
CYC Midwinters Saturday Finish Line Looked Like a Starting Line
Saturday’s Corinthian Midwinters race felt backward, because the finish line was more congested than the usual start line.

It all started with beautiful Bay Area winter weather, though while it was nice to be on the water, it’s nicer with wind. Fortunately, as the Saturday fog cleared and the sun shone through, the wind edged up just enough to end the postponement. All classes got off the line near the Knox buoy on an ambitious 11-mile course to Blackhaller, Phil Perkins buoy and a Harding/Knox zigzag before the intended finish. Mother Nature had other plans. Wind holes, current lines and the ongoing fickle breezes kept the fleet struggling to get to Blackhaller, with the Phil Perkins buoy still far away against a building ebb.

The race committee, recognizing all those marks beyond the Perkins buoy were never going to be rounded before the time limit was up, shortened the course and moved the finish to the Perkins buoy off Fort Mason. The announcement was made early enough for the first few finishers to cross the line about 10 minutes before 3 p.m., but it took another hour before the rest of the fleet reached the line where “congestion pricing” kicked in. It was Zhenya Kirueshkin-Stepanoff on his Viper 830 Greyhound who pulled off first to finish, closely followed by Craig Paige on his SR 33 Kuda Wuda and then Daniel Thielman on his Melges 32 Kuai.

Despite widely varying ratings, start times, strategies, sail selections and luck, almost all remaining competitors ended up converging on the finish line at about 4 p.m. Some boats were furiously jibing back and forth out toward the middle, trying to get enough apparent wind to steer down and gain some easterly toward the finish against the ebb. Others were trying to sneak east along the shoreline, ducking in between the Fort Mason piers. Regardless of choice, there was very little air and none of it was clear. The boats were everywhere, trying to find a lane and some breeze.

PRO Marcus Canestra, foreseeing finish line mayhem, cheekily requested on the radio, “Could all boats converging on the finish line spread out a little bit so we can get your finish times?”

The fleet didn’t listen and continued doing their best to create a simultaneous arrival. A few boats managed to finish 10-15 minutes before 4 p.m. but in the last minutes before and right after 4 p.m., close to 40 boats finished, causing the committee to just start sounding the finish horn and record it all on video to be sorted out later. The congestion was more amazing as the faster spinnaker classes started on the same course 25 minutes ahead of the slower, non-spin fleet, yet all arrived together.

As the committee was trying to finish the fleet that was heading down against an ebb at slow speed, the fleet was bunching up toward the committee. The result was a race raft-up of four to six boats rail-to-rail up against the inflatable committee boat, all with their sails mostly blocking the view to the pin end.

When all was said and done, most of the fleet managed to finish, with only nine of the 60-boat fleet retiring. Naturally, once the race was finished everyone jibed to port to sail back to the Corinthian and found a nice breeze for a long, pleasant, sunny reach home.

That left the race committee to spend the evening watching and rewatching the finish-line video to make their best guess at finishing times and award prizes for the day. Racers didn’t mind the wait for results as the steel band played during a first-rate dinner buffet before everyone went home to rest and return to do it all again on Sunday.

Sunday was a bust. The optimistic race committee and fleet headed out under gray skies, hoping the clouds would again part and the breeze return. It was not to be. Hopeful moments vanished on a glassy Bay. After about an hour-and-a-half of postponement, the committee pulled the plug, much to the relief of racers tending limp sails and idling engines. It was a race to the bar for the end of the Eagles vs. Rams game, with a commitment to pull off a two-race Saturday in February.
While people say watching sailing is like watching paint dry, everyone on board for the finish on Saturday would tell you there can be a lot of excitement in a fleet going just 1–2 knots.
It was a crazy finish! One boat called “proper course” on Basic Instinct, and I shouted back…proper course on a windless finish with reverse tide means what? And a funny comment form one of my crew…”We are close to the finish…but not close to finishing!” But that usually is winter racing!
Thanks CYC Yacht Club!