Beer Cans Fade to Black

Richmond Yacht Club’s super-casual and very popular beer can series faded out on Wednesday night, wrapping up for the season. With the Bay Area in the grip of a heat wave, T-shirts and shorts were in ample supply but wind was not. In the harbor that afternoon, sailors prepping their boats for the last hurrah watched flags droop, flutter with optimism from the west, droop, flutter weakly from the east, and so on. At the start, the tepid easterly prevailed.

The races start and finish off the RYC breakwater; wind is usually light in the harbor and fresh out on the Bay. This week it was the opposite. You could sail out of the harbor, and back into it, but out on the Bay all the action you got was sloppy waves. 

A festive atmosphere predominated and the Racing Rules of Sailing were flouted. One boat started shamelessly early, under spinnaker, while another never even took the sail cover off the main. Combinations of sailing and motoring were the norm. Only a handful of boats bothered to round the one turning mark, a small yellow buoy northwest of the dilapidated Southampton Shoal platform.

Since it was the last race of the season, pomp and circumstance accompanied the usual post-race BBQ and daily prizes (bottles of wine). Among the festivities was a showing of vice commodore/filmmaker Luther Greene’s cleverly titled film (The Beer Can Movie) about the series, a spoof that had the crowd who packed the dining room and deck in stitches.

A few beer can series still have races left. Berkeley YC’s will wrap up tonight. Shortly thereafter, BYC will move on to their Sunday afternoon Chowder Series, beginning on October 1.