TBF!

We participated in the Three Bridge Fiasco Race! This is a annual short handed race in the SF Bay, the goal is to pass 3 marks. One is next to the Golden Gate ("Blackaller"), the Red Rock Island next to Richmond Bridge is #2, and Treasure Island next to the Berkeley Bay Bridge is #3. So you really pass only underneath one bridge, the Bay Bridge. It's called "Fiasco" since you can pick any sequence and direction. That also holds for the start/finish line. So it's very confusing at the start with boats going all directions. The other thing which makes it interesting is that every boat gets a unique starting time based on rating. Slow boats go first, and the starting time is such that theoretically all boats should end up at the finish line at the same time.

Constance under way (blue/white spi)

We spend the night before anchored at Aquatic Cove, which is only a short distance from the start line at the SF Yacht Club. Forecast was for 10-15kn from the West, one model had higher gusts in the late afternoon. Our goal was really to finish, for that we needed to be at the finish before 7pm. The other thing to consider when picking the course is the tidal current, which is enormous around here. So the start was at the tail end of the flood, so I decided to go upwind/upcurrent first to the Blackaller buoy and then head clockwise for RR, then TI, then finish. We got a good start and were able to catch some slower boats in front of us. After rounding the mark, there were 2 options: Going through Raccoon strait (between Tiburon and Angel Island), or go around the southern end of Angel Island. I looked into Raccoon and it was total glass with no winds whatsoever. Getting stuck in there when the tide turns around is quite a disaster, so we opted for going around Angel Island.

But first the spi had to go up! That was somewhat of an issue as I got too excited and managed to totally mess up the hoist with the sheet pulled into the jib furler, the sock wrapped around the pulpit, a huge disaster on the foredeck. Took me 30min to sort it out while we were passed by a couple of boats. Once we got it up we went nicely down the Bay, but then all of a sudden the wind died and everybody just stopped, drifting slowly with the tide. We were parked there for 45min, while everybody who opted for Raccoon caught a nice breeze and went off never to be seen again. That was quite ironic. We eventually started moving again and rounded Red Rock around noon, seeing the whole fleet already sailing towards Treasure Island.

After the Red Rock it was downwind reaching, but it started to gust in the 15-20kn range so first we didn't put the spi back up, having enough speed and angle with the main and jib. Eventually the wind calmed down and I put the spi up again. That unfortunately didn't last long and we saw boats wiping out in front of us. Scary! So down with the spi in a hurry and not too late, thankfully. Next thing was a huge gust of 25-30kn that hit us square but we were able to ride it down. Once behind Treasure Island you could see boats rounding up, and struggling very badly to get upwind. So we tucked in a reef quickly and sure enough, once back in the full breeze the wind was howling with sustained 20kn and big puffs in between. Also you could hear people retiring from the race via radio. Meanwhile the ebb tide was running full speed and with the wind going in the opposite direction the sea build up quite impressively. But the Tartan 34C is just fine for these conditions and it took us under reefed main and jib just another half hour to get to the finish.

Finished at 3pm, way ahead of my initial expectations! But also unfortunately last in our fleet as everybody else who was out there withdrew from the race apparently.. So out of 40 boats that started in our fleet we got position #31, 9 boats didn't finish. Overall only 6 boats from the whole fleet (365 boats) finished after us, and about 90 boats retired early. So I guess that's a statement for the hardiness of the Tartan34C! After the race we still had to go another 15miles back home, with the winds still all the way up. We were safely home at 6p. What a day! A total of 44miles sailed, nothing broke, but totally sore! And next time I will give the Raccoon strait a better consideration :-)

Race report from Norcal here

Race results from Jibeset here

New Jib!

North Marathon200 100% Jib

Finally got to try the new 100% jib! Shape looks really nice even though the wind was a little weak! This sail is really intended for the summer months here, where winds are usually in the 25kn range and higher. I ended up having to furl the 125% Genoa all the time, which is not a good operation mode, adds some stretch and reduces the life expectancy of that sail. The Genoa is really not meant to be run at these wind speeds and I didn't want to ruin this nice sail. Also, when heeling over the low cut Genny actually scooped up some water once in a while which is not good either, obviously. 

So this new sail should get us through the summer without having to furl all the time. The weight of the sail is 8.4oz, that should be fine up to 35kn windspeed. It is also cut much higher so it won't scoop up any water when going through waves. What I really like is that there is a series of 3 telltales in a row, that you can use also when the sail is slightly furled. 

Foggy morning sail

SF skyline on the way back to San Mateo

More maintenance!

Spend the last couple of weekends doing some maintenance work on the boat: Oil and filter change, transmission fluid change, fuel filter change and zinc change for the heat exchanger. Looks like the zinc really needs to be replaced every half year, this one was down to a nubbin again. Also started to redo all of the brightwork which is quite some chore with all the wood on the boat: Toe rails, rub rails, hand rails and the cockpit frame / back rests! Plan is to get all of the old varnish off and repaint everything with Cetol. Varnishing turned out to be very unpractical here, the California sun eats through the varnish in no time and the varnish started peeling off everywhere, already half a year after we redid the whole thing. I also had to repair some electric wiring and replace a couple of fuses.

For a treat after all the work we took the boat to Clipper Cove at Treasure Island in the middle of the Bay and stayed there over night. Quite a different setting from our usual Ayala Cove hideout, with the Bay Bridge looming overhead and the decrepit Naval Yard around. Also didn't feel like swimming in the murky water.. But was still nice and quite a different experience. On the way back no wind at all, so we couldn't really test the new 100% Jib and ended up motoring all the way back home to Coyote Point.

Treasure Island Marina

Anchorage at Clipper Cove

Bay bridge during morning fog

The spi is up!

Despite the fact that my broken pole ring is still stuck on the spi track, we managed to get the spi up during a very relaxing and calm Sunday afternoon sail here on the Bay. Double handing that huge sail is quite a challenge, especially when it needs to come down and the wind has come up. I really need to get a spinnaker sock to make that part a little easier. 880sqft are actually a huge headache on the bow if you have to collect it all by yourself while dropping the halyard at the same time!

Hurricane Sandy

I hope everybody will stay safe over there in the tristate area! Especially since there are quite a few Tartan34Cs located in this area. Last year during Hurricane Irene we survived quite well but it was a very close call for Constance with the piers almost floating off the pilons at Cedar Point. With the full moon spring tide just happening today and the full fetch of 50+ kts sustained winds across the Long Island Sound it could be much worse this time..

New home!

SF skyline from the water

Moved Constance to her new location in Coyote Point marina last weekend. When we left our favorite anchorage at Angel Island in the morning, everything seemed calm and quiet. But it does make sense to check the local forecast! The Coast Guard had issued a small craft advisory for the afternoon and, sure enough, as soon as we passed the bridge on the left in the picture above, the wind started gusting and we went from full sails to reefed jib, then 1st reef in the main, finally to even more reefed jib in a very short period of time. Beam reaching at 7.5kn was quite some fun and we caught up with a much bigger Hunter even!