LETTERING IN YRA, SSS, BAMA AND MMBA
Cliff Shaw and Truls Myklebust
a long reach in good wind and flat water, like the Vallejo race, and she can shine on the Bay." Cliff had no idea he was in contention for the Singlehanded Multihull season championship until fellow multihuller Truls Myklebust told him. "I never pay attention to the season scores," said Cliff, "so I didn't know where I stood. Apparently the LongPac counts more, so that's what kicked me to the top — the trimarans that usually beat me don't usually go that far offshore. Winning the Vallejo race was a bit of an exception for me. In 2018 I think I took four firsts, but it was because I was the only finisher in division. In the Vallejo race this year, I actually won on corrected time by coming in within about half an hour of the fast trimarans — conditions were just right for me that day." Cliff is planning to take Rainbow to French Polynesia in April 2020, then on to the Cook Islands and back home through the Line Islands and Hawaii in October-November. "If that plan falls through for some reason, as it did this year, I'll do the SHTP at least." For now he's heavy into preparing the boat for the South Pacific. "I'm replacing and upgrading my solar system and also having transverse ring frames added inside the bows to reduce flexing and repair damage sustained in heavy weather offshore over the years."
SSS Doublehanded Multihull Raven, F-27 trimaran Truls Myklebust, BAMA "This was a fun season!" says Truls Myklebust. "I won the Singlehanded Multihull tr ophy last year, but went for the Doublehanded Multihull championship this year, where there were more boats and more competition. Therefore the victory was sweeter this year." Truls's favorite SSS race every year is the Drake's Bay race — "a beautiful spot to sail to, and it's always an adventure. This year, we had very light wind conditions in both directions, but I managed to pick the right route and win on both days (I was double-entered for both SSS and OYRA). It was also great doing the SSS Half Moon Bay Race with my daughter, Mia Karine, this year." The crew on Raven varied this year but also included Steve Petersen and Andrew Muff. "Several races were challenging this year. The Three Bridge Fiasco, the Round the Rocks Race and the Vallejo 2 all featured major challenges, with light wind against current. The most satisfying of these was the Vallejo 2, where I was able to leverage the late-arriving northwest wind to post a come-from-behind victory to finish off the season." Truls plans to compete in the SSS and OYRA series again next year. But… "I am looking at possibly getting a different boat sometime next year, so I'm not sure whether I'll be racing Raven all the way through the season." SSS SEASON SINGLEHANDED MONOHULL (8r, 1t) — 1) Outsider, 2.277 points; 2) Surprise!, Alerion 38, Bob Johnston, RYC, 2.296; 3) Fugu, Wilderness 30, Chris Case, RYC, 2.663. (47 boats) DOUBLEHANDED MONOHULL (7r, 1t)— 1) Arcadia, 2.689 points; 2) Siento el Viento, C&C 29-1, Ian Matthew, TYC, 3.778. 3) Bombora, Express 27, Rebecca Hinden, EYC, 4.086. (253 boats)
SINGLEHANDED MULTIHULL (8r, 1t) — 1) Rainbow, 7.25 points; 2) Raven, F-27 tri, Truls Myklebust, BAMA, 8.667; 2) Wingit, F-27, Dave Wilhite, BAMA, 9.333. (3 boats) DOUBLEHANDED MULTIHULL (7r, 1t) — 1) Raven, F-27 tri, Truls Myklebust, BAMA, 3.771 points; Wingit, F-27, Amy Wells, BAMA, 4.838; 3) Papillon, F-27, Andrew Scott, BAMA, 6.052. (22 boats) Full results at www.jibeset.net More info at www.sfbaysss.org
BAMA Cup Greyhound, F-22 trimaran Evan McDonald, BYC In only their second year together, Evan McDonald and Greyhound have won their second BAMA season. Comparing the two years, Evan said, "The wind for almost all the BAMA Cup races this year was more predictable than last year. There were not as many wind holes and light days this year, just moderate to strong breezes across the courses. Great sailing!" His favorite BAMA race this year was the Doublehanded Farallones. George Kiskaddon sailed with Evan, who describes the race: "The way out to the Farallones was tame, but it started blowing hard on the way back. When we couldn't carry our spinnaker any longer in the building breeze and swells, we tried reaching downwind under white sails. That was the ticket. The fun was working together to safely drive down the wave faces without plowing into the wave in front of you, with one guy trimming the main and the other guy carefully driving. "We kept that up a up for a couple of hours, doing 10 to 13 knots the whole time. It was a blast, but we were very happy when we reached Bonita Cove and could relax our white knuckles." That sounds like challenge enough, but actually the most difficult race for Greyhound was the InterClub #5 in the South Bay. "IC #5 really showed how my crew and I needed to improve our boat and sail handling around the buoys. We came in second to last in this race, mostly because of timing errors and sail handling mistakes rounding downwind marks. We did so badly that we went out and practiced between IC #5 and IC #6, and simplified some of our rigging where we had problems. It paid off for our last race. "My incredible regular crew this year included George Kiskaddon and Sarah Rahimi, with guest appearances by Guillermo 'Matute' Maturana and Ryan Alder." Evan's plan for 2020? "Sail faster, and January, 2020 •
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