Oakland Yacht Club Sails Sunday Brunch
OYC’s 2026 race program kicked into gear on Sunday, January 4. It was a very rainy day, and the RC PRO (whoops, that was me) decided the racers were already wet after the first lap; the wind was good, so I sent them on the second lap of the course. Most were happy to stay out and race, got their foulies wet and then headed back to the Club to try to dry out and enjoy the after-race buffet, the bar and prizes. There were a few comments about how the only dry people in the room were the race committee!
At the next race on Sunday the 18th, we started with Kame Richards speaking about Estuary awareness. The focus of knowing the impact of buildings and other objects along the Estuary, how to use them to racers’ advantage and when to avoid them if possible can make a difference. As always we had a great turnout and we all learned from the presentation and discussion. Afterward we passed the hat for a donation to Alameda Community Sailing Center (ACSC), and raised $400+.Their mission is to provide opportunities for participation in sailing on San Francisco Bay through access and education. And they have a wonderful scholarship program, so many who perhaps otherwise couldn’t afford it actually can attend and learn to sail!
Race two offered very different conditions from race one, with little to no wind even up to the start. So the race committee went with the shortest courses available to support the possibility of all finishing. And it worked. It was slow going, and there was pretty good ebb, so it was very challenging. Sailing and racing in moderate to heavy wind is more predictable than in light wind, and some of us see light-wind sailing and racing to be more difficult — takes more finesse and less muscle.
Race four was forecast to have rain, but it was somewhat delayed, so we managed to get in a race with 25 boats. The wind was 12–14 knots with substantial gusts throughout the races. There was a full ebb with a change of about 6.5 feet (strong), wind from the north, and all raced Course #9 — meaning the second leg had the ebb to help them along. There was some great racing!
Race six started with another in our Speaker Series: Ryan Nelson, owner of Rogue Rigging, joined us to talk about rigging and rig maintenance, sharing useful tools and parts options and answering questions about maintenance you can do. And he brought his mangled-parts collection, which is a bit scary. Overall it makes you more aware and in tune (pun intended) with keeping your rig tuned and maintained.
Race seven: Oh, but you have to love light-wind sailing in the Estuary. A short postponement, and then with wind at 4, maybe 5 knots and some glass here and there, we rolled into the starts. The wind picked up just a little, but not trusting it to hold, we went one lap on short courses. In hindsight, we probably could have picked longer courses, but it’s always a tough call. So, short races and back to the Club for race prizes, series prizes and lots of hanging out talking sailing.
It was a great Sunday Brunch at the Oakland Yacht Club.