Great write up from Roger -
"Crew: Nathalie, Nathan, Lynn, Eric, & Roger
Start: Off Pt Richmond @ 11:15
Finish: Stockton Sailing Club, San Joaquin River (for us ~20:15)
We had a great downwind sail! We managed to fight off about half the E27s until about Pittsburg. The Moore 24s had overrun us by then since we were probably a little too
heavily staffed (5 crew) for a downwind race in moderate/lighter wind. There were about 30 M24s in the race (some from out of the area), 13 E27s, and about 60 other boats. We overlapped one of the Moores on its Starboard quarter while we all were on port jibe. They were not too close to the left bank of the San Joaquin River , but they were getting there and they announced they would jibe. Nathalie went forward to do foredeck, but we didn't jibe as fast as the Moore could. Suddenly they were on starboard tack. Nathan coached Lynn to come up to take the Moore's stern. Lynn had a lot to consider, Nathalie on the bow could be knocked overboard if the boat turned too suddenly, etc. Well, we didn't turn sharply enough. Lynn
executed a perfect P.I.T. maneuver:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PIT_maneuver .
I'd never seen it with boats before though. We were all going about 7 knots, but we decelerated quickly as we pushed the Moore through its 170 degree right turn, and we scraped each other's starboard sides. I managed to fend off a little, maybe saving some damage. Our spreaders did not hit, and none of us needed to take our chutes down! We did in order to do our 720 however. The Moore we hit was from WA, and they sustained some damage to their wood rub rail and a stanchion or two. In an unrelated incident, another E27 (Swamp Donkey) left some of its chute on a day marker. To give an idea of how weird the race went, up in the bar I talked with a J24
skipper who caught up to and passed an Olson 30!! The conditions seemed to favor 24' boats for some reason. The Wabbits also did well this year (again).
-Roger"
Going whale watching in the delta
A French boat surrendering. White flag's up.
US Today's cover photo
The expert
Roger:" We're getting into the river now, I'd better hang onto something. You never know with these whales"
Lynn, appointed whale spotter
A few boats out of the hundreds participating in the event
Nathan: "If we manage to get hit by a whale, do you think that it will serve as a Babe Magnet?"
I never cease to admire Roger's mastery of spinnaker trimming. He can even do this with closed eyes.
We asked Lynn not to close her eyes when she was driving.
Striptease
The gents
Striptease 2
The fleet
