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Ryan Simmon’s and his team on Blackhawk once again took home the top spot on the podium in the highly competitive SF Bay J/105 fleet, this time in the 5 race 2017 Swiftsure Regatta run off the western face of Alcatraz. Saturday’s racing saw a wind prediction on the lighter side in the low to mid-teens but this proved not to be the case. With windward marks to port in the vicinity of Blackaller, and early ebb on shore, the clear early strategy was to get to the City Front. Complicating this, however, was a good deal of sheer in the wind, making the deep left corner less advantageous than higher lanes slightly out from shore where breeze held constant, especially in race 2. By the end of race 2 and then in race 3 the ebb had established itself across the course and the right side of the course came into play. Port-roundings to windward made for exciting offset mark action where gybe setting became a must.  Breeze in race 1 was low to mid-teens building to high teens by race end. Race 2 saw high teens to low 20s and race 3 saw breeze in the mid-twenties gusting to 30 as racing concluded. Arbitrage’s roller furler malfunctioned in the third race so they made for a jarring visual as they took off on a 3-sail hot reach on the first downwind leg, planing at 11-12 kt and separating from the fleet, passing three boats.

Sunday started once again with wind in the low to mid-teens with the same City Front play prevalent on Saturday. Blackhawk entered the last race with a safe cumulative scoring lead of five points over Arbitrage. Historically, this regatta has been a warm-up for Big Boat Series and the race committee kept to that tradition by giving us a 17 nm Bay Tour, adding some jeopardy to Blackhawk’s dominance and, with no throw-outs, Arbitrage was still within striking distance.

Starting at Alcatraz, Arbitrage opted for a pin start with Blackhawk a few rows up the line. Nearly all boats chose to go to the City Front for tide relief before crossing under the Gate and then working up the north shore to Bonita. Blackhawk and Arbitrage mirrored each other up the course out to Pt. Bonita with Blackhawk in the lead followed by Arbitrage, Akula and Jabberwocky.  Some careful positioning with the currents enabled Arbitrage to pass Blackhawk in the last half mile approaching Pt. Bonita, and then they set kites and went high toward Baker Beach for relief from the ebb.  Jibing around the Golden Gate Bridge’s south tower, the fleet then rounded Blackaller and zig-zagged across the Bay, touring Harding and Blossom, up again to Blackaller and then a race deck finish.  Arbitrage lead the whole way, with loose cover over Blackhawk, but then overstood the last windward mark (Blackaller) and had to cede the inside spot to a boat from a different fleet, the mighty Swiftsure II, forcing Arbitrage to round wide and opening the door to Blackhawk. Arbitrage jibed out for fresh air while Blackhawk played the inside.  With very little advantage to either boat Arbitrage was able to pin Blackhawk against the H Beam until they called for sea room.  Arbitrage gybed away for the win by a nose in a near photo finish over Blackhawk, followed by Akula and Jabberwocky.

The final results were Blackhawk with 9 points (3,1,1,2,2), Arbitrage with 13 points (2,3,3,4,1), Akula with 18 points (4,2,6,3,3) and Jabberwocky with 20 points (5,6,4,1,4) 

https://yachtscoring.com/event_results_cumulative.cfm?eid=4402

The Sausalito YC J/105 Invitational on July 22-23 2017 brought 19 J-105’s out of their summer slumber for a weekend of heavy air racing – typical SF Bay summer conditions with winds in high teens and building into the 20’s, with gusts into the mid-30’s on Sunday!

The Race Committee set up the starting area off the west face of Alcatraz and the windward mark toward mid-span of the Golden Gate Bridge.  With a significant flood tide on both days, many boats were doing dip-line starts. The PRO managed to cant the line so that competitors had to make a decision – start at the pin, closer to the relief along the city front, or start 15-20 degrees upwind toward the signal boat and hope that was enough to outweigh the extra time spent in a foul tide. Once the fleet hit the city front the decision was reversed, tack back into the middle of the Bay on lay line, fighting more current, or sail extra distance in the better water. With such a heavily favored side of the course upwind there was a premium on clear lanes and the ability to tack when desired, leaving many boats no choice but to over stand the weather mark.

Conditions Saturday were classic San Francisco summer, 15-25 knot wind with fog rolling in and significant ebb chop in race 3. The finish to race 1 proved to be one of the more exciting and critical moments in the regatta. Arbitrage, Blackhawk and Godot all came into the downwind finish overlapped, slightly above lay-line for the left (pin) end of the line. With the heavy flood tide and breeze near 20 knots, a late decision by Godot caused all three to over-stand and started a chain reaction of them jibing and broaching, leaving the tide to take them across the finish line. Both Arbitrage and Blackhawk protested Godot for not providing room to finish and the protest was scheduled for Thursday. After two more races, Blackhawk held a 3 point lead over Arbitrage and Godot, pending the outcome of the protest.

Sunday brought a repeat of the conditions from Saturday. 15-20 knot breeze with a flood tide for race 1 led to a runaway victory for Arbitrage, with the next boat a half leg back.   The three boats were tied going into the final race, pending the prior day’s protest. At the start of the final race the same decision had to be made, start on the left end of the line and go for current relief, or start at the heavily favored right side. Blackhawk and Godot chose the pin, and Arbitrage the committee end. Soon after the start a tanker came through the fleet. The boats at the pin were able to cross to the relief on the City Front and had a significant advantage over Arbitrage, Advantage and a few others who had to tack back into the flood so as to avoid the tanker. Blackhawk then led around the first weather mark, and with the heavy flood tide and 20-25 knot breeze, the lead quickly built. By the end of the race the wind reached 25-30 knots with gusts into mid-30s, leading to planing conditions downwind and challenging maneuvers for all crews. Blackhawk went on the win the race, with Godot finishing second and Arbitrage a hard earned 6^th after being forced to go behind the tanker on the first leg.  Upon discussion after racing, Godot retired from race 1, leaving Blackhawk 4 points ahead of Arbitrage for the regatta victory. The top 5 were rounded out by Donkey Jack in 3rd, Jam Session in 4^th and Godot in 5^th, beating Hazardous Waste via tie breaker thanks to their victory in race 2. Full results at:

http://www.regattanetwork.com/event/15018#_newsroom+results

Winning their first regatta of the season, Adam Spiegel and the crew of Jam Session clinched the SFYC June Invitational with 16 points.  Sailing with Adam were Sydney Green, Ben Pedrick, Chris Tholstrop, Christos Zalidis, Seth Besse and Will Sandford.  Racing was classic circle fare with winds pushing into the 20s at their peak, and the J/105 fleet pushing tactical barriers at times. In fact, a collision between Donkey Jack and Blackhawk resulted in Ryan Simmon’s team borrowing Roxanne (thanks to owner Charles James) on Sunday. Team Blackhawk led the regatta up until the final race but ultimately finished 2nd with 18 points.  Mojo, Jabberwocky and Godot finished close behind with 30, 32 and 37 points respectively. 

Congratulations to Philip Laby and the Godot team on their win in the Regattapro midwinter series. Jam Session completed the winter events in second place and Charlie Abraham’s Javelin took third.