Bay Area Knarr Fleet Takes on the East Bay Sunshine
Light-wind Knarr sailing while wearing shorts is normally reserved for whenever the International Knarr Championship (IKC) takes place in Denmark or Norway, but that wasn’t the case on August 9 and 10. The Knarr fleet made the tow (or in some cases sail) down past the Bay Bridge to Ballena Bay Yacht Club (BBYC) for the two-day Ballena Bay Knarr Regatta, featuring five races.
Saturday saw three races sailed. In the warm Alameda sun, the big breeze took much longer to arrive than in other parts of the Bay, meaning that the first two races were sailed in a very light four to six knots. The breeze came up for the final race of the day, delivering champagne conditions of flat water and 12 to 15 knots.
The early edge went to 20-year-old Tor Svendsen, filling in for his father Sean on Svenkist (StFYC). The younger Svendsen, a rising junior on the Boston College sailing team, was skippering his first full Knarr event. He wasted no time getting off to a strong start, winning the first race and finishing second in the second. The final race of the day saw a shakeup in standings as Three Boys & a Girl (Chris Perkins and Hans Baldauf, StFYC) took the bullet in race three. The standings going into Sunday were as tight as could be, with Don Jesberg’s VIVA (SFYC) and Svendsen tied in first with nine points. Jon Perkins and Kurt Hemmingsen’s Kulani (StFYC) were in third with 10 points, and Three Boys & a Girl were in fourth with 11.
Sunday saw similar timing with the breeze. The first race was even lighter than at any point on Saturday. The race committee decided to shorten the course to just one lap as teams battled a strong flood and breeze in the range of one knot with gusts of three. As on Saturday, the wind filled in early in the afternoon, again leading to champagne conditions for the final race of the day and the regatta.
It was an abnormally hectic Knarr event in terms of boat-to-boat action. For a fleet that races in very close quarters, the Knarrs usually avoid some of the major collisions often seen in other fleets, but this past weekend was an exception. Several collisions, both pre-start and during the race, sent wood chips flying at various points. Results from the weekend may not be entirely finalized yet, with several protests still waiting to be heard this Thursday.
When the dust settled, Jesberg won the event with 12 points from the five races, and only one finish outside the top three. Randy Hecht’s Niuhi (StFYC) was second with 19 points, and Kulani finished third with 20 points to round out the podium.
Up next for many of the San Francisco Bay Knarr teams is the 2025 IKC, which will be hosted in Copenhagen, Denmark, between August 23 and 30.