SFYC Hosts Mercurys for Hart Nunes Regatta
Nine Mercury crews from around the Bay Area towed their boats to beautiful San Francisco Yacht Club last weekend for a great two days of racing for the Hart Nunes trophy. Due to a mending but brand-new knee, longtime Mercury ace Randy Smith ran the racing with the help of experienced PRO Jeff Zarwell. In challenging conditions (constant changes in wind direction and speed), they did a great job of setting the courses and keeping things moving.
The hope was to be able to sail on the 2023 Nationals course well up into Richardson Bay. In the first race Dave West and crew Chris Krueger got off to a fast start, arriving first at the weather mark from the left side. Close on their heels were John and Mike Ravizza, and Scott Easom and Haydon Stapleton, sailing in Scott’s newly and beautifully refurbished Nunes, 8-Ball. Scott managed to get through John, but West held on to his lead through the finish.
The second race was on those same waters, as the wind was holding up pretty well -— shifty and challenging but with only a few dead spots. Easom got out ahead and built a large lead with West in pursuit. They were comfortably ahead of the pack. Until the finish, that is, when the wind shut off at the finish line but not back up the course, allowing those not yet in the hole to sail around it. Shaum Sinawi and crew Christian Buestad broke through West that way for second, while Scott held on for first as the fleet bore down on him.
With the wind having died deep into the bay, the committee moved the third course out to the mouth of Richardson Bay. But the wind wouldn’t cooperate there either, puffing through, sometimes with force, then dying out for a few minutes before starting the cycle over again. Proving his second- and first-place finishes in the first couple of races were no fluke, Scott sailed away from everyone for another bullet. Though please note: There’s no truth to the rumor he’d already showered and shaved before the last of the fleet made it back to the dock. Back on the dock, the San Francisco Yacht Club treated sailors to abundant and hearty hors d’oeuvres and libations on a beautiful evening.
Sunday’s racing was back at the top of Richardson Bay, with the good conditions enjoyed for nearly all of the first two races on Saturday. Shaum and Christian led for the first half of that race, but Scott and Haydon eventually broke through for the win. John and Mike Ravizza followed in third.
In the fifth and final race, West/Krueger again got off to a good first leg, holding a healthy lead for the first half of the three-times-around course. But Easom chased them down too, overtaking them at the second leeward mark, and stretching out over the last two legs, to cap a remarkable 2-1-1-1-1 regatta! Not bad for his first time back in the boat in a decade or so!
Congratulations to Scott and Haydon, and many thanks to SFYC and Randy Smith for organizing, overseeing, and executing a great weekend of tight racing.