The Weekend That Ate Spinnakers in Tahoe

The last weekend of June showcased two exciting sides of South Lake Tahoe racing. Around the Pins on Saturday, June 27, dished out three buoy races in heavy-air conditions that left a trail of broken gear and shredded spinnakers. By Sunday, June 28, the breeze had eased just enough for the Commodore’s Cup to become a tactical mid-distance chess match instead of a survival contest.

With winds building into the high teens and gusting well over 25 knots, several boats made the prudent decision to stay ashore. The day ultimately became an all-Express 27 affair, with five boats lining up for three windward-leeward races in spicy conditions.

The carnage began before the starting gun.

Wild Thing shredded its only spinnaker during a practice hoist, leaving four boats with kites for the opening race. Race two claimed another victim when New Wave rounded down in a shifty gust and snapped her spinnaker pole. Shortly after the second race, Dianne’s chute got to meet the rudder. By the final race, only Under the Radar and Expressway were still flying spinnakers; the rest of the fleet resorted to wing-on-wing tactics for the screaming downwind legs.

Despite the growing pile of broken gear, racing remained remarkably close. The final race came down to a tight finish, proving that even without spinnakers, the South Lake Tahoe fleet knows how to put on a show.

Greg Felton’s Under the Radar emerged victorious, posting three straight bullets with a crew sailing together for the first time.

“We had never before sailed together,” Felton said. “But I had faith in all the individuals and in the crew to meld.”

Rather than trying to match the fleet’s aggressive downwind tactics, Under the Radar adopted a strategy born from caution and observation. After discovering during a practice jibe that maneuvering in 25-plus knots with a new crew was asking for trouble, they developed a different plan. Instead of setting immediately after each weather mark, they jibed onto port first, giving themselves time to organize the foredeck before setting the spinnaker. They waited until they could comfortably lay the leeward mark on starboard without another jibe.

“More than anything else, this differentiated our approach from the fleet,” Felton explained.

The conservative tactic paid dividends. While other boats fought deep angles, broaches and gear failures, Under the Radar sailed stable broad reaches, executed clean leeward douses, and steadily climbed through the fleet. By the final race, their strategy looked even smarter, as only one other boat remained capable of flying a spinnaker.

Sunday’s Commodore’s Cup was a welcome change of pace. With a friendlier breeze and a larger PHRF fleet, competitors set off on a 10-mile course that proved to be more of a tactical puzzle than a test of survival.

The forecast called for a light northwesterly that would gradually clock west throughout the afternoon, making it a classic “head out of the boat” day. The race committee’s course selection couldn’t have been better. On the opening beat, the fleet split between the east shoreline and the middle of the lake, each side offering its own advantages. Boats sailing left found steadier pressure but sailed extra distance, while those hugging the east shore enjoyed better VMG in shiftier air. The convergence of boats at the windward mark off Zephyr Cove made for a busy and exciting rounding.

“Our start wasn’t great, so we rolled the dice and went inshore,” said Ashley Farr on New Wave. “It was nerve-racking, but when we looked around, we were in good company with Ross Groelz’s Eagle and Steve Katzman’s Dianne.”

Spencer Griscom’s Melges 24 BOB won the race to the weather mark, set its asymmetrical spinnaker, and quickly stretched its lead downwind. New Wave rounded next, leading the inshore group.

Midway through the downwind, the breeze started to shift again and the most westerly boats were picking up speed. “It looked like it was going to be a parade to the finish until we noticed that Under the Radar settled unexpectedly into a much higher lane than us,” Farr said. “Don’t sleep on the Tahoe westerly.”

In the end, BOB claimed line honors as the expected westerly eventually filled across the course, but the northwesterly held on long enough for New Wave to take the corrected-time victory.

Special thanks to our incredible PRO, Steve Sheldon, and our race committee volunteers, Breanna Di Pinto, Craig Forsberg and Leslie De Tarr. From managing challenging conditions during Around the Pins to setting an outstanding tactical course for the Commodore’s Cup, their efforts ensured two days of exceptional racing!