the classic

the san francisco bay classic, according to st. francis yacht club director, jim kiriakis, is the longest running distance distance race in the sport of windsurfing. yesterday the race was run off the st. fyc with a healthy turnout of windsurfers and kiters.

the history of this event is legend. the best of the best have raced this event (and many of them have gotten lost (which is really easy to do)). as the course is so hard to remember, i created a song to help remember the course.

yesterday was an interesting day. on the drive to the club from silicon valley (where I live), it was close to 100 degrees near woodside (and over 100 in los gatos). There was a distinct absence of fog in the valley leading towards SFO. I saw more trees in the sun than i can ever recall as they are normally covered by fog. forecasts said the bay might not blow. As I passed the memorial flag pole along 280, a flag that is normally plastered in a horizontal state due to the wind, it drooped towards the ground in an almost total doldrum. If any wind was breathing on the flag, it was pushing it offshore, the wrong way, the kiss of death for a sailor wanting wind. Maybe the forecast was true?

One of my favorite books on the San Francisco Bay is written by Kimball Livingston (Sailing the Bay (available on amazon for cheap)). In his book he says:

"...San Francisco Bay ... well ... what you get here is a seabreeze of heroic proportions."

In a section called BOOMTOWN Kimball continues:

"Imagine a still summer morning...there is scarcely a breeze to stir...A rowing shell passes beyond the harbor entrance, and it might was well be crossing a pond. The surface of bay beneath it is mirror smooth, blinding in the eastern light...

In Golden Gate Park, the first roller skaters are strapping on their wheels and trying on their moves, but significant events are under way far to the east, where the early rays of the sun are beating down on the roof of Lucky's in Lodi, on the parking lot of the Dairy Queen in Stockton, on the lined-up metal rooftops around the Ford dealership in Tracy, and every bean field up river to Sacramento and beyond.

The valley is heating up.

to be continued...

hall of fame

I'm thrilled to have been inducted into the collegiate sailing hall of fame by the ICSA. Standing next to me in the formal dining room at the St. Francis Yacht Club is Mitch Brindley, president of the ICSA, who presented me with my hall of fame plaque. Upper right is a picture from 1988 during a trip to the Boston Dinghy Cup. Lower left is Jill Ginsberg and I sailing in college (circa 1988). Upper left is a race during the May Cal Cup windsurfing race in Berkeley 2009.

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