Round the Rocks Stories / Whoppers here

[Philpott]

First of all, I'd like to thank the Race Committee for standing outside all day long waiting endlessly until Rufless showed his wicked clown's face @ 6:26 pm with a cutoff of 7 pm. And then, there was that flurry of excitement until the last finisher, Nobody's Girl, at 6:58.40. Wow. A very impressive show of determination by the sailors who kept after it. It must have broken the hearts of those who barely missed the finish time. So sorry. Really. Anybody who continued to sail in those conditions deserves respect and/or consolation.

I'd love to hear stories here. Regarding the singlehanders in the race, Tom Patterson stayed the course and finished at 6:47:19, correcting out just ahead of Joerg Esdorn. Tom told me is tired today. I'll bet he is?

Chris Jordan was the only singlehander in his fleet to finish. Nice job, gentlemen all.

I heard a rumour that there will be an in-person SSS meeting, where I would personally like to hear the stories of all races heretofore completed in the year 2023.

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Bob Johnston insists that, if there aren't any photos, it didn't happen. So, here is a photo of my own boat with her new mainsail by Dave Hodges. Yes, it is a beautiful sail. If we had stayed out later into the evening she might even have glowed in the dark.

[BobJ]

I was doing our income taxes and watching you guys on RaceTV. I think I was having the better day.

[Intermission]

So, here is a photo of my own boat with her new mainsail by Dave Hodges.


Fancy!


That is a lot of oatmeal cookies.

[fauxboat]

Philpott, you may have overlooked Flexi Flyer, who finished at 18:59:56, with FOUR SECONDS to go.

I would like to thank all who came out to race, whether they finished or not.

Congratulations to those who did finish, or came close. In the latter category are the following boats that crossed the finish line after the 7 PM cutoff.

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Chesapeake almost fit in the later category too --- they withdrew right at the time limit from a position that must have been several minutes behind Citlali.

Thanks to the race committee volunteers, who showed up before 8 AM, signed up to stay until 7 PM, and then were willing to spend another 20 minutes on the race deck recording times for people who were close to, but on the wrong side of, the cutoff.

Richard, 2023 SSS Race Co-Chair

[Black Jack]

I got my tide hat handed to me. It may be the last time I try to forgo the autohelm. Sure glad I have been hitting the gym and doing cardio. I ran down the shared starting/house batteries by hitting some open switches. I ended up hand starting the yanmar as I drifted under the gate.

I held some some light boat envy as the zephyrs enabled them to make the first and second marks...

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[Dazzler]

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The numbers say a lot about the 2023 SSS Round the Rocks Race: 109 Entries (about a third singlehanded and two-thirds doublehanded); 75 DNF’s and only 3 singlehanded and 13 doublehanded finishers before the time limit.

The combination of reinforced ebb and variable wind conditions made this a very challenging race. I almost called in to retire three times, but each time a new opportunity presented itself and I continued on. After the nice breeze at the start, it was a big surprise to have the wind drop off significantly about three quarters of the way to Alcatraz.

The first time I considered retiring was after an abortive attempt to round Pt. Stuart and sail against the ebb into Raccoon Strait. The result was I promptly found myself having a very tense moment going backwards at ~2 knots while working to avoid a collision with the big red buoy #4 off Pt. Stuart. After that experience I was really just looking for a way to sail back to RYC, and it was time for lunch. So I decided to try sailing around Pt. Blunt. Rounding Blunt I was delighted to find enough wind for good progress into the ebb and a pleasant sail back to the East Bay. Near the Richmond Entrance channel, I had been preparing to call in my retirement for the second time, but wanted to make the radio call before starting the noisy outboard. I stood up to stretch and sort things out before making the call when I noticed a wind line about 50 yards away to the west. I decided to continue.

The next challenge was getting around the Long Wharf restricted area. By 16:50 I had done ~14 tacks into the light NW wind while making very little gain against the ebb. I was in company with a group of about 18 diehards (a mixed group of mostly Moore 24’s, Express 27’s and one multihull). I had decided to wait until 17:00 before calling it guits, and that’s when I saw a wind line as an increasing westerly filled in. It was off to the races with two hours to go before the 19:00 finish time limit.

It was actually pretty nice sailing from then on up around the Brothers, past Red Rock and on to finish with a little more than 12 minutes to spare before the time limit. It should be noted that I was the only finisher, single or doublehanded, without a spinnaker. For what was billed as an 18 NM course, I sailed 26.5 NM at an average speed of ~3.9 knots. It made for a long and tiring day. Perseverance payed off: first in division and first overall singlehanded.

[solosailor]

More GPS artwork. I think we were the only boat to get through the Raccoon route.

[sleddog]

[/COLOR]109 Entries (about a third singlehanded and two-thirds doublehanded); 75 DNF’s and only 3 singlehanded and 13 doublehanded finishers before the time limit.
It was actually pretty nice sailing from then on up around the Brothers, past Red Rock and on to finish with a little more than 12 minutes to spare before the time limit. It should be noted that I was the only finisher, single or doublehanded, without a spinnaker. For what was billed as an 18 NM course, I sailed 26.5 NM at an average speed of ~3.9 knots. It made for a long and tiring day. Perseverance payed off: first in division and first overall singlehanded.[/SIZE]

Congrats, DAZZLER!! Well done in challenging and variable conditions. ~sleddog