StFYC: Aldo Alessio Perpetual Trophy Regatta
Aldo Alessio Perpetual Trophy Regatta - Friday, 07/30/2010: 2010-07-30 10:52 PDT 0.00 knots Slack, Flood Begins 2010-07-30 13:54 PDT 2.94 knots Max Flood 2010-07-30 17:06 PDT -0.00 knots Slack, Ebb Begins The first race of the Aldo Alessio is an ocean race. The RC set up the starting area just west of Treasure Island and set a course for the SF lightship Buoy then to Blossom Rock and to the finish. Winds at the start was steady at 8-12 knots. Given the start time of 11:00, our start will be at slack with maximum flood occurring at 1354 at 2.9 knots at the Gate. Given...
Read MoreNOOD Regatta
The first race of the IRC season series took place in conjunction with Sailing World’s NOOD regatta. WE had missed the beginning of the IRC racing season because of Timothy’s travels and our decision not to do any IRC Ocean races. So it was the first time all of us will be sailing together as a team even though most of us have sailed with each other at some point or the other, but in different roles and circumstances. The crew consists of Chris at the bow, with Bret at the mast, Pete in pit, David Smith at mainsheet, Edda, Miha, and Joe are in the cockpit with Ted as the pit...
Read MoreBBS 2009 – Day 3, Race 6
Day 3, Race 6 Race six is a critical race. If Tupelo wins this, it would be mathmatically impossible to knock them off first place as going into the sixth race, Tupelo had 5 points, we had 10 points, and the third place boat had 17 points. Our division started at 14:20 just a little after slack water (13:42 PDT) with possibility of early flood starting to fill into the South Bay. Usually the flood starts by a small counter current close to shore building up wider and stronger from the shoreline out. Had this been clear in my mind, my tactical choice would have been to sail towards...
Read MoreBBS 2009 – Day 3, race 5
Day 3, Race 5 Sailing Weather Forecast • Rolex Big Boat Series • San Francisco Bay, CA • Issued 0700 LT 12 September 2009 WARNINGS AND ADVISORIES: A SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY is in effect from 1200 today through 2300 tonight. The National Weather Service expects winds of 15-25 kts with gusts of 25-30 kts in the bay, primarily north of the Bay Bridge and especially close to Angel Island. Please continue to monitor NOAA All Hazards Radio on your VHF for the latest warnings and advisories. Tides: 2009-09-12 10:51 PDT -1.39 knots Max Ebb 2009-09-12 13:42 PDT 0.00 knots Slack,...
Read MoreBBS 2009 – Day 2, Race 4
Day 2, Race 4 Race 4 start was at 15:00 North Course Starting area. At this time we are in a flood current with max flood at 15:44 PM. The weather mark is a temporary buoy near Harding Rock, so there’s not much relief anywhere. The only relief I can think of is to sail into the current relief behind Alcatraz. We started on the committee boat side about mid line with Kuai just to leeward. Tupelo was somewhat late to the line close to the pin end. We tried to climb up on Kuai but it was slowing us down, we decided to tack to port to get clear air. After sailing for a few...
Read MoreBBS 2009 – Day2, Race 3
Day 2, Race 3: Current at the IRC D start is suppose to be a waning ebb going into slack water around 12:21 PDT with max flood at 15:44 PDT @ 1.88 knots. Weather forecast: The forecast speeds in the wind table are again near the model consensus for conditions in the vicinity of Alcatraz. The model consensus is generally for maximum winds in the racing area between 15-20 kts from 1400-1700. There remain some divergent models with max wind speeds in the low 20s and others only in the mid teens but these have not performed well the past few days. Today we start first at the City Front...
Read MoreBBS 2009 – Day 1, Race 2
Race #2 We sailed back to Starting Area CF, the meteorological situation were: winds 12-15 knots, currents: 2009-09-10 14:46 PDT 2.14 knots Max Flood; 2009-09-10 17:26 PDT -0.00 knots Slack, Ebb Begins. The second race for Division D started at 15:00 promptly so we were at max ebb current. We were 15 seconds late to the line in the middle of the pack, Kuai, who started on the pin end had good speed off the line, catapulted out of the starting line and port tacked everyone at the starting line. Kuai shows momentary brilliance in specific maneuvers but cannot sustain...
Read MoreBBS 2009 – day 1, race 1
Race#1 For the first race of the BBS, the race committee designated a course on the NC starting area for a double sausage with a final windward finish. The weather mark was set just west of Angel Island with an offset mark and the leeward gate located just windward of the starting line. Current was on a waning ebb going towards slack at 11:25 which means there’s more residual ebb current to the north and possible flood current close to SF shore. The wind is around 12-15 knots but patchy in spots and it appears to be slightly lighter on the extreme right and left of the course, so...
Read MoreStone Cup, St. Francis Yacht Club, May 16, 2009
The forecast called for a heat wave and that usually means light winds unless “Sacramento sucks” – a local sailor’s insider joke that perfectly describes the wind behavior for the Bay as hot air in the Sacramento Valley rises and create the vacuum that draws the cool ocean air through the Golden Gate into the Bay. The crew is supposed to picked up at 08:45 at St. Francis Yacht Club and then out for some practice before the race. As I drove up the club parking lot a bit early, I walked to the water’s edge and watched the Single Handed Farallon’s racers...
Read MoreAn Accomplished New Years Resolution!
Happy New Year! As tradition, we went out on New Years Day for a sail. In looking at the weather forecast during the days preceding the sail, I had anticipated a cold and partly cloudy day and indeed, at 1000 hour on New Years day, it did not inspire any urgency on my part to go out on the cold and foggy bay to go sailing. But tradition demanded certain sacrifice and besides, I had invited a few folks from work to come sailing as well and didn’t want to disappoint them in any case. So Keith and I met up at Max’s Opera Cafe for a hearty lunch at 1100 hour and fortified ourselves...
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