Again, it was just another beautiful day in paradise (aka San Diego )!  The weather was perfect!  The sun was shining, the temperature on the bay was near 70, the wind was fair; and we had six boats in our fleet for the May race down to South Bay !  The SWYC Handicap Fleet was monopolizing G17 from 1200 through 1230 with their staggered starts so we opted to start at G15 at 1200 sharp just after a large Navy ship was entering the bay from sea.  We also avoided the SWYC boats heading out to their first mark at R12.  Jandon led the way at the start.  Dave Baer on Casamar was over early and had to re-round the mark.  This slowed down John Isaksen on His Knot Hers and Mike Collins joined by two Sea Scouts on Marilee.  Dan Nephew on Bare Necessities and one Sea Scout on board was late over the line.  As we made our way down toward the Coronado Bridge the wind nearly died and, fortunately, we had an incoming tide to help us along.  Casamar quickly recovered her early start and pulled away from the rest of the fleet to challenge Jandon.  Jandon tried jibing her way down to the bridge but the occasional wind shifts thwarted her efforts and Casamar, sailing a straight, almost dead down wind course caught up and passed Jandon as we neared Seaport Village .  Casamar and Jandon stayed within a boat length of each other for about a mile as we approached the bridge.  Jandon, unable to pass Casamar to leeward, finally ducked behind and pulled ahead to windward and gained a considerable lead as we passed under the bridge.  The wind freshened, as it always does after going under the bridge and we enjoyed lively sailing as we rounded R26 and headed back up the bay.  As we passed back under the bridge we left the close-reach and 12 or so knots of wind to a close-hauled agonizingly slow beat back up the bay against the still rising tide.  Many, many tacks later Jandon crossed the finish line with Casamar, His Knot Hers, and Marilee closing behind.  All skippers agreed that it was a long upwind slog back to the finish line.  Nancy Renzi, on Aeolis , with SDSPS Sail Fleet co-chair Mike Sampsel on board, graciously agreed to pick up the starting line buoy as they returned to the club; but had to wait for Dan Nephew on Bare Necessities II to cross the finish line first.  Dan won’t you arrange to spend the night of race day in San Diego Bay before returning to Mission Bay ?  We’d all like to see you at the club after the race!  

So, who won the race? 

Congratulations go to John Isaksen on His Knot Hers who came in first on handicap!  Second place goes to Dave Baer on Casamar; and Jandon place third. 

Thanks to all for a great May race.  Hope to see you all on the bay again on Flag Day…that’s 14 June.  The race results are attached and may also be viewed below.

Submitted by your humble SDSPS Sail Fleet Race Co-chair,
Don Litzenberg, Jandon skipper