Monday, September 10, 2007
FRIDAY, 7 SEPT. 07-- KNARR INTERNATIONAL REGATTA IN MODERATE WINDS
Jen and I headed out for an afternoon sail at about 2 pm.
We had hazy sunshine and moderate winds as we left the marina.
We entered the central bay and headed west on a southwest breeze and watched ADVENTURE CAT heading home.
Jen was having fun at the helm as we sailed west in warm sunhine and temperatures.
Ahead of us, along the cityfront, we could see the downwind start of the second race of the day in the Knarr International Regatta, featuring top sailors in this one design class from the US and Scandinavia.
[Later we checked the website for race results and discovered that the two races the previous day had been cancelled, probably because the hellacious winds that we had experienced that afternoon were too strong for safe racing on these small yachts. We had seen a group of small boats over in Berkeley Circle as we headed for the lee side of Angel Island and clearly there were heavy winds all over the bay, including that area, so it was not surprising that they cancelled the racing for that day.]
Here a group of the Knarrs were appoaching the leeward mark, doing wing and wing direct dowwind.
This group is rounding the north mark on port tack.....
..while this group is rounding the south mark on starboard tack.
The Knarrs were sailing upwind beautifully in the moderate breeze.
Here are a group of the Knarrs beating upwind on different tacks and looking good!
This Knarr was way behind the rest of the fleet and it looks like they only have 3 crew instead of the usual 4, which might make them slower upwind with insufficient weight on the windward rail.
After the boats passed, we headed for the gate, but didn't go all the way there since we had to be back in port early, and instead turned around and headed back toward the Knarr race course to watch more racing-- and here come the lead boats heading upwind.
This group of boats on different tacks passed us a bit later.
A while later, this Knarr was heading right for us on starboard tack and, as the windward boat, we owed them right of way and fell off to let them pass astern...
...getting this spectacular shot as they blasted past our stern.
Here's a video clip of the Knarr racing.
After the Knarrs had all passed us, we continued downwind toward home port, enjoying views of the city in hazy sunshine.
We prepared for landing as we sailed downwind, doused sail after passing the marina and then motored into port after a couple of hours of delightful sailing and race watching.
Later that evening, after I returned from a birthday dinner for my daughter, we went out again for a night sail and had a delightful sail in light winds to the vicinity of Harding Rock and back.
Jen and I headed out for an afternoon sail at about 2 pm.
We had hazy sunshine and moderate winds as we left the marina.
We entered the central bay and headed west on a southwest breeze and watched ADVENTURE CAT heading home.
Jen was having fun at the helm as we sailed west in warm sunhine and temperatures.
Ahead of us, along the cityfront, we could see the downwind start of the second race of the day in the Knarr International Regatta, featuring top sailors in this one design class from the US and Scandinavia.
[Later we checked the website for race results and discovered that the two races the previous day had been cancelled, probably because the hellacious winds that we had experienced that afternoon were too strong for safe racing on these small yachts. We had seen a group of small boats over in Berkeley Circle as we headed for the lee side of Angel Island and clearly there were heavy winds all over the bay, including that area, so it was not surprising that they cancelled the racing for that day.]
Here a group of the Knarrs were appoaching the leeward mark, doing wing and wing direct dowwind.
This group is rounding the north mark on port tack.....
..while this group is rounding the south mark on starboard tack.
The Knarrs were sailing upwind beautifully in the moderate breeze.
Here are a group of the Knarrs beating upwind on different tacks and looking good!
This Knarr was way behind the rest of the fleet and it looks like they only have 3 crew instead of the usual 4, which might make them slower upwind with insufficient weight on the windward rail.
After the boats passed, we headed for the gate, but didn't go all the way there since we had to be back in port early, and instead turned around and headed back toward the Knarr race course to watch more racing-- and here come the lead boats heading upwind.
This group of boats on different tacks passed us a bit later.
A while later, this Knarr was heading right for us on starboard tack and, as the windward boat, we owed them right of way and fell off to let them pass astern...
...getting this spectacular shot as they blasted past our stern.
Here's a video clip of the Knarr racing.
After the Knarrs had all passed us, we continued downwind toward home port, enjoying views of the city in hazy sunshine.
We prepared for landing as we sailed downwind, doused sail after passing the marina and then motored into port after a couple of hours of delightful sailing and race watching.
Later that evening, after I returned from a birthday dinner for my daughter, we went out again for a night sail and had a delightful sail in light winds to the vicinity of Harding Rock and back.
# posted by charlie bergstedt @ 4:59 PM 
