We made it to the start and took over 200 photos, and you may view them at my photo album website:
http://cbergstedt.myphotoalbum.com/
An Olson 40 named SPELLBOUND had motored out of pier 39 marina and was headed for the starting line of the race.
I had put up sangle-reefed main and was sailing with full jib, but since winds were lighter than expected, I eventually shook the reef out of the main to get more speed toward the start line of the race. In the distance, I could see the race boats sailing around and waiting for the start of the race.
Off to port, the race boat Scorpio had been motrsailing toward the start line, but then stopped and seemed to be concerned about the main sail for some reason....
....and eventually started lowering the main sail, as we continued on toward the area of the race start.
COPERNICUS was one of the first boats that we encountered and she and crew were sailing around with full canvas out while others just had the main sail up.
We were still quite a ways away from the start line when I saw Pegasus heading toward the gate and I thought they had already started the race.
Other boats of various sizes were also heading toward the gate which seemed to confirm that they had started the race for the first group of boats....
.... but a short time later, Pegasus and the others were returning toward the start line.
The race committee seemed to be struggling to set the buoy for the start line and the delay enabled us to be there as the first group started and here PEGASUS is off on the actual start, heading south.
She soon tacked to the west to head for the shore of Sausalito for flood current relief.
As she headed west, I could see that she had only 4 crewpeople aboard, much fewer than most large race boats have on board. Olivier told me today that this is a boat that Phillipe Kahn, owner of Pegasus Racing, purchased this boat from the solo-skippered VENDEE GLOBE fleet and it is set up for single handing so is easily handled by 4 crew. She has a swing keel which avoids needing crew on the rail to balance the boat. She's a dual tiller and rudder boat and seems also to have daggerboards amidship as well.
She was looking good and making good headway as she headed toward Sausalito.
A short time later, the next fleet of boats started the race and all seemed to be heading for Sausalito for flood current relief.
However, at one point, SCEPTRE was heading our way on starboard tack with six crewmembers on the rail....
.....but soon tacked back onto port tack to head for the Sausalito shore.
She seemed to have a total crew complement of 8 people as she passed us.
Eventually, she was back on starboard tack as she headed for the gate.
I had doused the jib and was sailing main only and we were also slowly beating toward the gate, staying south of the race fleets in the main, but Aleta was taking a different route than the rest of the boats and so passed behind us, heading south.
Here, TIBURON and some of the others in the second fleet were beating toward the gate on different tacks.
A short time later, the next fleet of race boasts started and we were quite a ways ahead of them as we beat slowly toward the gate.
I eventually spotted Rhum Boogie, the boat that my friend Oliveir crews on, headed for the gate along the shore of the headlands behind an Express race boat.
We were now in a place where we had to be more careful as the race boats were headed our way, like the 4th fleet boats here.
A small race boat named Solar Wind passed behind us on starboard tack.
Meanwhile, this Beneteau was headed for the gate and flying main only. I couldn't tell if she was part of the race or not, but it seemed unlikely.
Ay Caliente was looking good as she headed for the gate on starboard tack.
This small race boat was on starboard tack also as she headed for the gate...
... as was Culebra with just three crew on the rail.
TIKI J was here headed for the gate on a port tack beat along with another boat in the background.
We were moving well out of the way of this race boat as she headed straight for us on starboard tack.
This race boat was looking good and well-balaanced with crew on the rail as she sailed out the gate on starboard tack.
One of the members of the race committee had come out to the gate to keep an eye on the action.
This small race boat was heading for the gate on port tack and, in the distance, an outbound container ship became something we all had to watch out for and stay out of the way of.
This boat in the race was heading out the gate just north of the south tower of the bridge.
Some of the last boats out the gate look like cruising boats with dodger, and here, one of them has most of the crew in the cockpit and not on the rail.
She's heading for the gate on port tack here as a small fishing boat heads back toward Fisherman's Wharf with a few passengers aboard. The freighter passed and we, along with the small fishing boat, bounced through the wake.
We now headed toward Raccoon Straits, sailing main only and on a direct downwind course as the wind was coming out of compass south. That seemed a better option than gybing back and forth with the jib out. At one point, this J105 named Frisky passed in front of us, heading for Sausalito under main-only.
We now headed toward Raccoon Straits, sailing main only and on a direct downwind course as the wind was coming out of compass south. That seemed a better option than gybing back and forth with the jib out. At one point, this J105 named Frisky passed in front of us, heading for Sausalito under main-only.
A bit later, SHAZAM crossed in front of us, not looking too good with fenders hanging over the side.
We were in sunshine now, but the fog bank was rolling over the hills of Sausalito....
... and the mist hid some of Mt. Tam.
This cruising verson of a J105 was flying full canvas as she sailed toward the central bay, but soon we saw her retreating back toward the lighter winds.
The fog on the central bay was extending part way over beautiful Angel Island.
Ayala Cove was quite well-populated with boats for a Friday afternoon.
Winds were a bit stronger at the north mouth of the straits and this small boat with full canvas was struggling in the winds.
As we headed north toward the Richmond San Rafael bridge, this J105 named JUPITER passed us to starboard, heading southeast.
This lovely wooden boat that we would later see had the name ARIES was also heading southeast and looking good!
The wind eventually shifted into the west so we pulled the jib out to full for max power as we headed for the RSR bridge, sailing to the west of Red Rock...
and soon passing under the bridge in the western ship span. I then reefed the jib down to a handkerchief size and came about and headed back to the southeast toward Angel Island.
ARIES was retreating toward the north and passed to starboard.
Her solo skipper was handling the boat nicely with his hand on her old-fashioned tiller.
As we blasted south in the good winds, this lovely boat crossed in front of us. She seems to have the lines of a Swan sailboat.
This small sailboat was heading up the shore of Angel Island and passed to starboard.
As we approached Pt. Blount, the wind velocity increased dramatically to 35-40 knots and we were way overpowered so came about and retreated and rolled the jib all the way in before heading down the shore of Angel again. Still we were overpowered, so we went back to a small lee area and reefed the main, but still had problems in the strong winds approaching Pt. Blount, so retreated again and doused the main as well and then motorsailed with small postage stamp jib out. Winds in the central bay were softer than they were at Pt. Blount, and we would have been fine with reefed main and small jib, but kept motorsailing, eventually pulling out a bit more jib and sailing with engine in neutral for a while and then motoring the rest of the way-- something I really hate doing!
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