Mercurys Sail Encinal Spring Series #1

Alameda lived up to its billing for racing in the springtime: light (0–5 knots), shifty winds and some strong currents. The weather was great, with sunshine and a perfect temperature allowing beautiful sailing in shorts and T-shirts. Twelve boats made for a great fleet of racers.

Throughout the day, picking the proper side of the course proved invaluable: Make a wrong choice and you could be sitting in a wind hole watching the rest of the fleet sail away. Upwind and downwind, the puffs, lifts and headers proved crucial to finishing well.

Local skipper John Hansen and crew Alan Sun showed a great knowledge of the wind shifts — when and where they would fill. Their finishes bore that out, recording bullets the last two races. Another John (skipper) and Michael (crew) Ravizza, perennial high finishers, had some strong races, and per John, he didn’t listen to his crew and they had a couple of mid-fleet finishes. Dave Bacci (skipper) and Scott Jenson (crew) made some good choices in the first two races, then stumbled with a couple of average starts in races three and four. They started late in race five for their throwout. Skipper David West and crew Chris Krueger booked results similar to the rest of the top 10. They had some strong races, then picked the wind incorrectly (or had some other issues, such as OCS or hitting marks) for some mid- to low fleet finishes.

PRO Aaron Lee, with the help of John Buestad, did a great job under the conditions, picked correctly when to start the races, and made a complete course change once to keep the racing going. As usual, Encinal Yacht Club provided a great venue and super hospitality after the racing. A big thanks to EYC.

Hope to see everyone (and more skippers) back on April 4!