Commander #155 'Mephisto Cat'

[Rico]

Hey Jerry -
Thanks, but working on your OWN boat CAN be entertaining - but I'd still rather be sailing... Working on a second boat is much harder work as it keeps you from working on your boat AND keeps you from sailing! C-187 is coming along nicely though!


The Mephisto Cat & Crew participated in the Hoppe Regatta (Pictures & general recap available in the Sailing & events section thread link below):
http://www.pearsonariel.org/discussi...-HOPPE-REGATTA



Picture 1: The Mephisto cat & crew finally cross the line in ligth winds. - There was not a lot of wind at the start / finish line, but this was not the case at the far and of the course of this year's Hoppe Regatta!


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We also joined in on the festivities for the 'Plastic Classic' regatta held by the Bay View boat club. "A drinking club with a boating problem"
http://plasticclassic.com/

This is the Mephisto Cat's second appearance in this VERY fun event.

I am happy to announce that the Mephisto Cat managed to do quite well...

3rd Place in the 'Single handler' category in the Concourse D' Elegance
1st Place in PHRF Non-Spinnaker (18 Boats)
1st Place OVERALL (64 Boats)
1st Place Fastest Pre-1970's Boats (?? # Boats)
1st Place In Class (?? # Boats)

- Woo Hoo!!

The last two categories in RED I found out about only when I received the loot! (medals & trophies in the mail)

I did not manage to get a slip close-by for the night following the race so it was a nice long day of Sailing activities as we sailed there and back... The only downside was that I could not hang around for the festivities and the awards cerrmony...

Shoved off from Berkeley at about 6:45am headed to the Bay View Boat Club's facilities just south of San Francisco's South Beach neighborhood. Half my crew was on board and we sailed nicely in about a 12kt breeze.

We arrived at about 9:30 am and hung around until the judges came around. Then we hung around for a while longer waiting fot the rest of the crew to show-up... They finally showed as we were dangerously close to missing our start! (We started 15 minutes late last year! but this was due to a tactical error!). We waited until the last minute because this was the part of the crew that was responsible for the food & drinks!

We shoved off in a hurry headed to the start line and got the boat ready to race just in the nick of time. I struggled with an urge to go with a larger headsail, but I decided to stick witht he 100% jib despite many boats carrying sails in the 130% to 150% range... I was hopeful that the wind might pick-up a bit more and considering the course, I thought that our ability to point would be key to a good showing...

We had a relatively good start in very light air and crossed the line within a couple of boat lengths of the first two boats. We were on port tack and had to tack clear just before the line... Grrr.

The breeze freshened to a steady 5-6 knots just a few hundred yards from the start, just enough to get us moving properly towards the first mark. My able crew was focused - on passing around snacks & drinks... Two of us were racing - the other 3 of us were socializing... (I have a VERY relaxed crew!)

We were racing in close quarters with the lead boats all of which had 130%+ headsails. We barely managed to stick with the group and then started to slowly reel them in as the breeze freshened and we were able to plot a better course to the mark... Very exciting stuff for those of us racing...

We positioned ourselves to windward right after the start, and by the time we reached the 1st mark we were in the lead and pulling ahead in the freshening breeze now in the 10-12 kt range.

We enjoyed a great run to the 3rd and southernmost mark. Admitedly, after a slight panic trying to figure out where the next mark was! After rounding this mark, we felt the effects of the flood tide/current which was reportedly in the 2 kt range and came almost perpendicular to our course. We (I) did not plot the best compensating course at first, and we lost a bit of ground there... An Alberg 35 and a couple of Tritons were now threatening... but we were still in good shape.

We were the second boat around the 4th mark and I think that our choice of course as we headed back to the 1st/5th mark in the prevailing wind/tidal conditions was the key to our good showing. We were being reeled in by a Triton just before the turn, but then we called a tack to veer off to the next mark (this time taking better account of the current) and next time we saw them, they were quite far behind...

The last couple of markers were a repeat run, so we dialed it in as we headed to the finish.
We crossed the finish-line in heavy traffic of boats finishing and boats that started later (and perhaps a few boats that were trapped in the area where the mark sported a motorboat populated by scantilly clad (or not clad...) women...) As it turns out, this is a bit of an obstacle course!

I dropped off my crew at the Club to enjoy the festivities, while I enjoyed a nice single-handed sail back to Berkeley. I made it into my slip at about 7:00pm - too late to try to make the awards presentation. This was necessary because I was leaving town the following day.

I knew we had done well, but I did not expect it to be quite THAT well. It was a great outcome to a great sailing day...

As I made my way back to Berkeley, I spotted C-151 coming up behind... I waited a bit and we enjoyed a nice chat while we sailed along until the crew had to peel off to head to their homeport.

I have no pictures OF the boat this time, so here are some pictures FROM the boat:
Picture 2: A Picture of C-151 just after they peeled off towards Treasure Island post race.
Picture 3: A Bit of Racing; 'Nemesis' beating a nice triton to the first set of marks.