Coyote Point Yacht Club Hosts Winter Sail #4

Eight boats came out to see what kind of story the Bay intended to tell. The forecast spoke confidently of southerlies bending from southeast to southwest. The water had other ideas. By day’s end we had sampled nearly every compass point — and misplaced a mark for good measure.

The course began ambitiously — 11 nautical miles by intention if not outcome — with Paradigm setting off as rabbit. Ventus struck first at 8, Sweet Grapes close astern, Paradigm in pursuit. Then the wind thinned to a rumor. Half the fleet stalled in flood current, sliding sideways while sails hung in quiet negotiation. Sirius and Pelican retired; the rest waited it out.

The breeze returned in cautious installments — first two-and-a-half knots, then six, then nine — never from where predicted. Positions reshuffled at Z, at A, and again when Mark D proved missing, sending the fleet to 8 instead. Through it all, Surprise! kept finding a way forward.

In the channel, with gusts and ghosts trading places, the finish felt earned. On corrected time: Surprise! first, Paradigm second, Chablis IV third, Ventus fourth, Will O’ The Wind fifth, Sweet Grapes sixth.

Winter does not promise fairness. It promises character.