Latitude 38 April 2022

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THE RACING Winter breathed its last gasp as regattas sailed included RYC's Big Daddy Regatta, the SSS Corinthian Race, the Corinthian Midwinters, the 5O5 North Americans, the NHYC-SDYC Islands Race, and the SCYA Midwinters at Cabrillo Beach YC. We also take a look forward to the Great Vallejo Race and take a look back at more Midwinter series and other race results in Box Scores.

the breeze, to the delight of about 100 race crews. A modest ebb current cooperated with the wind. It was perhaps the fastest rounding we've seen on this course — indeed, the course record was in jeopardy. The top monohulls all chose a counterclockwise rounding, taking the islands to port. One good reason for this choice: When the fleets cross paths along the west face of Alcatraz, port rounders are on starboard. Adding to the challenge between Angel and Alcatraz was a fleet of J/105s sailing around, waiting for a postponement to end in their Spring Invitational, hosted by Sausalito YC. Colin Moore of the Wylie Wabbit Kwazy said that the counterclockwise direction offers the longest spinnaker

LATITUDE / CHRIS

WWW Big Daddy Regatta When www doesn't stand for the World Wide Web, sometimes it stands for Windy Wet Wild. That would describe Richmond Yacht Club's Big Daddy Regatta on March 12-13. Celebrating the 40th anniversary of the event, RYC brought the regatta back to its full glory of the previous century. The weather cooperated with a roaring almost-spring weekend of wind and waves. Saturday's racing featured three dropmark races on three different racing areas for one-design classes and PHRF divisions. One skipper on the course closest to the Slot noted a gust of 31 knots — right in the middle of a jibe, of course! Back at the clubhouse, soaked and weary but exhilarated crews won RYC gift

standing wave stretched from Angel Island's Point Stuart into Belvedere Cove, too long to go around. "We cut it close in there and at Alcatraz." They set their spinnaker right before Little Alcatraz. "What boat is going to pass a Wabbit downwind, when it's planing?" On the reach from Alcatraz back to the finish near the Richmond Harbor entrance, the wind never clocked aft. "We dropped as soon as Bill and Melinda dropped, 200 yards from finish," said Erik about the Erkelens on Jack. "They were behind us and we needed to keep them behind. Bill and Melinda finished second by five boatlengths." Alan O'Driscoll and Bryan Wade, doublehanding the D-Class catamaran HMB Boys & Girls Club (aka Beowulf V), finished one boatlength behind the Erkelens' Wabbit. They'd gone clockwise. Alan thinks they set a course record of 46 minutes. Their previous best time on this course was right around 1 hour, probably in the 2019 Great Pumpkin Regatta. The record is unofficial, as

Left: Big Daddy Pursuit Race Monohull Division winners Atilla Plash and Erik Menzel. Right: Multihull Division winners and record setters Bryan Wade and Alan O'Driscoll.

cards for podium-worthy scores. Dinner followed, and RYC brought back a live band to this party for the first time in several years. Shark Sandwich, regulars at RYC parties, rocked the club until almost 10 p.m. Pandemic? The dancers were only too happy to shake it off. Sunday's pursuit race around Angel Island and Alcatraz — skippers' choice of directions — is really the highlight of this regatta. An overnight sprinkle moistened the salty boats but did little to diminish 0AGE s

Latitude 38

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run you can get on a Wabbit. "The ebb helped." The whole weekend was perfect for Wabbits. Winning overall on Sunday, Erik Menzel, Michele Sumpton and Atilla Plash sailed the Wabbit Bad Hare Day. They started on the race committee end of the line, on port, although the pin end was favored. "We passed the last boat at Alcatraz," said Erik, "and kept the lead the rest of the way. We got lucky because the face of Angel island was weird." A

RYC doesn't record finish times for the pursuit race. "We laid Alcatraz in one tack, and got through Raccoon on one jibe," said Alan. "Not a lot of maneuvering. We were going 25 knots steady." At Alcatraz, they had to sail through about 90 boats, all on starboard. "We had to sail way beyond Alcatraz to get past the cluster of counterclockwise boats." — latitude / chris RYC BIG DADDY SATURDAY, 3/12 (3r, 0t) ALERION 28 — 1) Allegro non Troppo, Jim Claussen/Bill Titus, 4 points; 2) Resilience,


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