SUNDAY, 24 AUGUST 08 -- SUNNY AFTERNOON TO WATCH RACING AND SHOOT THE GATE AGAINST WIND AND FLOOD CURRENT

Greg joined us for our afternoon sail for the second time, but without Jillian who is vacationing in Maine, and Shelli also joined us for the first time [another sfsailing.com contact]. We headed out about 1:15pm, raised single reefed main and put out small jib before heading out into the central bay. We hoped to see some of the final day of the J105 North American Championship racing. If you want to see more photos of the J105 racing than I have included in my blogs, go to my photo album at
http://cbergstedt.myphotoalbum.com/albums.php?



A few boats were out there, like this small one heading east under full canvas and looking good.




This nice sailboat was behind us and headed west on same course as ours.




It took a while before we spotted the J105 fleet and the leeward marks which were just south of Alcatraz for this race, and we were still quite a ways away as the fleet was approaching and rounding the mark to head back upwind.




Here ROCK & ROLL is just dousing the kite as other boats in the fleet are already around the mark and charging upwind.




The wind was more moderate than the day before, so the J105s were able to head upwind without luffing up the main sail so these three were looking great as they charged upwind on starboard tack...




... as were these four boats.




We fell off the wind a bit to head northwest away from the finish line for a while, after sailing past the committee boat and asking if this was the last race ['yes' they shouted] and then tacked to head southeast to be positioned south of the fleet as they headed for the finish line, like the two lead boats here sailing pretty much side by side, but way ahead of the other boats.




The two leaders were followed by a large group of the fleet blasting downwind with colorful kites flying off the bowsprit!




The two leaders passed us and then we took some video clips of the other boats in the fleet passing us. Here they are all stiched together-- sorry for the jumpiness.






Our old pal, ADVENTURE CAT 2 passed to starboard, and after the race boats had all finished the race we headed for the cityfront, eventually tacking to the west to stay our of the way of the fleet heading back to the yacht club for the award ceremony.





As we headed for Yellow Bluff, we spotted this nice sailboat flying a colorful kite as they returned from outside the gate.




This nice Catalina passed us, doing wing and wing direct downwind.













After approaching the shore of Yellow Bluff, we tacked and began doing short tacks to beat our way out the gate against wind and flood current, Greg at the helm as we sailed here on port tack.




It took us quite a few short, quick tacks to shoot the gate, probably about a dozen, but we finally made it out the gate just inside the north tower-- the first time for Greg to sail out the gate.




We just ducked out a short ways and then came about and headed back inside, pulling out the jib to full for more downwind power, and making great headway with flood current assist and good winds, we were soon approaching home port and enjoying views of the city basking in brilliant sunshine.




Pier 39 flags were fluttering in a breeze of 10-15 knots as we sailed past.



We sailed into the lee of pier 35 to douse sails and prepare for landing, then motored around the pier and into the marina, landing just fine as we almost always do.


It was a warm, sunny late afternoon in the lee of the pier, so we sat in the cockpit and had some wine that Shelli brought along with some cookies and cherries that Greg brought. Another day in the good life on San Francisco Bay.

SATURDAY, 23 AUGUST 08 -- STRONG WINDS FOR J105 RACING IN BEKELEY CIRCLE-- A BIT OF MAYHEM.

We headed out about 2:30 pm., hoping to catch some of the J105 NA Championship regatta, raised single-reefed main and put out small jib before heading out into the central bay.



We eventually spotted the J105s racing in Berkeley Circle- a surprise since we expected them to be racing along the western cityfront shore like the day before, and headed over that way, passing in front of TIARA that came out of the marina behind us. She was flying full canvas -- probably overpowered for the strong winds on the bay- and her jib was luffing up and flapping around in a major way.




We did a couple of gybes to head for the race course area, eventually passing behind WIND SONG as she headed toward Angel Island.




As we approached to a half mile or so of the race course, we spotted the lead boat, DONKEY JACK, already around the mark and flying downwind under spinnaker, quite a few boat lengths ahead of the next boats in the fleet. As you can see, the seas are nasty with white caps.




As we got closer to the windward mark, we could see quite a traffic jam of boats approaching the mark on different tacks.




