Tuesday Night Racing in Sausalito
Sausalito Yacht Club’s August 8 Summer Sunset race was sailed in typical Bay Area summer conditions, with a brisk westerly wind, waning ebb and an early sunset. Eight spinnaker boats came to the line, but three suffered gear failure. Prior to the start, Steve Gordon’s J/88 Inconceivable radioed and asked to borrow a bosun’s chair so a masthead issue could be sorted out. Inconceivable started late.
During the race, Ron Anderson’s J/105 Streaker lost a sheave for the spinnaker halyard, and Nick Sands’ Sabre 402 Escapade’s headsail tack failed — a partially rolled-up genoa, which unrolled on each tack, slowed them down. Streaker went home, but Inconceivable and Escapade sailed the course, even though they were far behind. Race chair Doug Ford commented on "a good deal of Corinthian spirit on display for completing the race!"
A windward/ leeward drop-mark course between Point Knox (Angel Island) and Yellow Bluff (Sausalito headlands) provided ample opportunity for boats to test less wind and ebb on the north side of the course, and more wind and ebb to the south. The usual swirling westerly wind under Yellow Bluff allowed crews to practice quick tacks when a favored lift turned into a major header. An outgoing automobile ship helped make things interesting on the second windward leg for boats seeking the ebb in the shipping channel, forcing them to tack early and providing dead air as it slowly proceeded along the south side of the course.
The spinnaker and large-boat white-sail divisions toured the course twice, while the small-boat non-spinnaker fleet rounded it once. Chuck Cihak’s J/105 Hazardous Waste emerged the winner in the spinnaker division, followed by Gary Panariello’s J/88 Courageous. Scott Lamson’s J/105 Mamaluc eked out an 18-second win over Bob Bloom’s J/35 Jarlen in the big-boat non-spinnaker fleet. Philip Hyndman’s Cal 29 Serendipity finished first in the small-boat non-spinnaker division.
The next SYC Sunset race will be sailed tomorrow night, and the every-other-Tuesday-night series will continue through September 19. For more information, go to www.sausalitoyachtclub.org.