First place went to Richard Jarratt in his Wylie Wabbit Photo by Susan Burden
Nothing beats Wednesday night beer can racing!
Back in the Before Times, the ancient historic winter months such as last January, many of us commuted to archaic offices and worked in beige cubicles with photos of our boats on the walls. We dreamed of summer cruises or Pacific Cups. Perhaps we pondered new antifouling paint for our spring haulout, or a new Magma barbecue. We looked forward to beer can racing. Ah yes, those evening commutes in the early twilight, long ago.
Well, summer's here! Some of us are working from home, and others of us have lots of free time for sailing. With everything that has gone down, there's still nothing better that an evening of summer beer can racing on San Francisco Bay.
Back in the Before Times, the ancient historic winter months such as last January, many of us commuted to archaic offices and worked in beige cubicles with photos of our boats on the walls. We dreamed of summer cruises or Pacific Cups. Perhaps we pondered new antifouling paint for our spring haulout, or a new Magma barbecue. We looked forward to beer can racing. Ah yes, those evening commutes in the early twilight, long ago.
Well, summer's here! Some of us are working from home, and others of us have lots of free time for sailing. With everything that has gone down, there's still nothing better that an evening of summer beer can racing on San Francisco Bay.
A group of Beer Can racers approach the finish line at Killer Green
Wednesday's weather at Richmond Yacht Club (RYC) was just about perfect. There was wind, unlike the previous week, a drifter that resulted in zero boats finishing. There was a good turnout with many women skippers on the starting line like Cindy Evans, new owner of the Express 34, Joy Ride, and Julia Paxton on Express 27 Motorcycle Irene.
The starts are getting more competitive too, especially in the Alerion Express 28, a growing and active fleet. But the motto of Richmond Yacht Club is "This Club Was Built For Fun" and Eric Arens, the longtime Master of Ceremonies, keeps the level of intensity low. A fleet five of Lasers, both adults and juniors, showed up for some wave-crashing upwind sailing to the Bob Klein Memorial Buoy, followed by wave-riding downwind.
The starts are getting more competitive too, especially in the Alerion Express 28, a growing and active fleet. But the motto of Richmond Yacht Club is "This Club Was Built For Fun" and Eric Arens, the longtime Master of Ceremonies, keeps the level of intensity low. A fleet five of Lasers, both adults and juniors, showed up for some wave-crashing upwind sailing to the Bob Klein Memorial Buoy, followed by wave-riding downwind.
Eric Arens readies his horn to start the Wednesday night race
Meanwhile, our friend Chris Sullivan launched his drone from the public park at Ferry Point. He took some great shots of the Richmond Yacht Club harbor and the start of the race which you can see here. We pick up the action as the lead Alerion Express 28, sailed by Fred Paxton and Jennifer McKenna, is rounding the end of the breakwater. We’re sailing our new-to-us Laser–it’s our maiden voyage! Suddenly we hear the buzzing of a drone. Hi Chris!
New owner Cindy Evans pumps her fist as Joy Ride crosses the finish line
Chris’s drone video, with its pelican's-eye view, transforms our upwind bash in the brown waters of Southhampton Shoal into a slow-motion ballet. There were a lot of sailors wearing a big grin on their faces as we passed Killer Green for the finish, but some smiles were hidden under our masks.