Encinal Yacht Club Spring Series #1
on 3-14-26
Alameda lived up to its billing for racing in the springtime; light (0-5 knots), shifty winds and some strong currents. The weather was great with sunshine and a perfect temperature, allowing beautiful sailing in shorts and T-shirts. 12 boats made for a great fleet of racers.
Throughout the day, picking the proper side of the course proved invaluable, make a wrong choice and you could be sitting in a wind hole watching the rest of the fleet sail away. Upwind and downwind, the puffs, lifts and headers proved crucial to finishing well.
Local John Hansen (skipper) and Alan Sun (crew) showed a great knowledge of the wind shifts, when and where they would fill, his finishes bore that out, recording bullets the last two races. John (skipper) and Michael (crew) Ravizza, perennial high finishers, had some strong races, and per John, he didn’t listen to his crew, and they had a couple of mid-fleet races. Dave Bacci (skipper) and Scott Jenson (crew) made some good choices in the first 2 races, then stumbled with a couple of average starts in races 3 and 4. They started late in race 5 for their throw-out. David West (skipper) and crew, Chris Krueger, booked results similar to the rest of the top 10, some strong races, then picked the wind incorrectly (or had some other issues, such as OCS or hitting marks) for some mid to low fleet finishes.
PRO Aaron Lee with the help of John Buestad, did a great job under the conditions, picked correctly when to start the races and made a complete course change once to keep the racing going. As usual, Encinal Yacht Club provided a great venue and super hospitality after the racing. A big thanks to EYC.
Hope to see everyone (and more skippers) back on April 4th!
Article by Scott Jenson, photos by Lindsey Presson.
PS To clear up any confusion, John Buestad’s wife, Tracy, crewed for Don Whelan in John’s boat. Great to see Don come up from San Diego to race, and per his talent in Mercurys, he won the first race!
