Reader Submission: Midnight Marathon

The following comes to us from David James as part of our Reader Submission Series (if you have a good sea story or a great photo, please send it here):  

"There are some traditions on the Bay that are deserving of resurrection. One of the foremost is San Francisco Yacht Club’s Midnight Moonlight Maritime Marathon. Back in the ’90s this race attracted as many as 40-plus boats for a medium-distance race with a late afternoon start in Raccoon Strait to the Carquinez Bridge and back. (One year the previous owner of Latitude 38 even ran his Ocean 71 ketch, Big O, into the only mark of the course!)

"The race is held on one of the longer days of the year with a pursuit start, meaning handicaps are applied at the start with the slowest boats on the line at 4 p.m. and progressively faster boats thereafter. The format aims for theoretically simultaneous finishes around midnight.

"This year, more than a dozen boats — ranging from a pair of Cal 20s to a Farr 40 — were rewarded with a spectacular evening of racing on July 15. The conditions featured something for everyone, with currents both fair and foul and everything from light-air running to breezy pole-on-the-headstay reaching on the way home.

"A spectacular sunset was a special treat for those crew enjoying a warm gourmet meal on the rail. The pursuit format delivered in spades, with the top half of the fleet finishing within a few hundred yards of one another after 34 miles of competitive racing and everyone home by 12:30 a.m.

"The results showed the diversity of the fleet, with Jib Martens’ Worth 40 Freedom in second place and within whispering distance behind Trygve Liljestrand’s J/90 Ragtime. An anonymous neighbor even provided fireworks for the first boats to finish! After the race, the fleet retired to SFYC’s bar for clam chowder, a refreshing beverage and a commitment to return again next year." See www.sfyc.org for complete results.