
Robgatta 3

Corinthian YC wrapped up its two-part Midwinter Series over the weekend, and the 94 crews that raced enjoyed two days of romping around San Francisco Bay in sunshine and breeze.

With little breeze in the morning, prospects for racing on Saturday were looking dire, and the day began with more than an hour of postponement. Then the westerly appeared from out of nowhere and ramped up to the high teens. Boats were getting knocked around at Yellow Bluff, with 30-knot gusts swooping down off the bluff.

Saturday does double duty as the Rob Moore Memorial Regatta, a fundraiser for Free to Breathe, a lung-cancer research nonprofit. All sorts of Robgatta festivities were held in the club’s ballroom after the race. Linnea Olson, from Lowell, MA, flew out to talk about living with lung cancer, which she’s had for 10 years. "Linnea wasn’t sure she would be up to traveling," said event organizer Leslie Richter, "but the current trial drug is working very well."
Olson’s touching speech was a hard act to follow. Cue Bay Area sailing icon Liz Baylis. The 2002 Yachtswoman of the Year chairs the ISAF Match Racing Committee and is the executive director of the Women’s International Match Racing Association. But she spoke about her experiences in 2013-14 coaching the all-female Oman Sail Team in Sailing Arabia the Tour.

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The talks were followed by a live auction, a raffle, and prizes for the day’s racing. The Summertime Dream Perpetual Trophy, a tiller extension in a pretty gnarly wrapping, was previously won by the Farr 36 Sweet Okole in 2013 and Yucca in 2014.

No waiting was necessary for Sunday’s race, as the day started out with a brisk northerly that allowed no fog or haze and never let up. More post-race prize-giving followed, including the Aotea Team Trophy for the best performance by three boats from the same club, which went to Richmond YC. We’ll have more on that plus final results in the April issue of Latitude 38 (March has already gone to press, and will be out on February 27).

For more on Robgatta, see www.bayarearacingfederation.org — it’s not too late to make a donation — and for more on the Midwinters, see www.cyc.org.