An even 100 shorthanded crews signed for the Single Handed Sailing Society's
"Round The Rocks" race on Saturday. A 19.3 nm jaunt from the Berkeley Circle, up and over
"The Rock" Alcatraz, and up to Harding Rock and then north the Bothers, leaving all to starboard,
then back south leaving Red Rock to port and finishing in the Potrero Reach at the RYC Race Platform.
Conditions were as expected, light to medium at start with winds in the 8-10 knot with slack water changing
towards an ebb made for a fast ride to the west from the flats towards the gate, and just enough south in breeze
for boats carrying kites to set them after rounding Harding. Nary a boat we saw headed towards Point Blunt, instead
Raccoon Strait was the route d'jour. And though winds were lighter in the strait for the front runners, it was still
enough for decent smg through and out towards the North Bay.
Buzz and Mikey taking a break in Kiel Cove
The one caveat was the sneaky mud bank that lives between Elephant Rock and Bluff Point on the
north side of the strait.
Condor was doing quite well in the DH Monohulls when they went into a gybe which
never really got completed. "We had just started the gybe, and I was looking at the depth sounder, it had gone from
60' to 25' and then thud" Buzz would later explain. With a little assist, they were able to use their anchor to kedge
off the berm but had to retire due to utilizing motor and outside assistance.
Meanwhile, back on the course, Peter Stoneberg's Prosail 40'
Shadow was engaged in a slow but steady upstream
battle to get up and over The Brothers, in hot pursuit, the mighty tris,
Looking Good,
Roshambo and
Mojo along with a few ULBS
Timberwolf, and
Outsider.
Shadow would round 1st in 10-12 knots, followed closely by
Looking Good then
Outsider for 1st Mono.
With the current now assisting, it was a mad dash towards the finish. Shadow would take the overall 1st o finish, crossing the line @ 14:45:24 but would relenquish
all the in spades, as the back of the fleet got a large dose of extra breeze assist, a 10 knot or so boost, that provided the higher raters a gift from Mana.
The sudden increase in wind gave the boats in the back a healthy dose of "Yes We Can" and the crew working the finish line a big shot of "Yikes, they are all coming at once"
All in all, the vast majority finishing in a window between 15:15:00 and 15:40:00
The various corrected time winners are listed below in results.
All in all a great day of short handed sailing with a big thrust at end to give crews even more to smile about.
Outsider, with Greg Nelsen and Ethiopian Tom would take 1st Monohull honors, AND fastest elapsed time entire fleet honors, but correct out well down the food chain.
Selects Gallery
Fleet Results
Overall Results
