Corinthian Midwinters — A Series for Optimists

Optimistic Corinthian midwinters racers defied the forecasts to show up for the four-race series on Martin Luther King and Presidents Day weekends, despite the projected lack of an essential racing ingredient:  wind. This past weekend’s racers were happy not to be racing in the 40 knots blasting the Bay on the Thursday before, but the vacuum the front left behind didn’t leave much for the fleet to work with against the runoff-reinforced ebb.

Saturday morning was pleasant but calm, leaving the race committee to sniff out what little breeze there was and set the shortest windward-leeward twice-around course available. It was a weight-to-leeward kind of day, with boats trying to minimize motion, cursing ferry wakes that disturbed fragile sail shape, and feeling that talking above a whisper would slow you down.

The A-fleet showed the way for the fleets behind, though in the end, it didn’t help at all. The windward mark was upstream against the ebb and near the edge of the shipping channel. As many boats neared the mark, a ship arrived, announcing, “I’m a fully loaded tanker heading outbound; please clear the shipping channel.” Several boats had to fire up engines to get out of the way.

The taller, lighter, faster A-fleet managed to get around the course, while the very optimistic remaining fleets simply tried to hold position across the Bay, hoping a new breeze would materialize from somewhere. It never did. A-fleet had finishers, while all other classes abandoned their futile pursuit when the 4:45 cutoff became impossible to beat.

Sunday looked even worse. The forecast was poor, yet the optimistic fleet once again arrived on the Bay mill pond, believing fate was not going to scuttle racing plans for all four days of midwinters. The AP flag went up and hung limply while PRO Marcus Canestra sent the mark-set boat out in search of wind. It found none. A little hint of a southeasterly emerged, though quickly fizzled. Miraculously, a glimmer of hope arrived with a mysterious light southwesterly coming through the Bridge. The race committee quickly rearranged the windward mark and shortened course on the fly to a half-mile collegiate-style windward-leeward-finish. The 25-minute starting sequence was longer than the race itself. The first classes were finishing as the last classes were starting. But it worked. One race done.

The wind settled in with 6-10 knots, allowing the race committee to boldly choose longer courses for a second race off the actual course sheet, and leaving racers wondering if they were once again going to sail off into a windless oblivion. The two faster fleets survived a Blackaller-to-Blossom run against a strong ebb, while the slower fleets managed laps on an Easom-to-Knox course, with all fleets finishing in a light but steady breeze downwind against the muddy ebb current.

The forecasts for all four days of the two-weekend series never looked promising, though the hope for breeze never faded. The crews showed up and the boats languished near the start line, while the race committee mixed secret potions and chanted various incantations to summon the wind gods. It took a while, but optimism was finally rewarded when that southwesterly appeared, allowing the race committee to stuff in two Sunday races to create a three-race midwinters series. Without those last two races, the already engraved trophies might never have found a shelf to sit on.

The trophies were all duly awarded, and you can see who has them on their shelf at home here.

Congratulations to all who persevered!