Unlike its older- the SF Classic- it's a straight shot downwind and back.
The biggest thing you need to take into account is the current.
Line them up correctly and you could be riding a magic carpet straight to the finish while your competitors fight it out in the flood tide.
A 12:30 skippers meeting saw the 1st possible start delayed till 2 and shortened course to Treasure Island vs the full deal to the Berkeley pier and back.
With this in mind, I switched to the 10.7 and Z fin just moments before heading out.
After a rather strange morning in SF with 70 degree temps and a raging north wind, things settled down a bit and the wind switched left. The RC set the line further upwind to accommodate for the lighter winds- which caught a few people by surprise as there were only 4-5 making it on time with the rest of the fleet struggling to get going in the light stuff.I lined up for a port start thinking there would be more wind in the middle as the inside looked light.
S3 and Xavier got the jump on starboard while Eric and I started on port.
The rest of the fleet sat park below the line in a very light 8-12k
I rounded topark in 4th with Xavier on 9.5, Eric on 11 and S3 on 11 in front.
Quickly I gybed to get control of the outside. Mid bay I gybed back finally overtook s3 below Alcatraz with better speed. Coming into TI I called the layline perfect and pumped into the leeward mark- while Eric, S3 and Besse on 9.5 all had to double gybe to make it.
Thanks to Chris Ray for the great shots on Saturday!I lead upwind on port tack to Angel Island but tacked too late to cover the fleet behind me. On the beat back to starboard, I collected so many weeds my angle and speed were off significantly. I lost S3 from behind & Eric and Seth to leeward.
In hindsight, I should have back down to clear myself but kept forging ahead in hopes the weeds would clear themselves- wrong move!
All I could do was head back out to mid bay while the 3 leaders played the cityfront.
I never found the groove up wind.
And now I know why.
Sailing to the wrong side of the course and not taking advantage of ebb tide really put me at a disadvantage. S3, Eric and Besse battled it out to the finish and 4th was all I could salvage.
S3 sailed a brilliant upwind in front claiming the gun.
44 consistent as ever - claimed the no 2 spot while Seth- just falling short to take the bullet managed 3rd.
Overall a good day!
Can't get too upset over weeds as it's all part of the game.
Meanwhile the kiters started 25 minutes behind us in a fresher breeze and leader Andrew Koch took the line honors with an elapsed time of 49 minutes and 35 seconds- almost 6 minutes faster than the formula fleet.Sunday 2pm start w/ 3 course races scheduled.
Thanks to Shawn Davis for the photos- be sure to check out his gallery at
http://www.picyourshot.com/Sports/Windsurfing/2010-Windsurfing/11857060_qfDUN
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