Home	Nationals Regatta 10/14/23

It was great to return to our traditional Nationals Regatta venue, Golden Gate Yact Club, and work with Gebneral Manager Bob Mulhern and his talented crew. Friday night's rain passed east by Saturday morning and we arrived at GGYC shortly after 1000 to see the Golden Gate Bridge gleaming in bright sunshine against the fog lurking farther west. A light southwest breeze gently waved the flags at both Golden Gate and St. Francis yacht clubs, but it was only along the City Front side of the Bay. Glassy calm prevailed on the north side of the Bay between the north tower and Alcatraz Island.

Rick & Sandy Van Mell (Vanishing Animal) started setting up the Race Deck and where shortly joined by I-36 Treasurer Mike Patterson (Green Flash), and Bob DaPrato & Maria (Bella Luna), plus friend Christina. Flags were tied to halyards, radios readied, watches set to exact time, and clipboards were ready to check off starters and record finishes.

Filling in space at the docks were Windwalker, Rich & Tom Shoenhair, Cassiopeia, Kit Wiegman, and Renaissance of Tahoe Vista, Steve Douglass, plus Bill Hackel's Highlighter on the city dock. Commodore Egan's Kapai was sampling the wind west of the starting line. All were checked in by radio as the scheduled 1130 Warning Gun approached. In addition, Peter Kacandes was watching the fun from Jonesque Jones near the starting area with just a jib flying.

In the light air we all agreed that a short course just along the City Front would keep us in the light breeze and avoid the calm to the north. Windward leeward Course 2, marks to port ws only 3.4 miles and would do the trick. That runs from the starting line at GGYC west to Blackaller buoy near the south tower of the Golden Gate Bridge, then east to mark 6 off Ft. Mason, and return to the finish line. The Warning Gun was fired on time at 1130 and we started at 1135.

Cassiopeia led at the start with Renaissance, Windwalker and Kapai close behind. It was slow but steady progress beating toward the Golden Gate against the last of the flood tide. Cassiopeia rounded Blackaller first at 11:56:26, then Windwalker at 11:57:10, Highlighter at 11:59:09, Kapai at 12:00:54 and Renaissance at 12:02:15. In the lgiht air tacking downwind was pretty much a must. But the challenge was whether to stay a bit north with stronger curent but lighter wind, or closer to the shore with more wind but less current. At mark 6 it was Cassiopeia at 12:26:38, Windwalker at 12:28:42, Kapai passed Highlighter to round at 12:30:48, followed by Highlighter at 12:31:10 and Renaissance at 12:32:42. After the beat to the finish the order was the same except that Highlighter passed Kapai to move into 3rd place.

With wind predicted to increase shortly, we waited 15 minutes and aimed for at 1300 Warning Gun for the second race. We debated using course 7 with a triangle from Blackaller to Harding Rock, then Mark 6, but there was still stronger wind along the City Front than up at Harding Rock. So we opted for course 6, Blackaller, St. Francis' starting line "A" buoy, back to Blackaller, then down to Mark 6 and finish, a 5.4 double windward - leeward course. It was a busy day on the Bay with several races going on at once, and they were also communicating on VHF Channel 71. When we heard another countdown for a 1300 start, we postponed 5 more minutes to begin our sequence at 1300 with a 1305 start. Well, with more breeze our Islanders were charging along and we had two boats over earlyat the gun and their angles made it hard to read sail numbers. Though we raised the "X" individual recall falg and announced two bots were over early, by the time we were able to sort out who was who, we felt it was unfair to call them back and declared a General Recall and brought everyone back to start over. We got off a clean start for the second race at 1320.

Much to the Race Committee's dismay, the sequence off the starting line was Highlighter, Windwalker and Cassiopeia. If that sequence had held through the race, we would have had a 3-way tie for 1st place - and thus would need a 3rd and deciding race for the series. But by the time the fleet reached Mark 6 Cassiopeia had gained the lead and it was clear a 3rd race wouldn't be needed. However, (maybe it was just everyone being polite) by Highlighter taking 2nd and Windwalker in 3rd, they were now tied for second place, and with Renaissance finishing ahead of Kapai, they were now tied for 4th place!

Most of the fleet gathered ashore at GGYC to enjoy our Nibbles & Celebration feast of Caesar Salad, Hot Dogs, Chili, Curly Fries, the 'fixins, and cookies. We all shared stories of the day and congratulated Cassiopeis on her victory. Commodore Egan encourage all of the boats and their crews to join us at Coyote Point YC on Saturday, November 18th for the Fall Meeting where the permanent trophies will be awarded. And, crews can chat and learn the real secrets of why some boats just seem to be fast. Our thanks again to Golden Gate Yacht Club for their warm hospitality for the fleet.

Here are links to the Notice of Race , and Sailing Instructions , and below are the regatta entries and the final results.

Enjoy the pictures by (so far) Rick Egan and Rick Van Mell. If you would like original images (these are reduced to 800x600) email Rick with the caption and picture number.

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Results

Golden Gate	GGYC Docks	Cassiopeia	Renaissance (inside)	Windwalker (outside)
Sandy, Maria Christina, Mike	Bob, Mike, Sandy	Lots of pelicans!	Kapai (right)	Windwalker
Renaissance	Light going	Highlighter, Cassiopeia	Jonesque Jones (no main)	Timing runs ...
continue ...	ditto ...	1st race start	Close work	Spreading out
Cassiopeia	Windwalker splits	Cassi, Kapai	Heading for the Gate	more pelicans
Schooner time	Cassi at Alcatraz	Windwalker ditto	Upwind to finish	Windwalker finish
Kapai crosses ...	but Highlighter 3rd	Kapai 4th	Renaissance 5th	Big Islander??!
More wind ...	going fast ...	last run ...	heading for the line ...	After General Recall ...
a clean start ...	3-way tie sequence	All six I-36s	Picture perfect	Good breeze in traffic
Maria, Bob Mulhern Bob DaPrato	Fog at Gate ...	Jonesque Jones ...	more fog	Cassiopeia 1st
Highlighter 2nd	Windwalker 3rd	yet more pelicans!	Renaissance 4th	GGYC Docks ...
Cassiopeia ...	Cassi crew	Highlighter ...	Highlighter crew	Kapai ...
Kapai crew	Jonesque Jones ...	Jonesque Jones crew	Race Committee Rick, Mkie ...	Christina, Maria, Bob ...
Mike, Sandy.	Kapai crew.	Jonesque Jones crew	Highlighter crew	Highlighter crew, Commodore Egan, Race Comm.
Fun gathering!