THE RACING March brought varied conditions for the remaining Midwinter series on the Bay. Some days were lovely and light, others more resembled summer racing — and some were a mix of both! RYC's Big Daddy and the Singlehanded Sailing Society's Corinthian Race also benefitted from both types of conditions. Ronnie Simpson reports on the epic — and ultimately tragic — Islands Race. And we round things out with a Cabo Race preview, Race Notes and Box Scores.
a couple of 10-year-olds onboard. The Express 27s were the small boats on the Deep Water course. Fortunately, with five boats entered, they had their own division. Steve Katzman, sailing #0, Dianne, was grateful for staggered starts, which separated them from the bigger boats. "I like the bang for the buck that Big Daddy provides. It doesn't get any better than this." Marcia Schnapp's Libra won the first race and led at the weather mark in all three, but Dianne was able to catch her to win the second and third races. Mike and Jen Holden of the Laser 28 Firebolt took their young boys sailing on Saturday in the small but fierce SF Bay 30 division on the Olympic Circle course. Four of the five boats pushed one another up over the line early in the second race, resulting in a general recall. The Olympic Circle course got the wind first and started right on time at 11:30. "We gave them a once-around course to get one in the bag — 'one and done'," said race committee volunteer Chris Straub. "The Moore 24s acquitted themselves extremely well. I give them credit for behaving themselves." He described a row-and-a-half of them "hacksawing each other" to stay on the correct side of the start line for the second race. "The chop kicked up for that race. It got sporty." For the third race, Straub asked if the racers wanted three times around.
LATITUDE / CHRIS
Big Daddy Pays It Forward Richmond YC's Big Daddy Regatta is named for the late Bob Klein, who was called Big Daddy for his habit of taking kids out sailing. David Maggart, a former RYC junior himself, came up with the idea of getting as many juniors as possible hooked up with rides on big boats in March 10's pursuit race. Dick Loomis did the leg work, putting 27 youngsters on 12 boats. But before Sunday's pursuit race, competitors sailed in Saturday's more traditional-style races: three windwardleewards in two racing areas. Brad Copper sailed his Tripp 43 TNT on the Deep Water course near the Berkeley Pier and described the conditions: "The wind was light to start and built to 15-19 knots, so the races were very diverse — like a dog's breakfast — one of each." Brooks Dees, sailing his own design, the Dees GP26 Salt Peanuts, raced on the same course in a different division. "The Express 37s dominated our fleet," he said. Once the wind filled in, the big Expresses had the waterline advantage. "We didn't have enough wind for Salt Peanuts to plane, but we almost beat Golden Moon in the last race." They did win that final race on corrected time. Dees attributes that to a relaxing PRB — prerace beer — and the quick thinking of crewmember Bart Hackworth. Between the second and third race, Hackworth
'USA 76' joined in some Big Daddy action. Find more Big Daddy photos later in The Racing Sheet.
said, "Hey, the wind shifted. I'll bet the line's not square." The pin end was now favored. "We lazed around there," said Dees, "then port-tacked the whole fleet." On Sunday, Salt Peanuts would sail with Page 128 •
Latitude 38
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"No, two laps is fine," was the response. Sunday dawned an hour late (for Daylight Saving), but the sunshine filled in just fine. So did the wind, after a 10-minute postponement. With more breeze east of Angel Island than in Raccoon Strait, almost everyone opted for a clockwise
rounding of Alcatraz in the either-way pursuit race. In the ebb, the fleet could fetch the Rock on one tack. Once around Alcatraz, the big boats ran smack into a race course set up for StFYC's Spring Dinghy. Didn't they know about Big Daddy? Fortunately, no incidents were reported. The fast cats turned in the fastest performances. Ian Klitza's Rocket 88 led six of them to the finish ahead of the first monohull, Sy Kleinman's Schumacher 54 Swiftsure II, sailing with two of the aforementioned juniors aboard. Which is why the top multis and monos each get prizes. Out of 101 boats starting, 89 were able to finish, including the IACC boat USA 76, skippered by former RYC junior Jon Buser. For complete results, see www.richmondyc.org. — latitude / chris RICHMOND YC BIG DADDY PURSUIT RACE MULTIHULL — 1) Rocket 88, D-class cat, Ian Klitza; 2) HMB Boys & Girls Club, D-class cat, Alan O’Driscoll; 3) Shadow, ProSail 40, Peter Stoneberg; 4) BridgeRunner, SL33, Urs Rothacher; 5) Adrenaline, D-class cat, William Erkelens. (9 boats) MONOHULL — 1) Swiftsure II, Schumacher 54, Simon Kleinman; 2) Whiplash, McConaghy 38, Don Payan; 3) E Ticket, Beneteau Moorings
