2010 SFBFA Wednesday Nights Series Race #2 5/12/2010
By: Brock de Lappe (USA 121)
Posted: 5/14/2010
For the second week in a row, the SFBFA was blessed with perfect weather for our Wednesday Evening race at the St. Francis Yacht Club on the San Francisco City Front. The wind was moderate, but with more south than the typical NW that often howls in the Spring. Tides are always important on the Bay. A 2.5 max ebb was at 14:02 with slack at 19:16. The Folkboat start was at 18:45, but prior to the race it was clear that there was already a building flood close to shore. This is the typical pattern on the Bay. Tide changes are first seen along the shore of the City, and gradually fill out into the Bay.
Given the angle of the wind, we decided that the optimal start would be inshore with the ability to head out on port as soon as possible. Apparently David Wilson in USA-106 had the same idea as we ended up fighting him for that end of the line. My error was in calculating the strength of the flood close to shore, and as a result, was called for being OCS. The timing on such starting attempts is critical. A couple of seconds one way or the other can make the difference between getting a good start, or a disaster. At least in this situation, it was relatively easy to jibe around and restart. In this fleet however, that means you are bringing up the rear.
The weather leg was a long port tack, and since it is directly into the setting sun, the helmet camera is not able to handle the over-exposure. For this race I had a first time crew onboard, Josh Evetushick, which is the reason I was providing a lot of background commentary and directions. At the leeward mark #6 off the Fort Mason piers, the boom hit my helmet camera and knocked the aim down. I didn’t discover this until I got back to the dock and was very disappointed as the final weather leg to the finish had the best racing action, with a number of close port-starboard crossings. It turns out that immediately heading to weather on port tack out into the Bay was the better way to go to the finish line. Those that rounded the leeward mark and headed to the City on starboard for tide relief lost wind. As a result, I was able to pass several boats and clawed back up for a 7th place finish in the 15 boat fleet.
The top three boats this week were the same as in week one, though in a different order. Congratulations to Eric Kaiser (1st), Peter Jeal (2nd) and Mike Goebel (3rd).
I’m having mixed feelings about wearing the helmet camera. It is definitely a distraction during the race and the net result so far this season has been exposing my poor starts to the world. On the other hand, it’s been interesting putting all the pieces together to get this experience shared on the web. Without exception, I know that all in our fleet feel incredibly fortunate to be able to race these boats in such a beautiful venue. There’s really nothing like beating to weather with the sun setting behind the Golden Gate Bridge. I hope you can enjoy as well.