I just got back to Detroit from the Express 27/Antrim 27 Nationals at Richmond Yacht Club on San Francisco Bay. Much credit should go to Jason Crowson and the folks at RYC for running a great event.

Twenty-three E27s and 10 Antrim 27s sailed in the 3-day, 7-race event (3 windward-leeward races on day one, a distance race around the Bay on day two, and two windward-leeward races on day three). Twenty-three is the best participation in the Nationals in recent memory. San Francisco Bay came through with sunshine and nice breezes on Friday and Saturday and sunshine and light and flukey winds on Sunday. The Antrims and Expresses were quite compatible with separate starts on the race courses.

Congratulations to the new champions Tom Baffico and Forest Baskett and their crew on Baffett as well as the second and third place boats, Swamp Donkey and Motorcycle Irene. Consistency paid off for Baffet with scores of 3-3-1-3-2-8.

We'll try to get some pictures up on the class website ASAP.

PS. Jason Crowson is our new Class Commodore. Also, the class enacted a rules change--full-length top battens are now permitted. The rationale: longer life for mainsails.

The possibility of finding a builder for the "Ultimate Sailing Machine" was discussed. One builder has been approached but there is nothing conclusive yet to report.