I'd like to start by thanking the RC volunteers:
* Bob J for volunteering both his time and his boat for the Saturday starting line. Without his generosity, we might have been trying to start off Fort Mason, in fleet week, with another 3.5+ NM in adverse current and light wind.
* John C
* Jan B
A special shout-out to "team dock": Christine W. She singlehandedly pulled together the early stages of the raft-up and ensured people could dock after a long day on the water. Thank you, Christine, for personally making a very big difference!
Saturday:
We had 50 boats register, and 42 turn out.
The weather forecast was light. So light that people decided not to register, or decided not to come, or debated on this forum how tough it would be. One racer even emailed to ask if I'd consider revising the posted Sis and class table with the start times, to postpone all the starts for several hours before even leaving the dock.
In the event, there was wind at the scheduled start time. All morning at Olympic circle G we had 5-7 knots from the North, as measured by Bob's instruments and a handheld wind gage. Current at G wasn't bad, and boats were easily able to clear the starting line.
Race committee for Vallejo 1-2, or any race where the start is on one place and the finish is in another, is always a little stressful. The RC has to wait for all the starts, plus 20 minutes (NOR 11.6), then get back to the harbor, hop in the car, grab sandwiches, and take the sandwiches to the finish line before the first boat gets there. With a PHRF -51 boat in the mix, that's worrying.
RC need not have worried Saturday, however, as when we arrived in Valleo, we found a South wind of about 4 knots, implying that there was likely a dead spot. (IE, between the North wind at the start and the South wind at Vallejo.) Wind at Vallejo later shifted West and died down to about 1 knot.
Boat reported making decent progress up San Pablo Bay until the bay started to narrow for Carquinez. At that point, lack of wind plus adverse current meant the fleet compressed and parked, after having done more than 10 NM, with only about 4.5 NM to go.
The current did eventually reverse, allowing boats to go up river in very light wind.
Some boats ended up crossing the line sideways, since flood current was the main force propelling them up the river.
Because it was such a long day, and most boats finished near the same time, high-handicap boats dominate the standings. As long as they could finish before the 1900 time limit, high-handicap boats did well, and low-handicap boats suffered.
Post-race, racers attended the VYC dinner (hamburger & fries, plus ice cream, $15) and picked up shirts from prior races.
Sunday:
The Vallejo 1 is a singlehanded race, and Vallejo 2 is a "doublehanded" race, but it looked like many of the boats did Vallejo 2 with one person aboard. (Which is fine --- the 2023 NOR and SIs make it clear a boat can race in a "doublehanded" race / division with only one person, so that if someone's crew is sick on the day of the race, or crew cannot be found, a "doublehanded" boat can still race.) But it was interesting to see many boats racing with just the skipper.
We had breeze in the morning! It was great!
Except that there a great deal of flood in the Napa River, making it an exercise of remembering or learning how to deal with that.
An established current is always stongest in the middle, weakest near the edges. In Mare Island Straight, the typical West wind is blocked on the West side by buildings and a low hill, so boats are forced to play the East side of the channel to be successful.
Some boats approaching the line appeared to worry about being early. Because going up current was very slow, and going down current very swift, the boats that simply flogged sails were able to slow themselves and even "reverse" until they wanted to go forward again. Boats that flipped around to point North made very rapid progress away from the line, but perhaps too rapid. Boats that found themselves too far away from the start line struggled to get across in timely fashion, and the race committee had to track a few boats for NOR 11.6, whether or not they would cross in the 20 minutes after their start. Happily all made it with at least a few minutes to spare.
We had 34 boats start.
While it was likely just good timing, I'd to thank all the racers for not blocking the Vallejo Ferry when it was trying to exit the dock. I got an unhappy phone call from the Coast Guard about that last year, and was very glad to not get one this year.
Then from the RC perspective, we immediately packed up, hopped into cars, got Safeway sandwiches, and drove to Richmond. I was first of the RC team to arrive at the Richmond race deck, at 1200 or shortly after.
Our first finisher crossed the line at 1226, mid-sandwich. (Thank you for calling ahead. We had been watching you from before you called, but if traffic had been much worse or the Safeway checkout line much longer....)
Then we waited about an hour and twenty-five minutes for the next finisher.
Lower-handicap boats reported good breeze in San Pablo, about 12 knots, with a fetch. Wind built to the upper teens at one point, then settled back down. High-handicap boats struggled as the wind dropped but the current worked against them.
The last finisher crossed the line at 1734, well ahead of the 1900 time limit. Three boats retired.
Both days were studies in the power of persistence. Not every boat that was persistent finished, but persistence made the difference for many.
A big thank you to all the boats that raced! Please post your stories!
