Winter Series

Winter Series 2010

This is a five-race series with one throw-out race. The series is open to all sailors. The starting line is between Redwood Creek Channel Markers #3 and #4. The races start at 1:00pm. All Skippers must attend the Skipper’s meeting at 11:00am on the race day. 

The Winter Series races are scheduled for:

See the 2010 Notice of Race and the Standing Sailing Instructions.

Winter #5 - St. Patrick's Day Race and Series Results

The Winter Series closed on March 13 with the annual St. Patrick’s Day race. The conditions couldn't have been better to close out this series. Twelve boats participated in the race, with eight in the spinnaker and four in the non-spinnaker divisions. In addition to deciding the Winter Series, a bottle of Bushmills Irish Whiskey was up for grabs in both divisions as the prize for the St. Patrick's Day Race.

In the spinnaker division Primordial Sloop (Henry Kleinberg) took first place, with Smokin' J (Stan Phillips) and Pizote (John Ryan) taking second and third place. In the non-spinnaker division Linda Carol (Ray Collier) took first place, with Sweet Pea (Tim Petersen) and Spectra (Hal Wright) taking second and third place.

For the Winter Series overall results, Head Rush (Charlie Watt) took first place, and Smokin' J (Stan Phillips) and Pizote (John Ryan) took second and third place in the spinnaker division. In the non-spinnaker division Linda Carol (Ray Collier) took first place, and Sweet Pea (Tim Petersen) and Iowa (Rick Dalton) took second and third place.

A big thanks goes to all the boats that braved the winter cold, rain, early darkness and unpredictable winds to make this a memorable and exciting series: Agave (Robin Weber), Boudicca (Cathy Meyer), Head Rush (Charlie Watt), Iowa (Rick Dalton), Linda Carol (Ray Collier), Lucky Duck (Paul McCarthy), Made Easy (Jim Peterson), Magic (Jeff Phillips), Mellilani (Rich Butts), Mirth (Rick Gilmore), Pizote (John Ryan), Primordial Sloop (Henry Kleinberg), Sail la Vie (Phil MacFarlane), Seabiscuit (Mark Neumann, CPYC), Smokin’ J (Stan Phillips), Spectra (Hal Wright), Sweet Pea (Tim Petersen), TimBuktu (Dan Doud) and Yellow Brick Road (John Draeger).

Winter #4

The Winter Series race #4 was held on Sat., Feb. 6.  There were 9 boats in the race, with 6 in the spinnaker division and 3 in the non-spinnaker division.

There was no problem with a 13:00 start for this race.  The marine forecast indicated showers on and off during the day, and although no rain fell, there was a steady 15-20 knot NW wind for the duration of the race.  The course was 3/4 - Bs - Ys - 12p - 3s/4 for a total of 9.56 miles.  All-in-all it was a great day to be out on the bay.

Congratulations to Head Rush (Charlie Watt) for taking first place and for wrapping up his first place position in the series.  Congratulations also to Smokin J (Stan Phillips) and Pizote (John Ryan) for taking second and third place respectively in the spinnaker division.  These two boats will be battling for second and third place in the series at the St. Patrick's Day race, although it would be premature to count out Lucky Duck and Sail la Vie from pulling off an upset.

In the non-spinnaker division Linda Carol (Ray Collier) took first place, and and Sweet Pea (Tim Petersen) and Iowa (Rick Dalton) took second and third place respectively.  Linda Carol currently leads in the series, with a tie for second place between Iowa and Sweet Pea.

Winter #3

The Winter Series continued on Sat., Jan. 9 with Winter #3. The SYC racing fleet once again turned out in force with 13 boats showing up for the race. There were 10 boats in the spinnaker division and 3 in the non-spinnaker division.

The 13:00 start time came and went with nothing but calm winds at the starting area.  Two postponements took place until the wind finally started to fill in at about 13:20.  The first horn sounded at 13:25 and the race finally started at 13:30.  The course was 3/4 - Ss - Ys - 3s/4 for a total of 3.77 miles.  Although the winds were light all afternoon, the SYC racers were able to finish before the winds died once again in the late afternoon.

The mystery of the day was the transformation of racing mark S from a yellow barrel to a red ball.  A report of this was heard at the DID the previous night, and the report was indeed accurate.  The ball appears to be anchored using line instead of chain, so there is a bit of concern about its long-term survival.  If anyone knows the story behind this change in the mark, please contact the Large Sailboat Fleet Captain.  This may turn out to be a busy year for mark maintenance.

