Nationals Regatta Golden Gate Yacht Club October 2, 2010

Home	Nationals Regatta Golden Gate Yacht Club October 2, 2010

(If you like, you can skip down through the prose and go straight to the pictures below!)

An incredibly great weekend. The best racing you could ever ask for. We had sunshine and San Francisco fog. We had 6 boats racing, but 14 boats represented with some owners crewing and others ashore on Race Committee, support & cheering. Golden Gate Yacht Club rolled out a hearty choice of rolls, coffee and juice for breakfast, and delicious salad, burgers, chili and a cake for dessert. Here's the roster of participants.

	Racing & Place		1st Race	2nd Race	Total
1	Windwalker	Richard Shoenhair	2	1	3
2	Luna Sea	Dan Knox	1	3	4
3	Zingara	Steve & Jocelyn Swanson	4	2	6
4	Pacific High	Harry Farrell	3	4	7
5	Tenacious	Kris Youngberg	5	5	10
6	Orion (BAADS)	Tom Alligretti	6	6	12
	Crew / Ashore
7	Califia	Tim, Franziska & Karl Bussiek
8	Captain Hooke	David & Tom Newton
9	Laughing Matter	Michael Daley & Karen Sweezy
10	Natural High	Dennis & Judy Bush
11	Ophira	Gary & Pat Salvo
4	Pacific High	Carol & Michele Williams
12	Pegasus	Robert Aston
13	The Irish Rogue	Gary Connors
14	Vanishing animal	Rick Van Mell

The wind started nicely around 10 knots at noon for the first race, then built a bit into the mid teens by the end of the second race. The first race, 8.5 miles, was some of the best racing of the summer. It seemed that just when you thought there might be a parade around the course, the tables got turned. In fact, the line up of boats at the finish, two hours after the start, was almost closer than the line-up for the start!

The trade offs of playing the current and the wind shifts at the weather mark, Blackaller, caused either euphoria or despair, and twice for Windwalker. But in the end it was Dan Knox and Luna Sea who came from behind twice and held on for two legs to beat Windwalker by 1 second at the finish. Be sure to watch the finish video below. Here are the mark roundings for the first race:

	Start	Blackaller	Harding Rk	Ft. Mason	Blackaller	Ft. Mason	Finish
1st	Windwalker	Zingara	Windwalker	Windwalker	Luna Sea	Luna Sea	Luna Sea
2nd	Pacific High	Luna Sea	Tenacious	Pacific High	Zingara	Windwalker	Windwalker
3rd	Luna Sea	Tenacious	Pacific High	Tenacious	Tenacious	Pacific High	Pacific High
4th	Tenacious	Pacific High	Zingara	Luna Sea	Pacific High	Zingara	Zingara
5th	Zingara	Windwalker	Luna Sea	Zingara	Windwalker	Tenacious	Tenacious
6th	Orion	Orion	Orion	Orion	Orion	Orion	Orion

We think this is the first win for Luna Sea against a full Islander fleet -- everyone congratulated Dan on his victory. Dan has been committed to the fleet for many years, working his way up in the racing fleet, and attending lots and lots or cruises too. Dan is living proof of someone who loves sailing and gives back at least as much as he gets out of the sport. Several skippers bought him a drink at the bar -- and some discussed whether this accomplishment merited being thrown off the dock. (But we didn't!)

For the second race, the capable Race Committee headed by Pat & Gary Salvo, selected a shorter, 4.1 mile, course that shifted racing to the east, away from the thickening fog and fluky winds near Blackaller. Maybe it was the courage from winning the first race, but Luna Sea tried a gutsy port tack start to cross the fleet and pulled it off perfectly. Be sure to watch the video of the 2nd race start below.

Though Luna Sea rounded the first mark first, she sailed the rhumb line, or a bit to the north of it in the remains of the ebb current, while a pack held high to the south with a bit more wind and less current. She rounded 5th, but fought her way back to 3rd place, winding up 1 point behind Windwalker for the series. Here are links to the official finish times: 1st Race and 2nd Race.

It was a great celebration on GGYC's lower deck as the afternoon came to a close. It was another great Islander Nationls Regatta.

Pictures by Gary Connors, Michael Daley, & Rick Van Mell. Click on images to enlarge, click "Back" to return.

Golden Gate @ 1030	Flying nicely	*Luna Sea*	Race Deck desk	Leslie & Pat
Emanuel	*Califia*	Dan & David	Gentle breeze	Zingara ...
is ready to ...	tie up.	Hi girls	*Windwalker*	Zingara crew
Michael, Robert & L.S. crew	Golden Gate @ 1056	San Fran @ 1056	Tucked in	Crew talk ...
Oh yeah?!	Beautiful Universal M boat	St. Francis YC	Pacific HIgh ...	has crew
*Tenacious*	Orion ...	goes by.	*Pacific High*	*Zingara*
Tenacious is ...	tenacious!	*Luna Sea*	*Windwalker*	Getting under way
Looking east	Race Committee	time for ...	tacking ...	running the line.
A swarm of Islanders!	Testing port tack	Trial runs	Nice breeze	Fog on Angel Island
Last pass ...	about 1 minute.	After the start	A bit light	L.S. to weather

1st Race Start

Windwalker to weather	Harry crosses ...	*Luna Sea*	*Aboard Tenacious* ...**	crew is happy ...
Harry is close ...	Dan's going fast ...	Kris concentrates ...	*that's Zingara* ...**	Harry again.
Norwegian steam	Local fisher	Local tourist ferry	2nd beat ...	still quite close ...
riding the ebb ...	past Alcatraz ...	and beyond.	From shore the ...	angle changes.
Presidential yacht Patomic	BIG tanker	Schoon-scow Alma	Downwind ...	chase ...
is long.	Rounding Ft. Mason	Beat to the finish ...	Still close ...	THE BATTLE ...

1st Race Finish

2nd Race Start

3rd is Pacific High	After the finish	4th Zingara	5th Tenacious	The Winners!
Second race start	It's a short leg ...	P.H. & Ww overstand ...	but look great ...	notice separation ...
Luna Sea is 1st around	The chase is on ...	A pack move to weather	Golden Gate @ 1426	San Fran @ 1426
The pack	*Zingara*	Close rounding	A long chase	Moving!
Rounding up	Fog astern	Bridge breakers	A long run	Luna Sea leading
Windwalker closing	Up the City Front	Down past Bay Bridge	Close covering	Windwalker crossing ...
*Pacific High*	Last run	Heading for Blossom Rk	Beating up the shore	Windwalker 1st
*Can Zingara* cross?**	She tacks ahead	finishes 2nd	3rd Luna Sea	4th Pacific High
5th Tenacious	Zingara is back	Ditto Luna Sea	Windwalker ...	rafts up.
Container ship @ 1519	Golden Gate @ 1519	Big raft ...	smaller raft ...	slip snug.
Zingara Crew	Line is long ...	for salad ...	burgers & chili ...	and cake!
Dan's happy ...	crew too.	Judy & Dennis, Gary	Pacific HIgh table	Great crowd ...
Michele presents ...	crowd listens ...	Dan gets 2nd overall	Collecting 1st for Windwalker

Return to Main Menu