

For the last race of the series, we began with a 30-minute postponement, waiting for the wind to fill in at Knox. It was frustrating to see a nice steady breeze on the Cityfront, but not having it at Knox. However it didn't take long, and soon we had a nice breeze bouncing between 210 and 220.

We sent all the fleets on course 10, which was start, Yellow Bluff, Ft. Mason, Yellow Bluff, downwind finish. It was the longest course on the list, but only took an hour to complete, as the wind made for a nice reach from YB to Mason and back. However, the majority of the fleet loved the course, with only a few hard core up-and-downers wishing for the 15/4 combo [Yellow Bluff/Knox, generally directly upwind-downwind]. Can't please everyone with course selection, but given the beautiful day, wind and current, it was the perfect ending to the series.

- Jeff Zarwell, National Race Officer

Results should be complete soon at www.syconline.org.
 Richmond YC Midwinters

The Small Boat Midwinters, hosted by Richmond YC, also wrapped up this Sunday. While the Cityfront had too much wind, the Richmond Harbor had just enough, for the loveliest day messing around in boats so far this year.

 For the second year in a row, Michele Logan (foreground) won the Bytes. She made almost all the races. Laurie Davis (to windward of Michele in this photo from a Totally Dinghy start) was runner-up. © 2010 Richmond YC

 Tim Russell (center) and his Weckless crew Scott Parker and ‘Buff John’ won the Wylie Wabbit class, sailing on the Southampton course. Note the rubber chicken which Tim got stuck with at the Wabbit Yuletide gathering. © 2010 Richmond YC

 Jean Harris won the Multihull Division, which also sailed on the Southampton course, without her usual skipper George Pedrick, on a Hobie Cat 20. © 2010 Richmond YC

A bizarre weather shift hit the Richmond Riviera just as folks were putting their boats away. All day the flags had been puffing a bit, attempting to point north in a light southerly. Suddenly, the flags perked up and started pointing south, as a swirling gust of wind caught the skiffs which still had their sails up at the dock and tried to knock them over. Another swirl, and here came the brisk westerly that had blasted the Cityfront all day. The temperature dropped about ten degrees in ten minutes, and it was the perfect time to head into the club for the awards.

For all the results, see www.richmondyc.org.

Seaweed Soup Recipe Leaked to the Press

Sun, 7 Mar 2010 20:30:56 -0800

Yesterday we reported on Gordie Nash’s Arcadia winning the Seaweed Soup Cup. What some folks may not realize is that there is really is Seaweed Soup. An anonymous Golden Gate YC insider, named below, leaked the recipe to our source at current Cup-holding club Richmond YC, who passed it along to us.

“As promised - not a lot of secret ingredients, but really good!

“Riviera Minestrone Soup [a canned soup from Birdseye]
Linguisca, chopped and stir fried.
Add spinach until wilted [preferably fresh - plays the role of the seaweed]
Add Snappy Tom to taste.
Serve with warm bread or rolls.”

- Mont Mc Millen, GGYC Race Deck Director

“Kind of wondering if the secret ingredient, Snappy Tom, is still in the
supermarkets?” wondered our source at RYC. “And I'm sure Manny would have used organic spinach or at least Popeye brand canned spinach from Watsonville. Not sure about the linguisca - no doubt picked up at Lucca's in the Marina.

“I can just imagine Manuel Fagundes walking over the bar and asking Mac McGraw - who was pouring one for Jack Schmale (the professionally soused Dean of Bay Area Yachting Journalists and inventor of the phrase ‘IOR Battlewagons’) - for a can or three of Snappy Tom so he could make up a batch of Portuguese Seaweed Soup for the cold, wet midwinter crowd coming off the water.

“Snap forward 30 years. The bar hasn't moved; drink prices are up. Mac, Manny, and Jack are long gone. Across from the bar on the polished silver ewer you can read names like Intrepid, Genesta and Gretel II. Seems like a warp in the space-time continuum.

“Did hear that the Mayor touched the Auld Mug and was cured of sex addiction. And meanwhile, walking past Brand X, I could hear the sounds of luxury boxes being constructed in anticipation of future Cup races.” We don’t think our source is referring to the Seaweed Soup Cup.

Don’t ask us to explain all of the above, but we can elucidate a bit. The official name of the Golden Gate Midwinters is the Manuel Fagundes Seaweed Soup Regatta. They still serve the Seaweed Soup (along with free hot dogs). Picture a packed room full of motley crew and their skippers chowing down on pasta with plastic picnic forks while two guys in white gloves and tailored suits stand guard over the elegant and statuesque oldest trophy in sports.

Manuel Fagundes was a Portuguese chef in the old days at GGYC. The midwinter series is named for him (or his soup), and this year’s series was the 39th.

For the serious stuff, see www.ggyc.com.

An update on the soup from our ‘source’, who has done further research:

“Located two places with Snappy Tom (Del Monte Foods makes it). Nob Hill carries it. Got Linguica (from Portugal no less) at the Berkeley Bowl.
However the main ingredient, Riviera Minestrone Soup, from Birdseye Foods, is on longer on the shelves

“Well, maybe the publicizing of this recipe might cause a stampede. One market I checked said there was a person looking for it. The clerk didn't
say how recently. It is possible someone saw the recipe on your website and went looking.”

