YRA 2nd Half Opener

July 24, 2010

by Dan Pruzan of Wile E. Coyote

 

While there were only 7 boats out for this year's Second Half Opener, the competition was very good all around.  The course (which will be used for the long-distance race in this year's Nationals) started north of Treasure Island, rounded the Pt. Bonita buoy to port, and finished in front of Encinal YC.  Our fleet started in about 14+ knots of breeze slightly past max flood which was 3.8 knots at the Gate.  I believe everyone was using their jibs and most of the fleet tacked onto port shortly after the start and held that tack up to the Marin headlands.  Desperado and Opa were the farthest north, Witchy was a bit south of them, and we were a bit farther south with Light'n Up and Chile Dog.  I lost track of Libra, but I think they stayed on starboard off the line.  Light'n Up was sailing with just 4 which hurt them upwind but paid off nicely on the downwind leg.  Chile Dog was on our windward hip and was sailing very well with a number of RYC juniors on board.  They were right with us all the way up to Harding at which point they had to tack away for clear air which unfortunately took them back out into the adverse current.  In the mean time, we were slowly but surely sliding across Witchy's transom as they were sailing higher and faster than us.  As we approached the headlands Opa tacked from leeward of us and crossed our bow.  Shortly thereafter we tacked with Desperado a few boat lengths behind us.  We all endured the cannonball gusts coming off the headlands and made our way toward the Gate.  By the time we got to the North Tower the flood wasn't too bad and we made it past with little drama.  

 

We sailed out to Bonita along the North shore ahead of Opa, who we passed just before the North Tower, and behind Witchy.  As we approached Bonita, the wind started getting lighter and we decided to change from the #3 to the #1 hoping the wind would continue to die (which it didn't).  When we finished the sail change we were still ahead of Opa and felt confident that we would extend on them as the wind dropped to about 8 knots and they still had their #3 up.  Somehow Opa passed us on the last tack to the mark and rounded right on our nose with Witchy a good ¼ mile in front of us.  The run to the Gate was pretty uneventful with most of the boats working the middle of the channel as the wind started building again.  As we sailed along the city front the wind built to the low 20's and we got in a few decent surfs.  Witchy was still ahead and sailing closer to the shoreline, we were further north and I think had a bit more speed, and Light'n Up was charging down the middle of the slot with better pressure and less crew weight.  The pressure stayed on pretty much all of the way to the Bay Bridge, but got lighter as usual once we crossed the bridge.  

 

By the time we got to the mouth of the Estuary we were a bit closer to Witchy, but Light'n Up was now right on our transom.  We gybed towards the middle of the Estuary to avoid the embarrassment of being rolled in close quarters by Light'n Up, and they sailed passed us as they hugged the south shore.  Eventually Light'n Up caught up to Witchy, and the ensuing cat fight between those two allowed us to catch up and join the fray.  The three of us exchanged a number of gybes and crossings in pretty tight quarters in the vicinity of Jack London Square.  Shortly thereafter, the wind rotated to a broad reach and it became a drag race to the finish.  The three of us finished overlapped and we were lucky enough to cross first with Witchy second and Light'n Up third.  All-in-all it was a fun day for the WEC crew which included Mike Herbert, calling tactics and spin trim, Eleanor Bonifacio, pit gal and Mike's handler, Michael Whelden, trim, and Dayne Wilcox on foredeck.