Three Bridge Fiasco Preview

The chatter at yacht clubs this past weekend inevitably turned to strategy for next Saturday’s Three Bridge Fiasco. “Which way are you going to go?” is the question on the minds of the skippers (and doublehanded crewmembers) contemplating this crazy race. The premise of the Three Bridge Fiasco is complex in its simplicity. The simple part: Sail around three widely spaced fixed marks in any direction and order you choose. The complex part: The organizing authority (the Singlehanded Sailing Society) leaves the choice to each skipper.

Factors to consider include: wind predictions, current predictions, the behavior of boats starting before and with you, whether you’ll be on port or starboard at the start and at crowded mark roundings, whether you’re going to fly a spinnaker, and the particular characteristics of your own boat. Last but not least, where your homeport lies in relation to the course — in case there’s no wind and you decide to call it a day.

The race starts and finishes off the Golden Gate Yacht Club on the San Francisco Marina. Blackaller Buoy (near the south end of the Golden Gate Bridge), Yerba Buena/Treasure Island (bisecting the Bay Bridge), and Red Rock (near the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge) are the rounding marks on the nominally 21-mile course. It seems as if currents are always adverse for the Three Bridge Fiasco, with ebb in the morning and flood in the afternoon, but this year at least will not see a repeat of last year’s huge ebb that swept boats out the Gate. (That fate befell last weekend’s Corinthian Midwinters, which coincided with a full moon in perigee.)

The forecast calls for dry weather; it’s too early to predict what the wind will do. Latitude 38 has a new weather page on our website. Check it out at www.latitude38.com/weather. Tides are shown too.

Be sure to read the Notice of Race/Standing Sailing Instructions for the SSS season and the Three Bridge Fiasco Sailing Instructions. You’ll find these documents plus the online registration on Jibeset.

A few more tips:

1. Check in on the appropriate VHF channel more than 10 minutes before your start time. Boats with sail numbers ending in an even number check in on VHF 70. Boats with sail numbers that end in an odd number check in on VHF 71. Be careful not to step on other transmissions. If you don’t hear a confirmation from the race committee, try again. If you’re using a handheld radio, maybe wait until you’re within view of GGYC.
2. Make sure your running lights are in working order and remember to turn them on at sunset.
3. The theory behind a pursuit race is that everyone starts at different times but finishes at the same time. Hence, finishes can be chaotic for the volunteers on the race deck. So make a note of your own finish time and the boat(s) that finished ahead and behind you, in case the race committee needs clarification.
4. If you don’t cross the finish line, be sure to check out via VHF. If you don’t receive an acknowledgment from the race committee, call the SSS voice mail at (866) 724-5777. The volunteers can’t go home until they account for every boat.
5. For the reason noted in #3, practice delayed gratification and cut the race committee some slack if the results aren’t posted immediately.

To glean more knowledge from minds greater and more experienced than ours, be sure to attend the skippers’ meeting (crews welcome too!) at Oakland Yacht Club in Alameda this Wednesday, January 23, at 7:30 p.m. Kame Richards of Pineapple Sails will talk about the currents. This meeting will feel like old home week to some who may not have seen their fellow competitors since before the holidays. Wednesday will also be the deadline to enter. Then show up on the Cityfront before your appointed start time (determined by your rating) on Saturday the 26th to join the 230 boats that have registered as of this morning.

OYC will host the awards presentation on Wednesday, February 6. Every racer gets a shirt, so everyone should go, whether they win — or even finish — the race or not.

We will of course have full coverage in the March — not February — issue of Latitude 38.