The way to the island started upwind with breeze in the 8 to 11 knot range. I started driving and about half way Nathan and I switched position.
The wind then veered steadily south putting us on a reach directly to the island and we were sailing at about 7 knots in 15 knots of wind
The wind picked up close to the island between 13 and 18 knots. A short beating around the island and we were back on a reach
We saw a couple of whales!!! and dolphins played with us around the boat for a long time
Straight line to the island on a reach (fastest point of sail) was our hope when we opted for a South route. Weather forecast was for a southerly breeze, turning to a SE wind. You can California Condor on their way back in the photo above
The rest of the Express 27 fleet to leeward of us
A little bit of rain shortly before we rounded the island but mostly clear day. We were slower after the lightship and lost our advantage (we had picked up other boats between the bridge and point bonita)
On the way back, steering for the bridge, we also had reach conditions and were going at 7 knots in about 15 to 18 knots of wind with the genoa up.
not as fun as a spinnaker run but till good given that our expectations were for 5 knots :)
Winds got fluky in the vicinity of point bonita so we moved toward the center of the channel, unfortunately getting hit by the ebb tide which slowed us down. We finished 4th very shortly after El Raton and Wetsu.
Elise's bosun
An offshore race requires quite a bit of rinsing afterwards!
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