Here ROCK & ROLL and BLACKHAWK have rounded the mark and are in process of setting their spinnakers. BLACKHAWK finished 4th in the overall standings of the regatta while ROCK & ROLL was 22nd.


v
JAM SESSION is close to two other boats here and seems to be struggling with her spinnaker set. At one point we spotted a kite go flying away from the front of one of the boats right into the water-- perhaps the halyard broke or a shackle on it let loose. Wish I had gotten a photo of that excitement.

JAM SESSION finished 16th in the overall regatta.




VIM here is blasting downwind and looking good, seemingly with no other boats near. She finished 33rd of 36 in the overall regatta.




The two closest boats here, ALCHEMY and her neighbor are on starboard tack while the two more distant boats are on port tack. ALCHEMY finished 27th overall in the final standings.




ULTIMATUM here seemed to have had a problem with her spinnaker, and I think I later saw here fishing it out of the water from stern of the boat. If not her, then it was another boat doing that. Things also don't look quite right with the boat behind either. but I can't figure it out from the photo. ULTIMATUM finished last in the overall Regatta, being in the back of the pack in every race, but not always last.




Here there seems to be some confusion of kites near the windward mark. The closest boat, BLACKHAWK, is definitely off course and the boat to her right on port tack also seems to be struggling.




Here BLACKHAWK has recovered and is sailing in almost perfect alignment of relative positions with two other boats on either side.




GOOD TIMIN' here really seems to have the foredeck crewmen struggling with the kite which seems to have taken a wrap around the forestay -- not fun to deal with in high winds and big loads on the kite. But GOOD TIMIN' managed to come in second in the overall regatta, being consistently near the front of the pack.




These two are neck and nexk and both looking good as they charge downwind on starboard tack.




Here the nearest boats are on starboard tack while the distant ones are all on port tack as they head for the leeward mark.




After all the J105s had passed us, we headed north with a plan to head back toward the finish line to watch the fleet beating upwind toward the windward finish, and here is a lead boat heading for the finish line....




....or is this one the lead boat on port tack here-- she seems to be the one that was first around the windwark mark as we approached earlier. I checked the race results and DONKEY JACK here was the leader in this race and won the overall regatta by quite a wide margin, sailing very consistently and having a number of bullets -- first place finishes. The other boat in the previous photo is ARBITRAGE and she finished 10th in this race and 20th in the overall regatta.




Here a group of boats are beating toward the finish line on different tacks.




BLACKHAWK is luffing up her main quite dreastically as she passed us ...




... as are MOJO and ROCK & ROLL here-- I'm told this is often necessary to avoid being overpowered in strong winds.




At times there appeared to be quite a crowd of boats heading for the finish line on different tacks, the port tack boats having to give right of way to the starboard tack boats.




ADVANTAGE was looking good as she passed us on her way to the finish line. She finished 31st in the overall regatta, while finishing 23rd in this race.




Here one of the fleet is crossing the finish line which is between the committee boat-- small boat with flag-- and a small red balloon buoy about 100 yards to the south.



Most of the J105s had 5 crew members but this one has 6-- wonder what's up with that?




Here a couple of boats are headed for the finish line on port tack.




These two boats seem to be in pretty close quarters as they head for the finish.




This boat seems to be in no traffic as she heads for the finish line...




... as does this one crossing the line.




ULTIMATUM was bringing up the rear, but looking good as she charged toward the finish line.



After the finish of the race, we headed for home port, still flying main only until we arrived at the cityfront where winds were lighter and we pulled out some jib for our upwind beat against wind and current, until we could tack into the lee of pier 35 for dousing sail and preparing for landing.




As we headed toward the marina, we spotted Tim on CHEWINK heading out under full canvas, first heading north on port tack and then gybing onto starboard tack as in this photo as he headed downwind along the cityfront.

FRIDAY, 22 AUGUST 08 -- SUN AND FOG AND J105s RACING ON SAN FRANCISCO BAY

We left port about 2 pm under brilliantly sunny skies, pulled up single-reefed main and pulled out a small jib and headed out into the central bay in quite strong winds with a flood current flowing. We were hoping to be in time to watch some of the J105 North American Championship racing on the bay.



We started to see some fellow sailors out there almost immediately, like the ones on this ketch headed downwind.




Way in the west, we could see the J105 race fleet heading downwind under colorful kites and hoped they weren't finishing the last race of the day.




This small ketch passed us, heading east on the sparkling bay waters....




