Saturday, February 23, 2008

Mexican Fiesta


Friday night’s party at San Diego Yacht Club turned into a Mexican Fiesta and the border partol was in full force!

Not just any donkey!


Photos SDYC and Brian Camet
So you’ve read about the party Friday night – rumored to have been ‘one of the best in the last 35 years at the club’. It was great – and darn if the Saturday start didn’t turn out to be just as much fun.
While it looked a little grim at 11 am with the wind barely lifting tell-tales from the south, like the crowd that grew on Shelter Island to watch, as 1200 approached everything seemed to fall into place. The wind kicked in to a really nice 10 – 12 kt southwesterly so the boats could fetch the open ocean, the Police boat “Pt. Loma” was in place to send the fleet off with a hail of water, the mariachi band was cranking out the ‘rancheras’, …and off they went.
The seven Division 3 boats left exactly at 1200. The America’s Cup replica yacht “America” was flying her huge American flag, and downtown San Diego with the mountains nicely visible in the background highlighting America’s finest city. There was some early jockeying and tacking to get sorted out on the channel runway to the ocean.
The four Division 2 boats went off next at 1210. The breeze was holding nicely and with a little more room to maneuver, they all were able to crack off just a little on their way to sea.
And last, but often foremost – the Division 1 boats hit the line at 1220. Just keeping up with them in the power boat doing 12 and 13 kts is exciting. They knife through the water with such little fuss. Point Loma looming in the background, sun glinting off the water – it was beautiful. You should check out the photos from the start, then click on the FIS Race Tracker to see how they’re all keeping up.
Saturday night will likely be a very different story. The southwesterly is likely to break down tonight as the front arrives and the rain returns. The breeze will back to the south, and pick up, as will the precipitation. So while you snuggle under the covers tonight and listen to the rain starting to pelt the windows and see the trees swaying in the breeze, think about these guys coming on watch, clipping in to the safety harnesses and driving their boat through the bounding seas…and dream. - http://www.sdyc.com/