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A Racing Hodgepodge

The Vic-Maui race had a scenic start.

© Andrew Madding / Bow Shot Productions

As the Vic-Maui Race fleet are passing San Francisco Bay’s latitude (at 128 to 132 degrees longitude), they’re beginning to swoop south-southwest. Last night, Guy Walters reported, "The winds are stronger nearer to the coast and boats are not so much heading south to catch the trades sooner, but rather, hugging the beach to stay in the wind… I’m sure we will see some more shifts in the next three or four days as boats decide when to turn west." Due to the estimated finish times on the leaderboard, the race committee is concerned that seven of the 13 boats are projected to finish after the deadline of 23:55 HST on July 26.

The Everett, WA, based Beneteau First 45f5 Family Affair took a jibe to the southeast earlier today. "No, we weren’t in any trouble," wrote Paul Michael. "We were just avoiding a large stationary high pressure system to the southwest of us… All the favorable northwest wind is stacked up along the coast. The favorable heading with our northwest wind is to the southwest which works us into the lighter winds. The solution is a costly jibe to the southeast. It’s a gamble to see if the risk is worth the reward." A 40-mile jibe this morning seems to have paid off a bit for them. "We’ll work out of the ridge of high pressure near 38 degrees north and will have more room to work to the west," said Michael. "You’ll see the race fleet begin to spread out starting there."

Like the Singlehanded TransPac, the Vic-Maui is using Yellowbrick trackers, which make the race fun to follow online. See www.vicmaui.org.

Hanne Weaver (left) and Dana Rohde are in first and third place, respectively, after two and a half days of racing in the US Junior Women’s Singlehanded Championship.

© 2012 Bart Zienda

Forty-eight young ladies are sailing in the US Junior Women’s Singlehanded Championship, hosted by Chicago YC in Laser Radials. Eight races were completed on Monday and Tuesday, with two today, the final day of competition on Lake Michigan. Hanne Weaver, of Gig Harbor, WA, took advantage of Tuesday’s strong winds as she surged to the front of the pack. Weaver was one of two sailors in the entire fleet who collected four top five scores, including a win in the opening race of the day. She heads into the final race with a nine point lead. The Seattle YC sailor finished 14th at the U.S. Laser Radial National Championships in May, and won a US Junior Olympic Sailing event in Seattle last August.

After nine races, with just one left to go, San Francisco’s Lola Bushnell is in second place.

© 2012 Bart Zienda

Several girls from the San Francisco Bay Area are sailing too. Lola Bushnell and Lindsey Baab, members of SFYC and StFYC, are in second and fourth place respectively. The event’s web pages are here.

A crowded start line.

© 2012 Bart Zienda

Robert McCreary will speak about the History & Evolution of the America’s Cup at Corinthian YC in Tiburon tonight. The event is free, but the club would like you to RSVP. See cyc.org/speakers.

San Francisco Bay racing this weekend includes the BAYS #3 Youth Regatta Saturday and Sunday on the North Circle, hosted by San Francisco YC, plus OYRA‘s Junior Waterhouse, Sausalito YC‘s Twin Island Race, and Bay View Boat Club’s Plastic Classic on Saturday. Lake races include the Trans-Tahoe, hosted by Tahoe YC, and Fresno YC’s High Sierra Regatta on Huntington Lake. Keelboats and Thistles race this weekend; results are up for last weekend’s centerboard divisions. See www.fresnoyachtclub.org.

The Cal 25 fleet will race for their National Championship in Long Beach Harbor starting on Friday. See www.lbyc.org

The Pacific Cup starts begin on Monday, July 16, and continue through Thursday the 19th. For many more events this month on and off the water, see our Calendar.

Dee Smith, formerly of Novato and now residing in Annapolis, is ramping up his fund-raising efforts for the Leukemia Cup. "You all know I have been working every year with the Leukemia Cup and have done okay with fund-raising. Seahorse magazine nicely enough put me up for sailor of the month mainly for this work. Please take a bit of time to put your vote in as it helps me to raise more money for cancer research. The link is www.seahorsemagazine.com/sailor-of-the-month. I feel a bit weird asking for votes, but I think this is a good cause."

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