Moore Swimming

Sun, 7 Mar 2010 19:05:03 -0800

Photographer Erik Simonson had his photoboat Red Snapper out on the Cityfront this Saturday to take pictures of the Golden Gate midwinters and St. Francis YC’s Spring Keel regatta for one designs. “Mast man, obviously bored, decided to jump ship for no apparent reason,” quipped Erik about this photo sequence. “Crew, laissez-faire, realizing there will be MOORE beer with less crew, lend a hand. Sort of...”

 © 2010 Erik Simonson/www.h2oshots.com

 © 2010 Erik Simonson/www.h2oshots.com

 © 2010 Erik Simonson/www.h2oshots.com

 © 2010 Erik Simonson/www.h2oshots.com

 © 2010 Erik Simonson/www.h2oshots.com

 © 2010 Erik Simonson/www.h2oshots.com

The Spring Keel Regatta finished up on Sunday. You can see results at www.stfyc.com. Next weekend, St. Francis continues the spring theme with the Spring Dinghy Invitational for 29er, 49er, 5o5, Finn, Flying Dutchman, Laser 4.7, Laser Radial, Laser and Weta.

GGYC and Their Cups

Sat, 6 Mar 2010 21:36:41 -0800

The final race of the 2009-2010 Seaweed Soup Cup midwinter series started with a one-hour postponement to wait for wind. With the startline so convenient right off the Golden Gate YC clubhouse on the San Francisco Marina, some crews chose to wait it out at the dock.

 The crew of the Tarten Ten Lazy Lightning won the postponement. © 2010 norcalsailing.com

A nice, steady westerly filled in, and the RC got the ball rolling at 12:30. The currents were mild and the wind never topped 12 knots.

 The Express 27 El Raton hoists the spinnaker at Blackaller. The buoy had gone on walkabout, so the RC used a temporary inflatable mark. © 2010 norcalsailing.com

As well as the division awards, this fifth race of the series would determine the winner of the Seaweed Soup Cup trophy for the best overall performance.

 Q, Glenn Isaacson’s Schumacher 40, coulda been a contendah. © 2010 norcalsailing.com

 Or maybe it would be Hank Easom’s 8-Meter Yucca. They’ve won it before. © 2010 norcalsailing.com

Gordie Nash, who was leading the PHRF 4 division, didn’t think it was statistically possible for his tricked-out Santana 27 Arcadia to win the overall trophy.

 Arcadia in today’s race. © 2010 norcalsailing.com

So no one was more surprised than Gordie when the winner of the Cup was announced.

 Not that Cup. © 2010 norcalsailing.com

 Yeah, that one. GGYC Commodore Marcus Young poses with Ruth Suzuki and Gordie Nash with their Cup in front of his Cup, which also posed for pictures. © 2010 norcalsailing.com

Full results can be found at www.ggyc.com.

 Arcadia must now ‘defend’ their Cup in the next Seaweed Soup series, beginning in November. Photo Courtesy Arcadia © 2010 norcalsailing.com

Sarcoma Cup Finds a New Home

Tue, 2 Mar 2010 22:03:34 -0800

“In our continuing efforts to provide you with the best possible regatta experience,” writes Sarcoma Cup Regatta Chair Mark Lowry, “and after months of top secret meetings with deep-pocketed sponsors, interviewing prospective host yacht clubs, carefully reviewing their extensive application forms, and performing thorough background checks, we have finally reached a decision. Our complex application scoring process heavily weighted kick-ass sailing, parties that would be illegal in most states, and dedication to this charity cause. One applicant towered above the rest… those wild and crazy folks at the Berkeley Yacht Club will be hosting the 2010 Sarcoma Cup!

“Unfortunately, we are still sworn to secrecy on some of the event’s details. You may have heard rumors about special appearances by some of the SI swimsuit models at this year’s Sarcoma Cup. At this time I can neither confirm nor deny these rumors. As soon as we can declassify the rest of the event details we will be making further announcements. Stay tuned.

“So, far the following fleets have committed to the event and have it on their calendar: J/105, Express 27, Wylie Wabbit, Alerion 28, Viper 640, Santana 22s (Sunday).

“If your fleet is not on this list, now’s the time to fix that. We will be posting updates at www.sarcomacup.org.”

- Mark Lowry, 2010 Sarcoma Cup Regatta Co-Chair
Express 27 #68, Xena

The Sarcoma Cup benefits Beat Sarcoma, and all proceeds go to medical research. For the past two years the Cup has been a fun, feel-good, grass-roots event at Richmond YC, with the racing formatted similarly to RYC’s wildly popular Big Daddy and Great Pumpkin Regattas.

Richmond had the event on their schedule for 2010, and so it was published in the YRA Schedule, but then the club membership voted to hold their ‘own’ charity regatta instead (the Richmond Riviera Regatta, on the weekend of August 21-22, to benefit Richmond charities). So the Sarcoma Cup has been homeless since the holidays. Glad to hear they found a good home! The dates remain August 28-29.

“The on-the-water part remains the same,” said event founder Nathalie Criou. “BYC has an agreement with the Berkeley Marina for overflow at their big events. The Marina has been very generous thus far. So basically, it will look like Vallejo, and there should be no raft-up problems.” They’re also toying with the idea of a water taxi.

archives

Sunday Sailing Smorgasbord

Seaweed Soup Recipe Leaked to the Press

Moore Swimming

GGYC and Their Cups

Sarcoma Cup Finds a New Home