Where are all my fellow e27 racers???? You can't miss this great event.

The following is a great article that I hope will inspire more boats to come enjoy this great race......

Digging the Ditch

Copywrite 2006 erik s simonson

It’s been described as “ Like sailing from SF to Hawaii, you start off on a cold reach, Set the spinnaker and slowly start shedding clothes, than party like it 1999 at the finish”

I have to agree with some of that, provided your route to Hawaii included narrow shipping channels, keel grabbing shoals and 100 or so gybes…

The Delta Ditch Run, has become a must sail for Northern Californians, in it’s 16 year history, this 67.5 mile classic down winder from Richmond to Stockton has grown in size and popularity. Alumni of the event crow gleefully when reminiscing over past year events and groan loudly if their schedule conflicts with the opportunity to compete in this late spring extravaganza!

Originally an off shoot of the Stockton Sailing Clubs, South Tower Race, which challenged crews to beat to weather all the way up the Delta, to the Blackaller Buoy Just inside the South Tower of the Golden Gate and back again. A few Wabbiteers (as Wylie Wabbit sailors refer to themselves) from the Richmond Yacht Club removed the upwind portion in 1990 and created an instant classic. Popular with a large variety the sailing spectrum, from dinghy sailors to cruisers, IOR leadmines, multi hulls and recently sportboats, the Ditch Run provides all with a full day of ever changing scenery, challenging conditions and a warm fuzzy feeling at the end.

It starts in the cold green waters just west of Richmond, Crusing boats getting a two hour head start, and by 11:00 150 plus boats line up in their divisions sending slugs of colorful spinnakers under the Richmond San Rafael Bridge and into the vastness of windy and shallow San Pablo Bay. Things narrow dramatically in the Benicia Straights, tall buildings at the C&H Sugar and high hills create a vortex of wind eddies , water current and commercial traffic adding to excitement. Refineries mix with expensive homes dotting the lanscape, then suddenly you pass under your 3rd Bridge and into the Delta proper and Suisun Bay. By now you have probably had 2-3 sail changes, 5-6 gybes, and things are just starting to heat up. You lose a few more layers and open your 1st beverage. Although the Bay is wide, the sailable channel is narrow and the wind refills to your aft quarter and now it does feel like a Hawaiian downwinder! To your port lies the Mothball fleet, aging relics from World War 2, stacked up in neat rows awaiting their fate at the scrap yard. To your right Mt Diablo juts high above the rolling golden brown hills of the East Bay.

Approximately 15 miles after entering Suisun Bay, the direct course dictates a turn into New York Slough and things tighten up dramatically. Tule stands and tall windmills dot the Montezuma hills to your port, on starboard, the last of the real cities you will see for a while, Pittsburg and Antioch with it towering modern bridge, your last of the day. Wind becomes less steady and the water flat, Any layers you still had on are doused and quick gybes and a sharp eye on the chart are now key in staying out of the mud and in the hunt. Delta farmland surrounds this portion of the San Joaquin River. Your reminded of a simpler time, a slower time, but wait!! The river bends Sharply around Bradford Island, And only the flattest asymmetricals can carry. You douse complete sever short tacks and reset!

The river is now the playground of water skiers, jetski and wakeboards, It also has turned more southerly, forcing short chutes rides followed by tight reaches then tack to the windward side of the river. The daylight and heat begin to fade, some of the fast boats Have already finished, many are just approaching Tinsley Island, Lost Isle and last stretch to the Stockton Sailing Club. You can hear the music playing long befor you arrive, tired and hungry you ooch for that bit of boat speed and cross the finish line…

If this were a real race to Hawaii, there would be Mai Tai’s, Flower leis, Hula girls to greet you, however 300-400 of your closest sailing buddy’s, sporting cold beer and devilish grins, will have to do..