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Berkeley Sunday Midwinters

BobJ

BobJ

Alerion 38 "Surprise!"
Some of us will be racing single or double-handed on the Berkeley Circle again this Winter. The first race is on November 15th and the R/C will set the divisions based on entries received by November 9th.
Please sign up and join us:

https://jibeset.net/BYC000.php?RG=T00442677
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Midwinters are an excellent way to prep for both single and double-handed races. Winds tend to be lighter and groups smaller. BobJ above on the Alerion or people on this forum will help you understand or review the Berkeley course marks.

Joe Balderrama
SSS Commodore
 
(I do too!)

The SI's are posted:

Berkeley MW's Sailing Instructions

The courses are shown on page two. The R/C rarely uses the reaching mark and is pretty careful about dropping the windward mark directly upwind. A common goof for newer racers: The starting line is restricted. If you cross through the line on your way to the next mark (or you don't stay away from the line until your start), you lose a place in the results. Bobbi is great about making the sequences clear, repeating which course to sail for each start, etc. The divisions are small so the course isn't too congested - although they have NINE singlehanders signed up so far.

It's a good series and we've been doing it for a long time. I hope to see you out there.
 
Nine single handers!!
Great turnout.
I'll second Bob's comment regarding the starting area.
Even with some experience mistakes can be made. ;)
 
Greg! We miss you! Weren't you thinking of buying a trailer boat? Berkeley Midwins are perfect for a trailer boat.
 
A lovely day yesterday for the first Berkeley Shorthanded Midwinters. My photos are so-so but look at the horizon in each one, and you'll see what I mean.

Bobbi worked her usual magic, postponing for a bit and then starting the sequences at the best possible time to insure we'd have a race. Eight of the nine registered singlehanders were on the line, as were a bunch of doublehanded Express 27s, Alerion 28s and a few other boats.

It wasn't looking so good when we arrived in the starting area:
BMW1 Prestart.JPG

I decided to sail wing-on-wing and not mess with the kite, and found myself with Antares and Strange Magic on the slow DW leg:
BMW2 Antares StrangeMagic.JPG

Jonathan on Stink Eye did the right thing and followed the Express 27s, allowing him to come in hotter to the leeward mark. He won the singlehanded division and had a faster corrected time than any other boat racing, except the fully-crewed J/80. Antares and Joy Ride are also in this shot:
BMW4 StinkEye Antares JoyRide.JPG

The Alerion 28s started last and were the most competitive. Fred Paxton bested Bill Erkelens by one second at the finish - Fred said he had to call the committee boat to see who'd won. Another Alerion 28 just joined the fray - I think they're up to 11 boats now, just in Pt. Richmond. I was able to get four of them into one frame:
BMW5 Alerion28s.JPG

Heard on E-Dock after we got back: "Now we have to wait a WHOLE MONTH until the next one?" We're working on something in the interim...

Here's a big batch of better photos, taken by Berkeley YC folks out on the course:

https://www.mpal.pictures/BYC-Photos/BYC-Midwinters-December-2020-Sunday/
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BobJ,
I missed that beautiful day on the water, so thank you very much for the pictures and narrative. Congratulations to Jonathan on Stink Eye for 1st in Singlehanded and to you Bob for 3rd. And for Moni on the SC27, Wolpertinger for 4th.

Joe Balderrama
SSS Commodore
 
Gents--

I'd asked a bit earlier about racing going on over the winter and got scant replies. Seems like this series is the place to be. The large hole in the side of the boat is just about fixed and the big uppy pointy thing will be installed next week. So, perhaps this is the target for December. Question--why all the SHers on Sunday only? Is that just an agreement amongst the crowd? A big effort for me to make it to a race so I was thinking of sailing both days.
 
Hi Stephen,

In past years the NOR stated that single and double-handed divisions were only available for the Sunday series. This year the Express 27 fleet agreed to race double-handed both days and this caused some other shorthanders to enter the Saturday series. AFAIK there's no reason you can't race singlehanded in both series - Paul Sutchek appears to be doing that.

Where do you (or will you) keep your boat?
 
Richmond YC. I will probably go poking around the boat when it gets in the water sometime next week to see if my master plan of going racing on the first time I've seen my boat in a year is actually workable.
 
Got it.

I realized I'd forgotten to ever apply for a rating, so I just did that (couldn't make the Jibeset site do it, but emailed all the data to the info email address for YRA) and if I can get some kind of provisional number I'll come out and play ASAP. I think someone had a SF3200 in the Bay not long ago so there should be a stock rating on file somewhere. Is there someone I should call to get a temp number? I don't really care what it is, I just want to play.
 
Get in get in touch with Laura Munoz at YRA, [email protected], 415-771-9500 (M-Th 0930-1530, F 0930-1230).
The only Sunfast in the database is a 3600 (INVICTUS) at 30 sec/mi.
FWIW...
 
I have a rating!!

I'd like to enter the singlehanded class, but parental responsibility may impede this slightly. What does the wisdom of the competitors here think of me racing notionally singlehanded despite the presence on board of a non-contributing 7 year old?
 
If it will enable you to race I don't personally have a problem with it (for this casual series.) However it's not up to any of us here - you'd need to contact Berkeley Yacht Club's race committee.
 
I will try to make the next one as long as the Governor does not shut down the state to water activities. Stay at home orders are going to be quite limiting. 3 weeks at home...:(
 
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RC is okay with it, so if my competition is all right, I'm going to be almost entirely singlehanded come this Sunday! See you guys out there.
 
It was a fun but frustrating day for me on Stink Eye for the December race. I had some mechanical problems before the start, thought is was going to be windy so had a useless reef going to the windward mark and flubbed the 4 minute start sequence. Surprise did a great job and it was nice to see Fugu on the course. Death from behind with Paul is going to be hard to beat. And it's nice to see the Sunfast in the rain going fast. See you next month.
 
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