Here are the Cliff Notes:
Five boats arrived Friday and we were stuck at the end of the the 100 dock
where we rafted up. Dinner was at Sam's because the yacht club was having
other functions and there was no room for us. Not the best effort from the chef at
Sam's.
Saturday morning broke calm and clear. By 8:30 Leann, our diver, was
there cleaning the bottom and putting on a new prop as well as attaching a 40
pound anchor to all the other boats in the fleet. (We offered to carry
down the anchors for her but she said that was OK.) By the way the prop helped but
the anchors didn't seem to work at all. After a couple of hours delay the first race finally got under way.
Five of the seven boats were over early! Only one of the over early boats
restarted (us) and the remaining four took DNS or OCS. No one was very happy.
However you are right that means we took a third. Best ever finish by Luna Sea in a I36 race.
Cassiopeia was first and Freedom Won
was second.
Second race of the day we sailed the wrong course! And so we took a DNF.
We finished the race with a bilge full of water after running our backstay at
2000 pounds when going windward all day. But thankfully it was
just a loose packing gland and a broken switch in the bilge. Captain
Hooke was first and I'm not sure about the rest. At the end of the first
day. Cassiopeia was first and Freedom Won was still second.
The 'Hooke was third but they were calling it a weekend and leaving so even with our DNF we were
third or fourth.
Saturday night was pizza and cocktails at the main docks but no bar-b-que
that was hopped for.
By the way the main docks at a little nicer than being stuck at end of the 100
dock. And
of course the Club House and grounds at the SFYC are beautiful. They were
enjoyed by all. An early evening was had by most of us but the next time a Melges guy refers to an I36
as a mini-van I am punching him right in the nose. Actually the Melges
guys were great. I only wish they would have offered me a ride.
There was a protest because of the start of the first race but it was tossed.
Sunday morning was very calm with a bit of smog over The City. We got
out early and headed off toward the middle of the slot to get in a bit of
sailing before the race and double check that our backstay and keel had nothing
in common. They did not but every time we ran the engine we had to pump out
the bilge and we could not tighten the packing gland because we unloaded
everything that weighed my than an ounce from the boat including the tools.
Of course this was more than offset by the 1000 pounds or so of water we
unknowing carried around in the bilge the entire first day! (Maybe we need
to rethink this tools thing.) We waited around for a couple of hours for the wind to fill in.
After the RC reset the marks more times as we can count the race got under way.
They put up course one for us which was the shortest course of the day.
All the boats got a good start (including us) but we fell behind as we could not get clear
wind. Taking last but scoring a 6th because Captain Hooke took the
day off in the 40 minute race. I have have no idea who won but it was very close at the finish.
After that we headed by to The City to pick up some very cute guests and
sailed back to SFYC to reload our gear we had stowed on shore. Then we heard about race four! Only two boats
participated and I have no idea if that counted in the results. Still we
hated to miss a race.
Anyway Kit seems to have won The Nationals with John second.
Dear
Islander Racers, Friends and Enthusiasts,
This
past weekend provided all the thrills and disappointments of a sailing
competition that one could want or expect. There was the usual "thrill of
victory and agony of defeat." And if we could take the liberty to borrow
the crew motto of our former I-36 brother, Jim Robinson, no one was really
"Obnoxious in Victory" but perhaps we were a little too guilty of
being "Bitter in Defeat." Yes, we all went to school on "how to start a
race" but as a wise old competitor once told me, he'd learned more from
adversity than he'd ever learned from success. So I'm sure we're all a
little wiser now.
A
little more confusion followed with regard to the number of races to be
sailed on Sunday, so let me offer an explanation from what I saw and what I
did.
I
was not cognizant of the web page racing schedule that apparently has
published the number of races for Nationals at 2 on Saturday and 1
on Sunday. I'm sure that was in deference to the fleet preference for the
elimination of multiple race days. Nevertheless, I had reviewed the Racing
Instructions received from the SFYC and saw where they had listed a possible
3 races on Saturday and 3 more on Sunday. The last time I had participated
in the Nationals, that was the case, 3 and 3. So before leaving the dock
Sunday, I asked the race committee members how many races they were planning
for our fleet for that day, and I was told "3." That confirmed what I had
read in the SI, so thought it to be expected for this series of races.
After
completing the first race on Sunday, I was surprised to see three boats
headed back to the SFYC and one toward the City Front. So I called the Race
Committee boat and asked if there were any more races planned for I -36.
They answered in the affirmative, and since we were all monitoring Ch. 65,
it seemed to me that the information had now been "aired" and all should
have received it assuming they were still on frequency. So we returned to
the starting line and awaited another race.
Well, seeing no other boats besides Cassiopeia and ourselves, I knew we
could not count this race for the Nationals prize. But something else was
in the air, instead. Being presented before my very eyes was a potential
battle between the Jedi Knight (Lou Zevanov, aboard Zenith) and Luke
Skywalker (Kit Weigman) aboard Cassiopeia. Well, I wish more of you could
have been there to see the prestart maneuvering. It's a wonder anyone on
that Committee boat could remember their assignment for the exciting action
they were witnessing headed in their direction as Zenith and Cassiopeia
darted and turned, wiggled and waggled, tacked and jibed, narrowly missing
each other by fractions inches. Aboard Zenith, with Lou at the helm, calls
to trim, ease, trim were issuing form Lou's mouth as though he were a
country auctioneer. Aboard the committee boat, I'm sure thoughts began to
run through their head that they were about to become the first unofficial
bow ornament for a pair of Islander 36's that just could not get enough
zigging and zagging to satisfy themselves. As it turned out, Luke Skywalker
proved himself to be an accomplished Jedi warrior and beat Obe -Wan Kenobi
to both the starting line and the finish line, but not before the seasoned
veteran discoverd a capability of his embattled starship to sail with a
135% jib roller furled to approximately 100% size that yielded a forgiving
headsail force but required a respect of its extremely narrow steering angle
in order to use it as an effective weapon.
The
end result? That second race on Sunday might just as well have been an
imaginary scene from Star Wars for the results were ordered to be ignored by
yours truly upon our return to the San Francisco Yacht Club and conference
with P.R.O. Bartz Scheider of the SFYC. Although it could have worked to
our advantage, there was no way I was going to let stand a race that the
primary racers who had supported the I-36 Fleet Championship series this
entire past racing season, were deprived of the opportunity to participate
in for what ever the reason might have been. Had any one of them known that
an additional race were being held, they would have raced. So the results
were: 1. Kit Weigman - Cassiopeia 2. John Melton - Freedom Won 3. Kris
Youngberg - Tenacious 4. Harry Farrell - Pacific High 5. Art Fowler/Lou
Zevanov - Zenith 6. Tom and Dave Newton - Captain Hooke and 7. but looking
absolutely fantastic and unequivocally best dressed, Dan Knox and his
terrific young and enthusiastic crew aboard Luna Sea.
A
special Thanks to all of you who came out and supported the Islander 36
Class at this, its annual Nationals Championship and as the name itself
implies, you're all champions in my book.
Happy
Sailing,
Art
Fowler
Commodore
Islander 36 Association San Francisco Bay
