Racing at the Richmond Yacht Club Multihull Regatta

September 18 & 19, 2010

The Richmond Yacht Club has a long tradition of hosting world class small boat sailing on San Francisco Bay so there was no better place to hold the Area G Eliminations for the 2011 Multihull Championship for the Hobie Alter Cup.  In an effort to grow multihull sailing from RYC the race committee extended invitations to all multihulls and the beach cat community to make them a part of this and future events.  The San Francisco based Weta fleet jumped on the opportunity with eleven (11) boats joining the established fleet of twenty two (22) cats; F18, Hobie 20, Hobie 16, Tornado & Nacras.

Six races were run on this two day regatta.  Wetas were given their own start and ran a windward leeward course with a slightly shorter windward leg than that of the cats.  This time of year the winds usually blow 15-20+ in the area of the Olympic Circle.  Unfortunately for our racers we were experiencing some early fall weather with overcast with slight chance of showers.  It never rained but the winds averaged about 8-12knots both days.  Regardless of the moderate breeze – the Weta fleet ran some exciting racing.

Veteran Weta sailors Bob Hyde and David Berntsen who traditionally prefer heavier breeze were leading the fleet around the race course but quickly noticed some of the new guys beating us to the weather mark.  Saturday racing was real tight with two of the new Weta sailors David Anderson winning two races and Gordon Lyon winning the third.  Finishes were boat lengths apart after sailing a 4.5 mile race course!  Gordon Lyon went on to win two races on Sunday with Berntsen winning the third Sunday race.  Unfortunately David Anderson was unable to sail Sunday and forfeited his early lead.  Overall results were Gordon Lyon (8pts), David Berntsen (9pts) and Bob Hyde (15pts). This race also had an international “guest” entrant, Rob Tagg Weta owner from Shanghai, China was in town for business so WetaWest lent him a new boat for the regatta.   Rob came in 4th place.

The outcome of this race shows the value of One Design racing as identical boats deliver an even playing field and results are based on boat handling skill and tactics.  Weta owners in our fleet range from experienced dinghy sailors (I14), migrants from other boats (Corsair Tri’s, Mega Byte, Laser, windsurf, kiteboard) and those that have not sailed for years.  Gordon Lyon told me he had not sailed (Lasers) for a long time but landed 4 bullets his first Weta regatta!

Keep an eye out for Wetas at your local races.  We’ll have 10 boats racing in San Diego next weekend at the Sailing Anarchy Sport Boat Fest.

Aloha
Davo