Midwinter Regatta
By Aaron deZafra
And a good time was had by all...
Well that's a wrap. This year's Midwinter Regatta has come and gone and left another great legacy behind it! Let me start by saying how absolutely fabulous it was to see so many boats participating this year. 16 divisions, 10 starts, 133+ boats, 109 shotgun shells, and approximately 672 free 16oz beers for those of you who made it back in time. Who could ask for more!? We'll perhaps a little more wind on Sunday would have been nice.
Thanks to each and every one of you and your crew for making the 2004 series such a tremendous success!!!
Wha' Happen'!?
Saturday
What can we say about Saturday except..."thanks for the wind!" The sailing gods were happy that day apparently, giving everyone a pretty good ride. Never let it be said that dropping an anchor in the middle of a race is a bad thing. It also just so happens to keep your boat in one piece as you come perilously close to big jagged rocks.
There was no running for the Race Committee to finish boats as was the case in race one. You definitely gave us all a chance to cram down a few French fries before having to hunker down and wildly take finishers. Spinnakers were flying which made us all very happy.
Sunday
Sunday was just... well...."Sunday".. wasn't it? Yes, there is nothing like seeing a zillion boats in a parking lot. They may as well have just drained the Bay and left everyone on the hard to sit and stare at each other 's liquid refreshments. At least it didn't rain... too much. The ironic thing was the wind on Monday and
Tuesday! What gives!?
Two starts were off like a shot (or rather... with a shot as no one was moving terribly fast) and back to the ominous land mass of Belvedere Island went divisions A and B. Truly, we thought we could pull it off and get you all out into some semblance of wind. Seriously, someone was flying a kite out there. I swear!
Regardless, thanks to those divisions for making the attempt... and for reminding us all (again) that sailing and land don't mix very well. Thanks to everyone else for the wait whilst we on the committee were assessing whether or not to abandon. Many of you offered us nice, tall, very well prepared, and inviting drinks to throw in the towel. Thanks for the offers! We'll be at the bar awaiting your drink tray........... ......... ..... They're gone aren't they? I knew I should have jumped off the committee boat.
Big Bling'n at the trophy presentation...
Lots of polished silver for folks to obsess over. Congratulations to all our winners. If anyone wants to know of a great product to keep silver mirror fresh try 'Wright's Silver Cream'. That stuff works like a champ!
Congratulations to our Aotea winners:
- Ted Goldbeck (Chica)
- Julle Le Vicki (Smogen III)
- Ron Kell (Abigail Morgan)
Congratulations to our Best Overall Performance winners:
- Richard and Bill Melbostad (Navigator) of the San Francisco Yacht Club
Congratulations to our Best Overall Performance by CYC Member winner:
- Jan Borjeson (Basic Instinct)
Abandonment or Recall?
A few loyal sailors have nicely pointed out that when we called back fleets A and B on Sunday (no wind, big current, hard rocks), we should have used the Abandon signal ("N") rather than the General Recall signal ("Blue Peter"). While some of fleets A and B were still starting, the point is well taken. According to the race rules, General Recall is for use in conjunction with the start sequence, while Abandon is for boats that are racing, as fleets A and B were technically doing, if you can call drifting and hoping they do not end up in the mud "racing." When it came time for the real abandonment, we gave the correct signal of N over A, which stands for "Everybody try to tie up to the dock at once because we like watching Dock Steward Hans' eyes bug out."
What's Next?
Easy my friends... CYC Friday Night Races! Come join us for the regular season which starts on April 9 this year. And for you CYC members, March 13 is the date to break out the long intra-club rivalry with that buddy of yours who always claims that his boat is faster than yours. That's right, the Horsfall-Vincent Regatta is approaching!
Come one come all folks. Stay tuned to the CYC website for more information, and we'll see you all out there on the Bay!
