SBYC’s Hot Holiday Regatta

Santa Barbara typically has some of the most pleasant sailing in Southern California, but on days when it goes off, it really goes off. The Santa Barbara YC’s Holiday Regatta last weekend featured one of those super-big days, providing a rare occasion for the affirmative use of the phrase, "It’s never like this here…"

At 10 a.m. on Saturday morning, the breeze was 0-5 knots out of the southeast with the remnants of a light rain beginning to dissipate. An hour later, the breeze had shifted to the northwest and turned on, reaching 20 knots almost instantly.

With the rapidly building waves that accompanied that breeze, even the most intrepid sailors in the Harbor 20 fleet wisely decided to head back to the dock before the first race even started. They were followed by about half the boats from remaining fleets — J/70s, J/105s, Melges 24s, and two PHRF divisions.

But for those who stayed, the reward was edge-of-control planing conditions as the cold breeze built to the high-20s with puffs into the high-30s. Savage wipeouts afflicted just about everyone remaining on the racecourse, but fortunately every boat came back with the same number of crew they started with. Full results here.