Friday, September 19

The day started of with a wake-up temperature of 54 degrees, a crystal clear sky, and a wind out of the southeast less than 10 knots at the dock.  The weather service was saying 5 to 10 knots out of the west.  With six races under the competitors’ belt, there was a very close grouping of boats.  The team from Austin YC, Scott Young, was leading the group with 12 points.  Closely following the team from Austin YC is the team from the Buccaneer YC, Ken Kleinschrodt, with 15 points.  Right behind these two boats are five others slugging it out for third place with a point spread from 25 to 38. 

With the group sailing out to the race course, they were met with a dieing breeze 4 knots out of the southeast.  Generally, the prevailing winds are from 10 to 20 knots out of the southwest.  The local experts on the Race Committee were saying this is not normal.  As the starting time approached, the wind went from a ferocious 4 knots to zero.  Occasionally the wind gods would through a gust (cats paw) across the water surface.  Then it went and stayed at zero for the next hour and a half.  The postponement flag hung vertical.  Then the sharp eyes of the Race Committee say some darker water under the Golden Gate Bridge.  Within a half an hour, the Race Committee was recording a breeze of 12 knots at 245 degrees.  To make-up for the two hours lost, the race course had .8 nautical mile legs.

With the seventh race starting the fleet quickly split to the right and left side of the course.  The wind was steady, and the fleet raced towards the first windward mark.  All eleven boats rounded the mark in one minute and eight seconds.  On the second upwind leg the fleet was still grouped very close.  The second windward rounding was completed in one minute and fifty six seconds.

For race eight, the wind was at 15 knots and two break downs were repaired.  There was also a shift in the point spread between the first and second boat.  The boat in first came into this race with 15 point.  The number two boat had 23 points.  With great anticipation, the fleet was off.  Within two minutes of the start, boat number four lost the jib halyard.  The crew of the boat moved swiftly to grab the spinnaker halyard and re-hoist the jib.  Even with all that chaos, they settled in on racing.  At the first upwind mark, they developed a system that allowed the jib to be dropped and the spinnaker hosted in 27 seconds.

The race number nine gearing up, the Race Committee, Mallory Chair, and Race Chairman had a keen eye towards the weather.  A very large fog bank was just outside the Golden Gate Bridge and was slowly moving inland.  It was decided to lengthen the leg distance to one nautical mile, and do three legs.  As the starting signal said go, four boats were over early and responded to the individual recall flag.  Like all the other races, the boats were evenly matched and grouped very closely.  The first rounding was completed in one minute and 23 seconds. After all boats were finished and heading back to the San Francisco YC, the fog started rolling in.