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The Bay’s Biggest & Wackiest Race

With the potential of freezing weather, strong winds and rain, it’s a mystery why roughly 350 boats turn out annually to do the Three Bridge.

latitude/LaDonna
© Latitude 38 Media, LLC

As a whole, sailors are often stereotyped as rugged individualists who pride themselves on self-sufficiency. But no subset of sailors actually fits this profile more accurately than singlehanders and doublehanders. This month, several hundred of them are sprucing up their boats and fine-tuning their gear in anticipation of the largest — and whackiest — race on San Francisco Bay’s annual race calendar: The Three Bridge Fiasco, January 25, which accepts only shorthanded entries.

The race’s head-scratching instructions specify that boats can cross the starting line in either direction, then proceed in any order around buoys or landmarks near three bridges: the Golden Gate Bridge (the fleet rounds Blackaller buoy), the Bay Bridge (around Treasure Island), and the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge (around Red Rock). Competitors cross the finish line in either direction also.

As you can see, the event’s shorthanded fleet is typically composed of a wild variety of sailing craft.

latitude/LaDonna
© Latitude 38 Media, LLC

Given these perameters, we understand why the Three Bridge is often referred to as crazy or goofy. What’s not so obvious is why it draws the largest turnout of boats of any race here all year — even those that take place on glorious summer days. It makes us shiver just to think about all the times we’ve been out photographing the Three Bridge when it was so cold, wet and miserable that we couldn’t wait to get back to the dock.

So, if you’re a Three Bridge regular, tell us: What is it about this annual contest that makes it so compelling? Do you see it as an annual rite of passage? Is it to test your mettle? Or is it that you’re so desperate to get out of the house in late January that you’d find almost any excuse? We’d love to hear your thoughts.

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