Island Yacht Club Jack & Jill Regatta Delivers a Fun Day on the Estuary

Since 1997, Island Yacht Club (IYC) has been running the Jack & Jill +1 race, a women-skippered race on the Oakland Estuary. Our most recent race was on October 19. Before the race started we had an issue: Our normal markset boat, David Buoy, had an engine failure. Our markset team was determined that “the race must go on,” so they used another member’s boat to tow the markset boat and drop the marks as planned.

Curiosity towed David Buoy to place the marks, since the marks do not fit on Curiosity. We were READY! It was a beautiful, sunny afternoon near Alameda Marina, and we expected a good race day. However, Mother Nature had plans.

From the race deck, we could see some large low-wind areas on the water, so we discussed our options. Even though any time on the water is fun, racers are not keen on drifting, even in the sunshine. Fortunately, minor course adjustments and the restoration of higher winds allowed all racers to finish within the time limit. This was a relief!

Although we have not had a clubhouse for several years, this has never diminished our club’s energy for post-race celebrations! We celebrated and announced our fleet winners at the Boathouse Tavern, showing the fun time everyone had. Some names are IYC boats that race on the Bay, so they may be familiar. For Santana 22s, we had Anemone, Fun and Blue Pearl in first, second and third respectively. For Spinnaker, we had Dream Catcher, Bewitched, and Faster Faster! for first, second and third respectively. Mystic was first, second and third as the only boat in its fleet. You can blame the race chair, me, for the one-boat fleet. In the end, sailing is ALWAYS FUN!

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