A Racing Extravaganza on the Estuary

The Estuary Extravaganza was held Sunday, July 26, and it was a great day for Estuary racing. Encinal Yacht Club, Island Yacht Club and Oakland Yacht Club got together in 2020 and decided to create a jointly developed and managed Sunday Estuary Regatta. It has become an annual race and is now scheduled for the Sunday after the Encinal Regatta.

We had sun and a good breeze — around 10 to 12 knots — that stayed fairly constant throughout the two races. There were five fleets, four PHRF and one non-spinnaker fleet, a total of 30 boats with the largest being Express 37s and the smallest being Harbor 20s. There were 10 courses available, ranging from 1.8km (1.2 miles) to 6.0km (3.7 miles) and a target finish time by fleet of one hour.

The races started at Alameda Marina, and starts were managed by Island Yacht Club. Courses covered the Estuary from Jack London Square to Coast Guard Island and a mark set down in Brooklyn Basin. Encinal Yacht Club was responsible for getting the marks placed, and for any additional support as needed for the start and finish race committees (RC). Oakland Yacht Club managed the finishes.

The first race went off on time, first signal at 1200 with rolling starts, and the five fleets were racing using a variety of the courses available. The finish line was not restricted, so boats were racing upwind and downwind through the line, if that was the best approach for reaching their next mark. It added some chaos to the finishes, as the RC sorted out the downwind boats as to which was finishing and which was moving through to their next mark.

Once a fleet had completed their first race, the race committee was advised, and that fleet would be radioed and readied to start Race 2. Race 1 was completed within the hour target for each fleet, but the fleet was spread out enough that the challenge became distinguishing those completing the first race from those that had moved into Race 2. The Estuary was full of boats moving well, trading tacks, crossing paths, and flying spinnakers.

Encinal Yacht Club hosted the after-event, where results were shared and racers chatted about the experiences of their day. It seemed all had a fun day, and there was talk about having three races in next year’s regatta! It was a nice way to finish up the weekend.