Trans Tahoe Regatta Report

The 45th Annual Trans Tahoe Regatta was held on Saturday with 37 boats starting shortly after noon in seven classes under warm, sunny skies with a 10-knot breeze. The 35-mile route ran from Tahoe City to Sugar Pine Point on the west shore, over to Deadman’s Point on the east shore, and back. Winds were forecast to rise two knots per hour and temperatures to remain steady. The Tahoe Yacht Club was well prepared for their summer classic, but it was not going to happen.

Wind speeds rose steadily throughout the hours of the race to a fresh 18 knots. Shortly after the leaders rounded the leeward mark at Deadman’s Point, dark clouds appeared over Desolation Wilderness. The breeze piped up and temperatures suddenly dropped 20 degrees for the long beat to weather — the wind speed quickly doubled, suddenly gusting to over to over 40 knots. Then the rain arrived, going from sprinkles to a downpour to sleet. Visibililty diminished radically, and the lake swell rose to three feet, coming directly from the windward mark.

Smaller boats still running downwind randomly rounded up or were knocked over. Several spinnakers blew out and mainsails were shredded, leaving a number of vessels incapacitated, some to be rescued by the Coast Guard. Many sailors, prepared for mild temps and moderate breeze, found themselves very wet and extremely cold in their shorts and T-shirts. Fortunately, no one was lost overboard to the chilly Tahoe waters. The unexpectedly severe weather lasted about two hours, but by the end of it, most of the horses had headed back to the barn.

In the end, only nine of the 37 starters finished the course. John Corda and Richard Courcier’s Farr 36 Wicked finished first overall, while our J/124 Pleiades took second place. By the time we reached the finish line around 5 p.m., we were ghosting through a near calm in bright sunshine and warm temperatures again. Welcome to Lake Tahoe!

Editor’s Note: Full results can be found HERE.