Congratulations to Head Rush (Charlie Watt) for taking first place, and to Pizote (John Ryan) and Smokin J (Stan Phillips) for taking second and third place respectively in the spinnaker division.  In the non-spinnaker division Iowa (Rick Dalton) took first place, and Linda Carol (Ray Collier) and Sweet Pea (Tim Petersen) took second and third place respectively.

Winter #2

The 2010 Sequoia racing season continued on Sat., Dec. 5 with Winter #2. Once again the popularity of SYC Winter Racing was demonstrated with 16 boats starting the race, including one boat from Coyote Pt. Yacht Club. There were 13 boats in the spinnaker division and 3 in the non-spinnaker division.

The race also demonstrated just how fickle the winds can be during the winter series. The journey to the starting line was under overcast skies with promising winds of about 10 knots, gusting to 13. This led to a decision to extend the race from 4.8 to 7.1 miles. Five minutes after the change, the wind died to about 2 knots and the first start was postponed. The race finally started at 13:15.

Although the wind was light the rest of the afternoon, the SYC racers were not to be stopped and 13 of the 16 boats finished as the sun was setting in the west. Those with later finish times were treated to a first view of the boats decked out with holiday lights on their way back to the harbor.

Congratulations to Head Rush (Charlie Watt) for taking first place and Sail la Vie (Phil MacFarlane) for taking second place in the spinnaker division, and Linda Carol (Ray Collier) for taking first place and Iowa (Rick Dalton) for taking second place in the non-spinnaker division. But in fact the whole racing fleet is to be congratulated for their participation on this long, cold Saturday afternoon.

The Sailing Fleet Captain is searching the web for a new wind crystal ball.

Winter #1

The 2010 Sequoia racing season got off to a great start on Sat., Nov. 7 with Winter #1. Twelve boats participated in this first race, ten in the spinnaker division and two in the non-spinnaker division.

The race began at 13:00 with the start line between Redwood Creek channel markers 3 and 4. To add a bit of interest to the start a tug and barge filled with dredging material went through the start line to anchor the barge at a temporary mooring outside the entrance to Redwood Creek about 5 minutes before the first horn. With winds of about 10-12 knots the starting horn went off at 13:00 and the race was on.

The course was 3-4, Sp, Bp, 12p, 3-4, a total of 7.18 miles. All boats finished the race, avoiding yet another tug bringing an empty barge down the channel to be placed at the temporary mooring. In the spinnaker division Head Rush (Charlie Watt) took first place and Primordial Sloop (Henry Kleinberg) took second. In the non-spinnaker division Sweet Pea (Tim Petersen) took first place and Timbuktu (Dan Doud) took second. Race results are posted on the bulletin board at the club, and on the SYC web site.

Winter Series 2009 Results

For the 2009 Winter Series Spinnaker Division, first place honors goes to Charlie Watt, Head Rush, and second place goes to Paul McCarthy, Lucky Duck.  For the Winter Series Non-Spinnaker Division, first place honors goes to Rick Dalton, Iowa and second place goes to Dan Dowd, TimBuktu.  We had a total of 19 yachts registered for this 5-race series.  Full race results can be found in the spreadsheet listed below

Winter Series #5

Our annual St. Patrick Day’s Race coincided with the Winter Series #5 race on Saturday, March 14. We had 14 boats on the starting line. For the Spinnaker Division, first place honors went to Henry Kleinberg, Primordial Sloop; beating out Stan Phillips, Smokin’ J by 4 seconds in the 9.65nm race. For the Non-Spinnaker Division, Tim Petersen, Sweet Pea, took first place honors and Rick Dalton, Iowa took second place.  Please see the overall results on the spreadsheet listed below.  The first place winners took home a bottle of Bushmill's  Black Irish Whiskey for their outstanding effort.

Winter Series #4

On Saturday, Mar-1, we held Winter Series #4.  We had overcast skies, high 60's temperature and winds predicted to be 5-10 knots.  The race committee called for a 9.5 nm course with a max flood tide of 1.5 kts at 12:30pm, coincidently the same time we were scheduled to start.  Well, we got to the start line and the race committee gave the first postponement-- 0.0 kts of wind, with the fleet drifting towards Dumbarton Bridge.  Both Magic and Head Rush tied up to Buoy 3 waiting for the start.  After numerous postponements, we started the race at 2pm with a shortened course:  3/4- 12s- Yp- 12p- 3/4; 5.12 nm.  After waiting for an hour and a half, everyone was happy to start with 3 kts of wind!

