Doo Dah’ers Reach the Heat
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The ‘Fab 4’ edition of the Delta Doo Dah officially started Saturday morning after a delightful kickoff party at Berkeley YC the night before. While some boats started from Berkeley Marina, which had hosted many of the fleet, the rest started from all over the Bay — Sausalito, San Rafael, even South Bay. As Vallejo YC, the event’s first destination, asked boats to hold off arriving until their Learn to Sail class finished up around 1 p.m., Doo Dah’ers enjoyed a lazy morning before flying up San Pablo Bay in upward of 20 knots. "I didn’t start smiling until the sun broke out around Pt. San Pablo," reported Niels Frommann of the CS 34 Moondance.
© Latitude 38 Media, LLC
Indeed, the fleet were not only welcomed to VYC with sun and much-appreciated heat, but with Beatles music blasting over the PA system. Most arrived in plenty of time to partake in a mouth-watering — and stomach-expanding — spread that included steak sandwiches, onion rings, salad, corn on the cob and asparagus risotto for the veggies in the crowd. Dinner was followed by the skippers’ meeting, educating Doo Dah’ers — especially those new to the Delta — on what to expect over the coming days, a presentation on marine sanitation in the Delta by the ‘Prince of Poop’, James Muller of the San Francisco Estuary Partnership, and the requisite pile of prizes to keep everyone in their seats!
© Latitude 38 Media, LLC
©2012 Latitude 38 Media, LLC
Yesterday morning, VYC provided another gut-busting meal — with coffee offered by Organo-Gold, who was there sampling their excellent selection of instant coffees (we’re not talking Sanka here, folks!) — before the fleet took off around noon, bound for Sugar Barge on Bethel Island. It was a long, luxurious day of sailing, and the dreary-weary Bay sailors reveled in the sun and warm breezes. A few boats decided to tuck in for the night along the way but the bulk of the fleet made their way down Piper Slough, where they all no doubt enjoyed a delicious brunch served by owners Dave and Tracy this morning.
© Latitude 38 Media, LLC
© Latitude 38 Media, LLC
A few boats found the mud entering Piper, but one boat got a line wrapped in their prop before the entrance to False River. While trying to get the foresail down, he unfortunately ran up onto the levee. Several boats stayed on station while Barry Foster and his crew aboard Tinuviel managed to get close enough to drop off crewmember Pat, who also brought a line to the boat. Tinuviel was able to pull the boat free and got him anchored until Tow Boat U.S. arrived to take him to Sugar Barge and clear his prop. As of this morning, the remaining boats are making their way to Sugar Barge so they can join in Peter Yates’ always-epic beach party, which will be followed by a Beatles-themed costume party tonight. Tomorrow, the fleet will make their way to King Island Resort where they will be treated to a tasty luau. We’ll have a full report on the festivities in Wednesday’s ‘Lectronic.
© Latitude 38 Media, LLC
Olympic Sailing Events Underway
Competition began yesterday (Sunday, July 29) in three of the 10 Olympic sailing classes, with finals in all classes scheduled for the week of August 5-11.
On day one, which featured shifty winds, most competitors on the U.S.’ 16-ember team struggled, although Team USA was victorious in Women’s Match Racing contest against Denmark. The team, made up of Olympic veterans Anna Tunnicliffe and Debbie Capozzi, plus newcomer Molly O’Bryan Vandemoer, had bad luck during their second match-up against Spain, as they hit the anchor line of a course buoy, which stopped them momentarily, quashing their chance for a second win. Today’s two matches will be against Portugal and Australia. Check this link for complete schedule and results.
Members of Team USA are:
• Amanda Clark (Shelter Island, N.Y.) and Sarah Lihan (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) – 470 (Women’s Two Person Dinghy)
• Anna Tunnicliffe (Plantation, Fla.), Molly Vandemoer (Stanford, Calif.) and Debbie Capozzi (Bayport, N.Y.) – Elliott 6m (women’s match racing)
• Bob Willis (Chicago, Ill.)—RS:X (Men’s Windsurfer)
• Erik Storck (Huntington, N.Y.) and Trevor Moore (Pomfret, Vt./Naples, Fla.)—49er (Men’s Two Person Dinghy High Performance)
• Farrah Hall (Annapolis, Md.) – RS:X (Women’s Windsurfer)
• Mark Mendelblatt and Brian Fatih (both Miami, Fla.) – Star (Men’s Keelboat)
• Paige Railey (Clearwater, Fla.) – Laser Radial (Women’s One Person Dinghy)
• Rob Crane (Darien, Conn.)—Laser (Men’s One Person Dinghy)
• Stu McNay (Boston, Mass.) and Graham Biehl (San Diego, Calif.)—470 (Men’s Two Person Dinghy)
• Zach Railey (Clearwater, Fla.) – Finn (Men’s One Person Dinghy Heavy)
Nepotism in Lake County?
Well, this should help Lake County residents sleep well at night. Former deputy sheriff Russell Perdock was appointed to the Lake County Fire Protection District board of directors last week. Readers may recall that Perdock was racing his 385-hp Baja Outlaw powerboat at 50 mph across Clear Lake on the pitch black night of April 26, 2006, when he ran up and over the O’Day 28 Beats Workin’ II, mortally wounding Willows resident Lynn Thornton and injuring most of the crew aboard. He was never charged with a crime, but hapless Bismarck Dinius, who had his hand on the tiller at the time Perdock collided with the nearly stationary O’Day, was. Ultimately, Dinius was acquitted by a jury, Perdock was canned by the Sheriff’s Office and the district attorney who prosecuted Dinius — and refused to prosecute Perdock — Jon E. Hopkins, was not re-elected.
The Record-Bee’s report on the appointment noted that Perdock has never served as a volunteer or paid firefighter, but his father had and his mother had served on the same board. Might make some wonder how he got the gig.