San Francisco South Bay Yacht Racing Association Skippers, Crews and Delegates:
Here are the results of SBYRA Winter #4 sailed on February 2nd on the Coyote Point YC course in San Mateo.
(Commentary on the race was supplied by participating skippers as I've just returned to my office and wasn't on the race course).
Spinnaker Division (5 boats)
1. Paradigm, J/32, Luther Izmirian
2. Mist, Beneteau First 38, Robert Hu & Keith Barker
3. First Light, Beneteau First 35s5, Alex Jeffries  
Today's race, with winds in the 20 knot range, favored the bigger boats in Davison A as the smaller ones (Black Sheep and Wired) struggled in the stronger winds off of Coyote Point and finished a good twenty minutes behind in real-time.  As an example, the Choate 27 was continually forced to reef and unreef accompanied by its #3 as the wind really built twenty minutes before the noon start.  Furthermore cold weather, rain and haze contributed to the challenges for the day in the South Bay - along with a strong ebb.  As a result Mist had difficulty finding the RC during its last leg which contributed to its second-place finish behind Paradigm.
Non-spinnaker Division (8 boats)
1. Spirit, Hunter 37, Wayne Weather
2. Jet Lag, Catalina 34, Torin Knorr
3. Chablis IV, Cal 25-2, Dave Few
Winds dropped to under 5 knots towards the end of the race making it difficult for some Division B skippers to finish.  Five boats actually crossed the finish line following non-finisher's (i) Vita e Bella's encounter with Mark 4 and (ii) double-handed Hot Ice retiring early after becoming overpowered with her large main.  The most interesting story of the day was Columbine's (DNF) saga towards the end of the race.  Dylan (Benjamin) in his Islander 44 ran aground on the San Bruno Shoal near Mark 4 with a single reef in his main plus his #150 - going as fast as the boat had ever gone.  He couldn't sail nor motor off of the shoal when he ground to a halt two hours before low tide.  Fortunately for the skipper and his crew winds had abated and it was comfortable down below once aground.  Around 1730 the boat freed itself but the anchor was stuck hard in the mad so the the rode had to be cut just above the chain.  Not only that, but by that time the wind had built back-up and fog had come in making the horizon unclear beyond the shipping channel.  Columbine was able to make it back to Oyster Cove Marina in Brisbane around 1930 after motoring 1.5 hours with just 200 feet of visibility and bitter rain.  Way to go Dylan!
Race Committee: Thanks to Coyote Point YC for running such a good race - Joe Pratt, Matt Neumann, Vince Swerkes and Chuck Johnson - when I'm sure they'd much rather have been back in the comfort of the club house on such a dreary day.
Kattack Software:  Robert Hu has done an excellent job in getting the SBYRA up on Kattack Software.  I was able to track Wired's progress around the race course following her finish - along with Mist and Spirit - which allowed me to at least participate vicariously in the day's events.  If you have a GPS this is a neat software system to hook into and its East Coast developer has been very accommodating to our association.
Racing Rules Seminar: CPYC is sponsoring a racing rules seminar next Saturday morning, February 9th, in its San Mateo clubhouse.  Do let Matt Neumann (650/ 504-4270) know if you plan on attending.
Jack & Jill Race:  The San Mateo club is also sponsoring its annual boy-girl skipper race on Saturday the 23rd.  Contact our own Jocelyn Swanson (jocelyn.reed@novellus.com) if you can race that day.
SBYRA Winter #5: Do plan on racing on the Sequoia YC race course south of the Hayward-San Mateo Bridge on Saturday, March 1st at noon.  This will be the last race of our Winter Series so it will be a good opportunity for all to practice for the Summer Series beginning April 12th off of Sierra Point.  I'll report back later when the awards for each of the individual races in the Winter Series will be presented at CPYC.
Forthcoming SBYRA Summer Series:  As previously announced our association's seven summer races have been scheduled for 4/12, 5/3, 6/7, 7/12, 8/2, 9/6 and 10/4.  Some changes for the summer program will be (i) a single throw-out (ii) an entry-fee of $140 for the series but (iii) $30 for individual races which won't impact final standings for those who've participated consistently over the summer.
Best to all....Larry Westland