SSA Summer J70 Invitational
As dawn broke on Saturday the sun shone once again, revealing a mostly intact SSA (save for a few missing planks) and four race-ready J 70s committed to the SSA Summer J70 Invitational. The four crews included six skippers (s/o to Dave Schoene & Greg Eggleston) and the complete (and talented) White family.
Following a brief delay while we waited for the breeze to fill in, the first of three races commenced just west of Greenbury point. Race #1 saw the fleet split from the start, with VooDeux and Celerity taking the left side of the course, (s)Mac Attack taking the right side and FA splitting the difference. Sure enough, all boats converged simultaneously at the windward mark and while contact was minimal, we all learned something about calling early for room.
Race 2 saw the breeze begin to shift right and boats that called the shift early saw the pay off. As the breeze and current shifted Team FA saw big gains heading to the land of opportunity heading course-left out of the windward mark. But, our good friends in the powerboating community made sure those gains were short lived as the unending wake-induced chop stuffed any hopes of consistent boat speed as we headed back towards the finish line.
Race 3 saw the sea breeze fill in from the south. Crews dialed up the rigs back to base and geared up for the final race of the day. Randy Gould's VooDeux sailed well and held off the White family's Mac Attack from completing a full set of bullets. Meanwhile, a strong current and incorrectly rigged windward mark dashed FA's hopes of holding off Celerity; following a strong rounding and snappy set, we popped the spin and scooted off to the finish line in close to lazy plane conditions. Boy was I surprised to turn around and see not Team Celerity close behind, but the mark itself! As it turns out the bottom weight of the windward mark wasn't secured 10' below the mark on the rode, but directly to the mark itself. Despite a clean rounding with no contact, we hooked the line and brought the mark with us. Celerity made short work of our error and snagged the final podium spot in Race 3, clinching the final podium spot of the regatta in the process.
Back on the dock we enjoyed a jovial debrief with plenty of lessons learned. The four-boat regatta provided plenty of close quarters racing for the well-matched boats. Congratulations are in order for MacAttack securing 1st overall, VooDeux in the second spot and the Auld family's Celerity taking their second podium finish with a third place. Final results:
MacAttack: 1/1/2
VooDeux: 2/2/1
Celerity: 3/4/3
Foreign Affairs: 4/3/Ret
Many thanks to all for coming out and supporting; Fleet One and the SSA contingent make sailing on the bay a privilege for all of us lucky enough to be a part of it