.... as did this large sailboat and behind her you can see that the flags on pier 39 are fluttering in a breeze of 15-20 knots.




We sailed westward on the southwest breeze, fighting the flood current and continued watching the J105 fleet sailing downwind with colorful kites flying. Here you can see that one of the boats has finished and doused the kite while the others are approaching the finish line where the committee boat is positioned.




These members of the fleet are still charging downwind with their colorful
kites flying.....




... as is this part of the fleet, with one member having already doused her kite.




Here a couple of the boats in the fleet are in the process of dousing their kites while others are still charging toward the finish line.




More kites being doused in this group of boats.




And here as well.




I was heartened to see that the boats that had finished the race were hanging around and not heading back to the marina-- meaning that another race would be starting soon, and sure enough, the boats were soon jockeying around at the start line and then heading upwind after the start gun sounded.





With the current flooding, all of the fleet headed for the cityfront for flood relief and some of them seem to end up in a close-quarters traffic jam, but this may be more apparent than real since we are taking telephoto images here.




The fleet beat upwind near the shore where the flood current is lighter than further out from the shore and we headed in that direction also.




We watched as the fleet beat upwind and as we neared the cityfront, we pulled in the jib all the way to sail main only for easy tacking and then headed out to watch the race boats coming downwind toward the leeward mark, here hte lead boat is charging downwind...




.... and she is a few boat-lengths in front of the boat in second position.




After the leaders, the boats began to be more grouped together-- three together here....




a couple side by side here...




... and a group of four here.




Five boats together here as they charge toward the leeward mark.




As the rest of the fleet continues toward the leeward mark, the leaders are already beating upwind toward the windward mark, like this one here on starboard tack ....




.... and this one on port tack.




Winds are strong and the boats are sometimes taking spray over the bow as they beat upwind.




We stay north of the fleet beating upwind to make sure we stay well out of their way and watch as they tack back and forth along the cityfront shore.




Some of the boats seem to have six crew members aboard, but ADVANTAGE here seems only to have four crew which may be a disadvantage for keeping the boat level while beating upwind.




Despite the crew sitting on the rail, the boats are often heeled over enough to submerge the leeward rail.




After all of the fleet passed us on their upwind beat, we headed out away fron some to watch the boats charging downwind under spinnaker again, like this one named AQUAVIT that may now have been the lead boat...




....followed closely by this no-name boat that had been in the lead on the first downwind leg of the race.




This boat, JAM SESSION, I think, that seemed to be in second place earlier now seems to be in third place.




We positioned ourselves to be east of the route that the fleet would take while beating upwind and soon spotted the lead boat charging toward the cityfront on starboard tack....




... while other boats in the fleet were still flying downwind...




...now seemingly in somewhat closer groupings.




The lead boat approached us, sailing beautifully-- looking great!




... and a bit later we spotted JAM SESSION sailing off to starboard of the lead boat, perhaps gaining on the leader.




Soon others of the fleet were charging past us as they headed for the cityfront on starboard tack....




... and eventually started beating back and forth upwind.




It's a great sight to watch as the whole fleet is beating upwind at some point.

After they all passed, we headed west again expecting them to soon be flying downwind under spinnaker toward the finish line, but were disappointed to see that they had done an upwind finish this time and were soon headed back to the yacht club after the finish of the race.




So we headed toward the gate, and spotted this kiteboarder blasting across the watre.




We beat our way to the gate under skies that became overcast with the marine layer, eventually sailing out about midspan.




Fort Baker and beyond the bay was in sunshine, but the fog hung over the towers of the bridge and the headlands. as we sailed parallel to the gate for a while.




We sailed to near the shore of the headlands and then came about and headed back inside, gradually pulling the jib out for more downwind power and eventually passing this sailboarder that we often see out there-- the one with the batman costume on.




We blasted downwind with full jib eventually and the fog followed us, but left Telegraph Hill still bathed in sunshine as we approached home port.




The eastern part of the city was still enjoying mostly sunshine, but the fog was quickly moving to change that.




The winds were still blowing about 20 knots as we passed the end of pier 39.


We sailed into the lee of pier 35 to douse the sails and prepare for landing and then motored into the marina-- as always, filled with the pleasure of several hours of sailing on our magnificent bay and the thrill of watching exciting sailboat racing as well.