There were 15 boats on the start line with all but one completing the course in these light winds.  In the Spinnaker Division, Charlie Watt, Head Rush, took first place honors.  Mike Reed, Magic, took second place and Ron Brown, Black Sheep taking third.  In the Non-Spinnaker Division, Dan Doud, TimBuktu took first place honors with  Rick Dalton, Iowa taking second place.  Please find the overall results attached below.

SPECIAL NOTE-- We had the professional photographer, Erik Simonson, at the race.  You can see his pictures at the following link-http://www.printroom.com/ghome.asp?domain_name=h2oshots

Erik Simonson's Website can be found at - http://www.h2oshots.com/

 SYC Racers make the news!  Check out the Mar-2nd Lectronic Latitude-

http://www.latitude38.com/lectronic/lectronicday.lasso?date=2009-03-02&dayid=239#Story2

 Also check out NorCal Sailing-

http://www.norcalsailing.com/archives/Entries/2009/3/2_Sequoia_YC_Winter_Racing.html

We also appeared in Sailing Anarchy-

http://www.sailinganarchy.com/index_page1.php

 This is rounding South Bay Channel Mark #12

Winter Series #3

Another beautiful Saturday in the South Bay! On Jan-31st we held Winter Series #3 in varible light winds and a flood tide.  At the skipper's meeting, the course selected was twice around 3/4- Sp- 12p- 3p/4.  for a total of 7.12nm.  We had an all clear start at 12:30 with 3-5 kts of wind changing directions from SW to NE.  When the Race Committee boat (MADE Easy) barely rounded Bouy 3 the first time around with 0-3kts of wind, she noticed that half the fleet was stuck back at Bouy 12 and the two lead boats, Lucky Duck and Magic had just rounded Bouy 3 and dropped their anchors.  The decision was MADE to cancel the second rounding of the course, so total course length was 3.56 nm.

We had 12 boats on the start line with 7 boats completing the course in these light winds.  In the Spinnaker Division, Paul Mcarthy's, Lucky Duck, took first place honors.  Shawn Shadden, Magic, took second place with Jim Peterson, MADE Easy taking third.  In the Non-Spinnaker Division, I highly admire Rick Dalton, Iowa for sticking it out in the light winds and taking his first bullet for the series.  Please find the overall results attached below.

Winter Series #2

On Saturday, December 6th, we had the skipper's meeting at 10:30 with extremely light winds predicted, but a beautifully sunny day in California.  We (Race Committee, Jim) picked a race course that was short and technical versus a longer drag race.  The course was Start 3/4- 12S- YP- 12P - Finish 3/4.  Total miles was calcuated at  5.12 nm.  We had  approximately 6-8 kts of wind and 11 boats on the start line.  There was definitely barging at the start line, but everyone managed to make it through with no collisions.  Unfortunately two boats were DSQed because they went aground and had to turn on their engines- the fun of south bay sailing (you always have to look at the depth finder)!

 In the Spinnaker Divison, Charlie Watt with his new Antrim 27, Head Rush, took first place honors. Henry Kleinberg, Primordial Sloop was 2nd and John Ryan, Pizote came in third. We had a close race in the Non-spinnaker Division, where Don Doud (racing single-handed) took first place honors.  Second palce went to Tim Petersen, Sweet Pea, and third place went to Rick Dalton, Iowa.

Winter Series #1

On Saturday, November 1st, Sequoia Yacht Club held Winter Series #1 Race.  Eight boats showed up at the Skipper's meeting looking at weather forecasts stating that a major storm was due to hit at noon, with our  start at 12:30pm out at Buoys 3/4.   Well, since it was not raining then, everyone decided to go.  We had 8 boats in the Spinnaker Division and no one in the Non-Spinnaker Division.

 Charlie Watt with his new Antrim 27, Head Rush, took first place honors. Jim Peterson, MADE Easy was 2nd and Stan Phillips, Smokin’ J, came in third. A special welcome to John Ryan, Pizote for joining us in the Winter Series.

Please find the overall results spreadsheet attached below.
 

Winter Series 2008 Results 

This was a 5-race series with one throw out.  There were a total of 14 racers signed up for the series.  There were 9 boats in the Spinnaker Division and 5 boats in the Non-spinnaker Division.

For the Spinnaker Division, First place honors goes to Jim Peterson, MADE Easy; Second place goes to Matt Siddens, Bad Puddy Cat; and Third place goes to John Draeger, Yellow Brick Road.

For the Non-spinnaker Division, First place honors goes to Rick and Petra Gilmore, Mirth;  Second place goes to Rick Dalton, Iowa; and Third Place goes to Tim Petersen, Sweet Pea.

Please see overal results and times in the file attached below for Winter Series- 2008 Final Results

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