18-Footers Take Bridge to Bridge

For the second year in a row, an 18-footer won the Ronstan Bridge to Bridge race. John Winning’s Yandoo edged out his son Herman’s Appliances Online by 38 seconds after sailing the 7.5 mile course that starts just outside the Golden Gate Bridge and finishes just off the west side of Yerba Buena Island in 19m, 54s.

The race was a counter for the 18-footers regatta which wraps up today at St. Francis YC. So not only were the 18-footers racing the kiteboarders, windsurfers and a newcomer to the event — Chris Welsh’s Spencer 65 Ragtime, which finished 16th overall — they were also racing each other in the midst of the 59-strong fleet of boats and boards

It was a tough one for the kiters — only seven of the 30 starters finished. As the fleet passed Pier 39 and made the turn for the finish, they ran out of breeze. After seeing pressure in the mid-twenties at the start, by the time the sailors reached the finish, the breeze had dropped to about five knots.