Home |
Vallejo Race 5/2/26
|
It was a speedy, if cool Great Vallejo Race with 5 wonderful Islander 36s on the starting line. Windwalker took first in the Spinnaker division both ways, and Windcatcher did the same in Non-Spinnaker. Here are the stories and pics from Kapai, Luna Sea, and Bella Luna.
Kapai - Rick Egan
5 boats on the line! I don't recall 5 boats on the line in a long a while. Very exciting. Congratulations to Rich and the Windwalker crew nailing down the spinnaker division and Intrepid single hander Dan Throop on Windcatcher enjoying two wins in the non spinnaker group. First time racers Anthony and Joanne Taylor joined Saturday and brought two canine tacticians. Finally, thanks to Rob Blenderman for giving Kapai a good race and getting into Vallejo with Luna Sea's traditional champagne reception. A nice surprise was to enjoy a glass of wine with Bob Da Prato and his lovely wife Maria who drove over to greet the fleet. Did I mention that we had 5 boats on the line?
Kapai's crew this year included my wife Kathy, son Blaine from Sacramento and our steady crew and youngest son Bryce and his wife Reanne. We arrived at the start in time to get photos of all the Islanders prior to our start time before concentrating on the business at hand. Winds were out of the SW at 10-12 with the expected beginning of a nice flood. Kapai had a good start just behind Windwalker and just barely ahead of Windcatcher. As it turns out there was significant current at the windward mark. I was pretty confident we would simply follow WindWalker around the mark and then make our way to Red Rock but I misjudged the current and actually hit the mark on my aft quarter and then repaired upwind to do my penalty turn before rounding the mark safely a second time. Very embarrassing. I have never hit mark before! By the time we took our medicine Windcatcher and Luna Sea passed us and Windwalker was already on the horizon. Oh well. We had a fast beam reach all the way to the finish and never did see Zenith until the finish. Anthony called me on my mobile a couple of times and explained that they missed our start an actually started with another fleet. All in all we had a good time and certainly the fastest GVR we have ever done given the huge flood. After dinner we walked our son Blaine to the ferry so he could return to SF and get back to Sacramento. The elder Egans retired early while Bryce and Reanne enjoyed a fancy cocktail on Zenith.
Sunday morning we enjoyed the traditional breakfast at VYC and had a nice chat with Rob and Ruby who live close by in Benicia. We departed the raft up without incident and headed out to Mare Island Strait to prepare for the race back to Richmond. We had a good start just behind Windwalker and Luna Sea and managed to pass Luna Sea just as we exited the channel. Our plan was to try to take the left side of the course and stay in shallow water for current relief. Others took the right side of the course and then switched just before the beginning of the shipping channel which is off limits. That seemed to be the right move as we never really caught anyone once we were in San Pablo Bay. If there was an adverse current Kapai found it. We finished last but always nice to spend a weekend with the family. Thanks to everyone who turned out. Next up is the Sailtice followed by the Westpoint regatta.
Cheers Commodore Egan
Kapai crew |
Luna Sea |
Windwalker |
Zenith |
Windcatcher |
Party time |
Windwalker crew |
Zenith crew |
Ahead is ... |
Luna Sea. |
Leaving Mare I. |
Luna Sea - Dan Knox / Rob Blenderman / Karen Klechner
Reporting aboard. |
Leavig the Estuary ... |
approaching start ... |
There's ... |
Kapai, and ... |
Windwalker |
Zenith & Windcatcher |
Let's go. |
That way! |
Red Rock and ... |
Ran Rafael Bridge. |
Wing and wing |
Great ride. |
Arriving Vallejo ... |
Finding a spot. |
Tasty treats ... |
Thanks Dan! |
Bella Luna - Bob DaPrato
Zenith team |
Luna Sea ... |
and Rob. |
Results |
Music! |
Openinf Day ... |
Sunday April 26 ... |
Great I-36. |
Results
| To Vallejo 5/2/26 | | | | |
| Start: 05/03/25 at 12:45:00 | | | Fleet: | |
| Course: --- Distance: ---- | | | Started: | | |
| Sail # | Boat Name | | Skipper | | Points |
| 57307 | WINDWALKER | | Richard Shoenhair | 2:24:21 | 1 |
| 38015 | WINDCATCHER | | Daniel Throop | 2:35:53 | 2 |
| 420 | LUNA SEA | | Dan Knox | 2:38:21 | 3 |
| 438 | KAPAI | | Richard Egan | 2:43:47 | 4 |
| 472 | ZENITH | | Anthony Taylor / Joanne Taylor | 2:52:46 | ** |
| | | | | |
| | | | | |
| Vallejo Return 5/3/26 | | | | |
| Start: 05/03/26 at 11:00:00 | | | Fleet: | |
| Course: --- Distance: ---- | | | Started: | | |
| Sail # | Boat Name | | Skipper | | Points |
| 57307 | WINDWALKER | | Richard Shoenhair | 4:11:6 | 1 |
| 38015 | WINDCATCHER | | Daniel Throop | 4:29:58 | 2 |
| 420 | LUNA SEA | | Dan Knox | 4:45:35 | 3 |
| 438 | KAPAI | | Richard Egan | 4:57:41 | 4 |
| 472 | ZENITH | | Anthony Taylor / Joanne Taylor | | ** |
| | | | | |
| | | | | |