Friday Night Series- May 14

Racing at the St. Francis is about as good as it gets.
Guests can watch the races from the comfort of the grill room or brave the elements on the race deck.
Sailors have the options to go in between races and switch rigs when the wind changes and still be able to make the next start.
5 races are run every other Friday night throughout the summer and spring.
Unlike most formula races lasting 20-30 minutes, the twilight series is more of a series of sprints which each race lasting 6-8 minutes for the leaders.
The start is off the StFYC A and B buoys and upwind to Anita Rock- just off Crissy Field. Racing next to the shore limits your starting options to port tack and its usually the sailor starting on the inside that gets the favorable lift off the land and first to the weather mark.
Regardless of the course, it’s the best board-handling skills and ability to call the layline in the tides that makes the biggest difference in the short races.

Last Friday night was no exception.
With a huge wind range of 8-25k, it was anybody’s call what to rig.
The gusts were big but the holes were even bigger!
I headed out early with my Neil Pryde evo2 10.7, Ml10 and Z fin to sail the course, check the current and get a feel for the wind.
The middle of the course was light but the top and bottom were fully powered.
A few laps around and I was managing the 10.7- just barely.
If you can withstand the big gust with out much damage, the advantage of a bigger sail usually turns out to be far greater in the lulls where you make up a lot of distance vs those on a smaller sail- especially downwind!
Seth, Crad and myself all got off the line well and around Anita in front of the pack.
Timing was everything because we seemed to get our own private SW puff carrying us almost all the way down to B without gibing.
As we made our way around the leeward mark, things heated up and the 10.7 was a handful. CRad got the jump on me with Seth in the lead. I made the call the tack first as I knew the SW breeze would allow for a shorter layline to make the finish.
With CRad just below me, he got off his tack just a bit quicker and was able to get me by a ½ board length at the finish.
The lesson here- give it all you got till the finish!
Race 2 saw similar conditions with Seth on his 9.0 in the lead around the top mark and Crad and myself in hot pursuit. Again, in a SW puff we carried it down to mark B on starboard tack while Seth ran out of gas and had to double gybe to get around B.
I managed to hold on the rest of the race and take the bullet with Crad close behind and Seth in 3rd.
Next race saw Eric call his lines perfectly and not look back while Seth edges me out on the last tack before the finish. In a race like this, every point counts.
Race 4 saw Seth in top form again with Crad and Eric close behind.
I pulled the trigger a bit too soon and got called OSC and returned to clear myself.
I was able to claw my way back through some of the fleet- again trying for any points as the rules for tie breakers have changed with the latest RRS.
Appendix B now counts even your discarded races when looking at who has the better scores in the event of a tiebreaker (Thanks Ron!)I knew the points would be close going into the last race between CRad, Seth and myself.
I lined up perfectly for the start at B – taking into account the flood tide, the crowd and pulled the trigger perfectly accelerating off the line out in front of the fleet and getting in the inside lift.
The 10.7 really paid off well in the last race of the night with the wind dying to 10-15 and the rest of the fleet on their 10.0s. I held on for the bullet with Crad and Tom Purcell rounding out the top 3.
Overall it was Seth claiming the night with 7 points and Crad and myself, tied for 2nd with my 8th as a throw-out beating his 10th as a throw-out for the tiebreaker.
Next up, CalCup on Saturday in Bezekeley!
Waterhound report

Another Friday night of racing on the SF city front

With just 2 points separating the top 3 racers after 5 races, last Friday night's twilight was as close as they get. So close, that it came down to the last tack on the last beat.
Eric looked like he had things wrapped up as he rounded the last leeward mark in front with myself and Al in close pursuit but Al's countless years on racing on the city front course paid off as he called the lay line to the pin and jumped from 3rd to 1st in the last seconds of the race edging both Eric and I out to take the final bullet and series.
I made a few sloppy calls- overstanding marks, getting called osc and even getting tossed like a little girl in race 3- which set me back a few points and grasping for anything I could get.
In this fleet, you need to sail consistently and smart to finish on top.

Most everyone started on their 11's as the inside was still not filling in completely and with Jean on the RC calling the course, we knew we would be running some old school multi gybe courses.

In race 1, I scored the first bullet edging C-Rad out on the last leg. He had some amazing acceleration upwind with his F4 D series fins, squirting out from the fleet at the start but I managed to get the tactical advantage, with inside lift on the first beat upwind. On the downwind, we saw some big puffs roll through which sent Al and Chris back to the beach after the race searching for the 10's. Eric stuck with his 11- which would be the right call as the night progressed. I managed to squeeze out everything I had with my 10 but in the light stuff, it just wasn't enough.As they say, rig for the lulls, survive the gust!
Race 2 saw more close action at the front of the fleet with Eric, Al and I finishing 1-2-3.
I over- cautiously overstood the top mark thinking it would be light up there again but in doing so, lost my chance to stay in the top pack. I clawed back through the fleet with some good sailing, staying in the breeze the rest of the race.
Race 3 saw Eric and David got to the top mark in the lead with the 11's. By overstanding, I cam in hot- edging out C-Rad and Al but as I turned the corner, I had nothing to pump with and Eric and David sailed away with their bigger rigs. Nothing to do but wait for the next puff and finish 3rd.
Race 4 was the craziest of them all with the wind up in the high teens and bigger southerly puffs coming down from the Presidio hills. I thought I had the perfect start- fully powered at the gun and the mark but Jean with his eagle eyes on the race deck called me over early and I had to dip back through the line to restart. Clawing my way back through the fleet, I found myself at the top mark in 5th but as luck would have it, Al and I scored a personal southerly puff which drove us straight downwind along the shore as the rest of the fleet gybed to the outside. As we gybed over towards the outside as we were sailing course C, Al went down hard as a classic SF puff took him out.
Thinking to myself, "ok, Ive got this wrapped up" (from last to 1st in a matter of 1-1/2 legs), overconfidence struck and I went down harder than Ive in a long time- getting catapulted over the front- ending up fulling twisted hooked in my rig upside down.
Shaken, I got up fast and managed to squeeze out another 3rd by sailing smart the last leg and tacking immediately after the leeward mark in search of the breeze and catching a few boards in the process.
Determined to finish strong, I put everything I had into the last race, but again again made 1 too many mistakes to get into the lead. By overstanding the top mark, I let Al really catch up. Eric had a nice jump but coming down from the last gybe mark, it was getting lighter and I almost sailed right over the top of him but with the layline quickly approaching and Al riding the next puff from behind, I hesitated on the gybe and let Al sneak in there. I backed off giving the 2 some room and myself an opportunity to pinch up and go for angle the last leg. I was eeking as much as I could out of my kashy 70 and bagged out 10 for plently of climbing angle but Al made the first tack. I held off for another second but he managed to get going just a hair faster and was on his way. Trying to determine the best VMG with Al a few board lengths to leeward, I went for the angle again but just not enough as we finished within a board length of each other.
Another great night racing on the SF city front...no place I'd rather be!