Seaya served as instruction boat for the Women’s Sailing Seminar (WSS) again over the weekend at CYC. This is a fun annual event that has resulted in some of Seaya’s best and most consistent sailors joining the Seaya crew as well as joining CYC over the years. Past students on Seaya who have gone on to sail consistently on Seaya include Rochelle, Alison, Julie, Rita, Cathy and many others have raced a few times with us.
The weather for the weekend was fantastic both Saturday and Sunday. Warm and sunny with great sailing wind. The wind averages were in the teens but there were areas out in the slot where we could get students into real SF Bay 20+ knot winds, as well as areas behind Angel Island where light winds prevailed. Perfect wind for teaching. On Saturday the skipper and first mate Patty led a group of 4 who all were already had a fair amount of sailing experience. It was pretty easy to turn the boat over to the students and let them sail, and just talk about what was going on. Students rotate boats so as it turned out, Sunday’s students were more toward the beginner end of the curve, but just as enthusiastic. In fact, one of Sunday’s students had been on a sailboat for the first time on Saturday! Rob Novak served as onboard instructor along with yours truly on Sunday as Rob’s boat Shindig had ripped their jib on Saturday and so were out of commission for the Sunday classes. The sailing was great, we even taught a “chicken jibe” (thank goodness we didn’t try a real jibe then), and smiles were order of the day at the post class party on CYC’s deck.
May 19 & 20, 2012
Friday May 18 seemed to be a bit of a replay of recent races. The weather was nice, warm and sunny, but there was not enough wind for Seaya to really strut versus our more light wind oriented competition. The course was out to Little Harding and back to Belvedere Cove. The light conditions had boats spread across the course looking for wind; we got behind early, but found a wind line that brought us back up with the leaders hear Little Harding. Alas our “private” wind tuckered out and we sailed home slowly alongside most of the other boats, unable to pull ahead. Since we owe time to all the boats in our fleet, the boats near us all corrected out ahead. Worse things could happen to us though - if sailing in beautiful weather means we may have problems with not enough wind - well……… we’ll still go sailing!
Two races were on tap for the fleet for the CYC Championship May 12. The races were relatively short and went primarily up and down Raccoon Straights. The first race was a double sausage course up to a temporary buoy near Belvedere point and then down to a leeward mark in Kiel cove. Light winds meant it was not really Seaya weather, but from a pure pleasure standpoint, the weather was perfect, warm and sunny. The second race saw Seaya get a good start and lead the fleet toward Belvedere. This race had a touch more wind overall, but we got into a wind hole going out of Belvedere cove toward Little Harding mark and were passed by a few boats. We set the spinnaker downwind through Raccoon Straights which helped us catch back up, but we couldn’t get far enough ahead to correct out in front. But it was good spinnaker practice and great sailing. All in all - a beautiful day, great sailing, and we’ll await stronger winds later in the summer to place better.
It was exciting yet somber on Friday April 20 at CYC as the 2012 Friday Night Races got underway. The somber mood reflected the feeling across the SF Bay sailing community in light of last week’s tragic loss of 5 lives in the Crewed Farallones Race aboard Low Speed Chase. The race was the first since the incident. Yet almost as if to celebrate the spirit of those who were lost, turnout for the race was amazing. In fact almost 50 boats showed up to sail, despite only about 40 being registered!! Prior to the start, there was a moment of silence, and the Tiburon Fire Department boat shot streams of water into the air in honor of our lost fellow sailors.
The race itself was otherwise relatively uneventful, there was plenty of wind to get around the course, though not enough to cause any real stress. The wind angle made crossing the start line on starboard tack impossible, and Seaya was second across the line on port tack in front of a bunch of starboard boats who were just unable to shut us out. The race went out to Little Harding mark and back. We held our second place position all the way around the course, and corrected out third place as Kira corrected out ahead of us by 14 seconds. All in all a fun sail, brightening the mood of the sailors, and the post race party on the CYC deck saw crowds of smiling faces. Thats what sailing is supposed to be about.
Friday, April 20, 2012
Jan 15 wasn’t so great weather wise, but Seaya still made it out on the bay for a look around, then over to Tiburon for a night in the harbor at CYC. Our friends the Novaks on their Oyster 48 Shindig were also there and so it was dinner aboard!! Nancy Novak made great beef stew - which given the outside temperature was a real hit. Monday Jan 16 was Mark & Patty’s 19th Anniversary so it was time for a lazy sleep in, then breakfast aboard Shindig with mimosas to celebrate the anniversary! Love you Patty.