Richard, 2023 SSS Race Co-Chair
* Bob J for volunteering both his time and his boat for the Saturday starting line. Without his generosity, we might have been trying to start off Fort Mason, in fleet week, with another 3.5+ NM in adverse current and light wind.
* John C
* Jan B
A special shout-out to "team dock": Christine W. She singlehandedly pulled together the early stages of the raft-up and ensured people could dock after a long day on the water. Thank you, Christine, for personally making a very big difference!
Saturday:
We had 50 boats register, and 42 turn out.
The weather forecast was light. So light that people decided not to register, or decided not to come, or debated on this forum how tough it would be. One racer even emailed to ask if I'd consider revising the posted Sis and class table with the start times, to postpone all the starts for several hours before even leaving the dock.
In the event, there was wind at the scheduled start time. All morning at Olympic circle G we had 5-7 knots from the North, as measured by Bob's instruments and a handheld wind gage. Current at G wasn't bad, and boats were easily able to clear the starting line.
Race committee for Vallejo 1-2, or any race where the start is on one place and the finish is in another, is always a little stressful. The RC has to wait for all the starts, plus 20 minutes (NOR 11.6), then get back to the harbor, hop in the car, grab sandwiches, and take the sandwiches to the finish line before the first boat gets there. With a PHRF -51 boat in the mix, that's worrying.
RC need not have worried Saturday, however, as when we arrived in Valleo, we found a South wind of about 4 knots, implying that there was likely a dead spot. (IE, between the North wind at the start and the South wind at Vallejo.) Wind at Vallejo later shifted West and died down to about 1 knot.
Boat reported making decent progress up San Pablo Bay until the bay started to narrow for Carquinez. At that point, lack of wind plus adverse current meant the fleet compressed and parked, after having done more than 10 NM, with only about 4.5 NM to go.
The current did eventually reverse, allowing boats to go up river in very light wind.
Some boats ended up crossing the line sideways, since flood current was the main force propelling them up the river.
Because it was such a long day, and most boats finished near the same time, high-handicap boats dominate the standings. As long as they could finish before the 1900 time limit, high-handicap boats did well, and low-handicap boats suffered.
Post-race, racers attended the VYC dinner (hamburger & fries, plus ice cream, $15) and picked up shirts from prior races.
Sunday:
The Vallejo 1 is a singlehanded race, and Vallejo 2 is a "doublehanded" race, but it looked like many of the boats did Vallejo 2 with one person aboard. (Which is fine --- the 2023 NOR and SIs make it clear a boat can race in a "doublehanded" race / division with only one person, so that if someone's crew is sick on the day of the race, or crew cannot be found, a "doublehanded" boat can still race.) But it was interesting to see many boats racing with just the skipper.
We had breeze in the morning! It was great!
Except that there a great deal of flood in the Napa River, making it an exercise of remembering or learning how to deal with that.
An established current is always stongest in the middle, weakest near the edges. In Mare Island Straight, the typical West wind is blocked on the West side by buildings and a low hill, so boats are forced to play the East side of the channel to be successful.
Some boats approaching the line appeared to worry about being early. Because going up current was very slow, and going down current very swift, the boats that simply flogged sails were able to slow themselves and even "reverse" until they wanted to go forward again. Boats that flipped around to point North made very rapid progress away from the line, but perhaps too rapid. Boats that found themselves too far away from the start line struggled to get across in timely fashion, and the race committee had to track a few boats for NOR 11.6, whether or not they would cross in the 20 minutes after their start. Happily all made it with at least a few minutes to spare.
We had 34 boats start.
While it was likely just good timing, I'd to thank all the racers for not blocking the Vallejo Ferry when it was trying to exit the dock. I got an unhappy phone call from the Coast Guard about that last year, and was very glad to not get one this year.
Then from the RC perspective, we immediately packed up, hopped into cars, got Safeway sandwiches, and drove to Richmond. I was first of the RC team to arrive at the Richmond race deck, at 1200 or shortly after.
Our first finisher crossed the line at 1226, mid-sandwich. (Thank you for calling ahead. We had been watching you from before you called, but if traffic had been much worse or the Safeway checkout line much longer....)
Then we waited about an hour and twenty-five minutes for the next finisher.
Lower-handicap boats reported good breeze in San Pablo, about 12 knots, with a fetch. Wind built to the upper teens at one point, then settled back down. High-handicap boats struggled as the wind dropped but the current worked against them.
The last finisher crossed the line at 1734, well ahead of the 1900 time limit. Three boats retired.
Both days were studies in the power of persistence. Not every boat that was persistent finished, but persistence made the difference for many.
A big thank you to all the boats that raced! Please post your stories!
Richard, 2023 SSS Race Co-Chair
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