New Boat 4 Sled

[sleddog]

At Inverness Yacht Club this past Saturday, a mixed 110 and Open Class fleet of 8 boats raced in the Midsummer Mischief in 16-18 knots of WNW wind, gusting 24 kt. The course took the fleet around marks off Marshall, Hearts Desire beach, Marconi Cove, and Shell Beach with a downwind finish off IYC.

The fresh breeze on Tomales Bay produced exciting planing reaches and runs for the 110s with multiple broaches thrown in for good measure. Equally fast, and often faster, was Jim Saarman singlehanding his Weta trimaran. Jim crossed the line first on elapsed time.

A very tight finish between David West and Tony Basso against Bren Meyer and Erik Menzel in the 110s followed, with David and Tony surging past Bren and Erik in the final 100 yards to a 6-second corrected time victory. Jim on the Weta finished only 3 seconds behind Bren and Erik on corrected time,tight finishes for a 1.5 hr race in the breezy conditions.

Where else on the Pacific Coast do antique wooden sport boats compete against 14' carbon trimarans for bragging rights?

15 year old Aiden Zentall was the sole entrant in the Small Boat fleet sailing an ILCA 6 (Laser). Aiden wisely rigged with a small 4.7 square meter sail and had a fine time zipping around the course and pulling off the jibe of the day at the last mark.

Here's a fun video of the action aboard OREMUS, with Michael Sporer on the helm and daughter Emma on the trapeze wire: https://youtu.be/1AJh9lkh1dQ Thanks Michael and Emma!

[Philpott]

Terrific video. That girl needed ski goggles.

[MillyB]

It was a super fun day ! I had new ( to me ) crew but he was fantastic and a Melges 24 sailor. I teabagged him and we took two great knockdowns. Everything was funny to him- we laughed a lot and got very very wet.

[sleddog]

7/27/24 Fingers crossed this morning for Ants and Marsha whose home in Bodfish is under evacuation orders for the advancing Borel fire just south of Lake Isabella in the Kern River Valley, 60 miles east of Bakersfield in the southern Sierra. When I spoke with Ants yesterday midday, they were packed and ready to go as soon as they saw flames, at that time within a few miles downhill and upwind.

Ants, if you read this, know all of us at SSS Forum are sending prayers. Here's a photo Ants took yesterday of his neighborhood.



John Riise, who’s written and edited for Latitude 38 Sailing Magazine since 1984, also lives near Ants in Bodfish.

[AntsUiga]

The evacuation order came around 11:30 in the morning. There was no hesitation for the neighborhood or me. Marsha was already in Prescott, AZ spending the summer. I never saw so many cars in the neighborhood at one time. The local places to evacuate to were subject to smoke impacts and road closures due to other small fires. I could not think of any way I could help.

I arrived in Prescott last evening. The smoke was heavy at ground level until I turned south on 395 at Ridgecrest, an hour away.

Unfortunately, lots of folks suffered and there still was no fire containment.

Ants

[sleddog]

The evacuation order came around 11:30 in the morning. There was no hesitation for the neighborhood or me. Marsha was already in Prescott, AZ spending the summer. I never saw so many cars in the neighborhood at one time. The local places to evacuate to were subject to smoke impacts and road closures due to other small fires. I could not think of any way I could help.

I arrived in Prescott last evening. The smoke was heavy at ground level until I turned south on 395 at Ridgecrest, an hour away.nfortunately, lots of folks suffered and there still was no fire containment.
Ants

This Tuesday morning the Borel Fire is within a mile of Ants home in Bodfish with zero % containment....Hopefully waterdrops and firelines along Hwy 483 will save Bodfish and Lake Isabella. Heavy smoke, ash, and hot embers will make that challenging.

[sleddog]

Wed. Hopeful news from Ants. Using the tactic of back burns, fire engines, hand crews and multiple helicopters working all night dropping water, the advancing Borel Fire was kept on the correct side of control lines, making a stand on Hooper Hill above the community of Bodfish, 1/4 mile from Ant's home in the Kern River Valley. Ant's fleet looks to live to sail, row, paddle, and fish another day.

Milly experienced the effectiveness of back burns first hand when the 2020 Woodward Fire on Pt. Reyes burned to the edge of their property before it was stopped by heroic firefighters.

[sleddog]

Day marker 8, just opposite from the Richmond Yacht Club, was run over, and is submerged and a hazard. The USCG posted a temporary red buoy there, but best stay well clear of this dangerous obstruction.

Here is the message from RYC...WARNING! UNDERWATER HAZARD NEAR "PIN" END OF BEERCAN START LINE:

Our beloved day marker #8 is gone. It was there last Thursday and no longer visible Friday morning. On Friday we had practice races for the Melges 24's here for their PCC's and one of the boats hit something that stopped them dead in the water. Worse they hit something 3 feet below their waterline. Our staff sailing director Renee got in touch with the Coast Guard and they put up a "temporary" red buoy but could not find the day marker on the bottom.

Today after a couple of hours looking, we found the knocked down pole in 10 feet of water. Just between the new buoy and the breakwater and a portion does stick up from the bottom.

Our harbormaster was in contact today with the Coast Guard and they will inspect the water around the new buoy 8 to see if they can locate the obstruction.

Please remain diligent and we will update you as we know more.