THE GREAT VALLEJO RACE —
On May 4-5, sailors in the greater
Bay Area region had to make a choice. Would they sail in the 120th (no, that's not a typo) Great Vallejo Race? Or would they instead go to San Francisco, by land or water, to watch the pros rip around the Cityfront at 40+ knots in the first SailGP event to be held there? The sailors featured on these pages chose to race instead of watch racing. Some chose to race to Vallejo on Saturday, turn right around (thus missing the party), saving Sunday for SailGP viewing. Others went all-in for the complete Great Vallejo Race experience. (To see how SailGP fared, turn back to page 66.) "While the numbers were down this year, it was a great weekend, and we knew going in that we would see about a 15% drop in participation due to SailGP moving on top of the race," said Laura Muñoz, executive director of the Yacht Racing Association. "When we found out about the SailGP May event, we sent out a survey to see what kind of effect, if any, either moving to a different weekend or staying on the same weekend as SailGP would have. Either way it looked like we would see a drop, so we opted to stay put and not move on top of Opening Day on the Bay weekend, our only other option. We hope to see everyone back next year though!" (The YRA serves as the organizing authority for the Great Vallejo Race.) Page 78 •
Latitude 38
• June, 2019
Whether sailing up on a white-sail reach on Saturday, or flying kites on a headstay reach back down on Sunday, we think Mare Island Strait is the funnest part of any Vallejo Race. — photo www.norcalsailing.com
In 2019, the GVR had 132 entries. Last year and in 2016, 165 boats signed up. Slightly fewer, 156 registered in 2017. As long as we were researching the stats, we couldn't help but notice that in 2013, the last year of the now-defunct Party Circuit Series drew 241 entries. The GVR served as the first regatta in the Party Circuit.
R
acers to Vallejo enjoyed a flood current this year, as well as more warmth and sunshine than they expected. Breeze was moderate, never gnarly and never absent. The favorable conditions made for a quick jaunt from the Berkeley Circle to Vallejo Yacht Club. The inclusion of Red Rock as a mark on the course delayed some spinnaker sets, but most of the boats carried chutes from the North Bay to the entrance of Mare Island Strait. Well-oiled crews made out well here, as timing was tight for the jibe around the entrance mark, the deployment of the jib, the douse of the spinnaker, and the trimming up to a close reach. With the exception of the turn-and-
burners, the fleet settled into the raft-up, shared boat refreshments, and basked in the sunshine until the wind piped up and the temperatures dropped. Crews then migrated to the VYC clubhouse to enjoy a Cinco de Mayo fiesta menu. The Class Action Band got a motley crew of sailorly types out on the dance floor, hopping, swinging and shaking their stuff.