Sailing Blog
“Days of Thunder” on Day 1 of Melges 32 Cal Cup »
August 20, 2010
If Tom Cruise were to make a sequel to his popular movie “Days of Thunder”, being a driver of a Melges 32 in San Francisco Bay would be a good place to start…that is of course, if Nicole Kidman could have a supporting role. By the end of the first day at the California Cup, several boats collided, struck masts, and even stuck their bow sprits in places where they don’t belong. This resulted in damage and bruised egos, but by the end of the day, the breeze was fully pumping and there were awesome rides to be had downwind. Speed, carnage, and nice wipe-outs at what is a tune-up regatta for the Worlds less than a month away…it will be interesting to see what happens when the fleet size doubles and the sailors get even riskier with their calls in just a few weeks.
Although the Cal Cup is being treated as a tuning/training event for most teams, it did not take long for the blood to get pumping as the pressure and intensity of the Worlds is always lingering in the background. With the overcast skies taking longer to clear over SF Bay than normal, the first race got off with an 11:30 am start and shifting condition at 9-13 mph. We did a good job of starting clean near the pin end and used our speed to punch out on the front row. A few boats tacked immediately to the right corner which seemed risky at the time, but as we got closer to the top of the course, the move would pay off. The Samba was fortunate to make it back from the left side and tacked back onto the starboard layline in what looked like was going to be in 3rd place behind Warpath and Argo. As we got closer to the mark, Argo approached on the port tack layline, attempted a tight duck on Warpath, misjudged it badly and collided with the stern quarter of Warpath at a high rate of speed causing both boats to get tangled with masts basically intertwined, and allowed us to do a slight luff to get around the carnage, around the mark, and off onto the downwind. From there we were able to stay hooked up in the pressure in a slightly building breeze and maintain a nice lead through the finish. Warpath would need to retire from the race due to damage suffered to the boat and sails, but would be able to sail the remainder of the day, but Argo would call it quits as they had another collision with Leenabarca later in the same race and would need to go to the dock and inspect for damages.
Race 2 saw similar conditions but with what looked a breeze that was trying to fill but just didn’t have any gusto behind it. A challenging aspect about racing on the bay is not always setting up for the conditions that you are currently seeing, but what you anticipate on seeing. As the gun sounded, a few boats again tacked immediately at the boat and sprinted out to the right side. We did a good job of starting closer to the boat, but again in conservative fashion getting to the right when the opportunity presented itself and managed to round the windward mark in 3rd place. As the skies started to clear in Sausalito, the breeze was really starting to build on the right side, and for the boats that could pull off a nice gybe set, immediate gains were made.
At the first bottom mark, I wondered to myself who turned the fan on at the Golden Gate Bridge as the breeze had gone from 9-12 on the first beat to 17-20 on the next upwind. When the skies clear in SF, its time for breeze on, and it was now a drag race to the right side of the course to get into the pressure first. With the ebb tide starting as well, once we got to the right side our goal was to call an early layline, below and ahead of race leaders Bliksem and Yasha Samurai, but we found ourselves hipped up and being overstood as we approached the mark. After watching several boats come up and around us, we set our kite and managed to pick off one boat the last downwind. A disappointing 5th place, but a good lesson learned regarding the laylines for future regattas.
The last race of the day, the skies had cleared for the most part and the breeze was now settled in at 18-21 kts with the ebb tide in full effect. As the majority of the fleet stacked up at the boat end to get to the right side, we inched closer to the pack, but again stayed conservative and focused on a clean start and tacking to the right once a lane developed. With all 13 boats on port tack within 30 seconds of the starting gun, it was a full drag race to the right corner and a real test of boat speed. Morgan and John did a great job of keeping the boat moving at all times and Stu found some good shifts at the top of the course to get us around the mark with a healthy lead. After a clean set and gybe, we blasted off to the leeward mark at 19-20kts of boatspeed. The final 3 legs would be a repeat of the first 2 with it essentially being a drag race to the right side of the course and who could get there first. We managed to hang on for a race win and a 4 pt lead headed into day 2 of the Cal Cup.
With another 11:30 start planned for tomorrow, conditions should shape up to be similar and with a building breeze whenever the fog starts to thin out. As of 9:30 PT, the results had not yet been posted, but a link can be found here when the are. Our best guess at the top 3 is this:
1). Samba Pa Ti – 7 pts – 2). Pegasus Racing – 11pts 3). Bliksem – 11pts.
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