Hoel Sailing: Heavy Weather Regatta 2017 @St Francis Yacht Club

Like the past three years, my last or before last week of school was also the week of the Harken #4. Just like the past years, this was a four day event. Unlike the past years, this Harken #4 had not much wind, very few waves, and around 5 knots current. The current was pushing with the wind which made it so that upwind you had to sail very close to shore to get current relief.

The first day we had three races. At the start of the first race, the wind was around 6 to 7 knots and the current around 4 knots: this meant that most of the upwind you would sail backwards more than forward. Most of the fleet crossed the starting line around 4 minutes late due to the current. My coach and I believe that I started around 5 minutes late. After the start, I went close to shore and sailed upwind catching up most of the fleet. Although starting last, I rounded the top mark in 4th I was already happy. On the last upwind leg, I managed to sail alone all the way to current relief were I passed the three boats ahead of me and won the race. My second race was pretty bad as I got 18th.

On the second day, the wind was lighter and the current stronger. The race committee tried for 30 minutes to get a race going and on the 6th try, my friend and I started the race and were first and second until the race committee postponed as the whole fleet except five boats could not cross the starting line. They then postponed us onshore and then we got two races in. I got a 15th and a 12th. I was kind of disappointed as this wasn't the result I wanted. I was determined to do better the following day.

On the third day, the wind was also light with different currents. On the first race I was in 5th and I messed up at the top mark and lost a couple of places to finish 8th. The second race was difficult as even though the right side of the course was favoured and I was on the left I managed to pull out a 7th. The last race was very hard tactic wise: I made a bad decision and finished 12th. Overall, I scored 6th and 2nd in red fleet (age group).

The current in this specific venue is very strong and has very weird directions. The current can reach around 6 knots pulling you out of the San Francisco Bay or into the SF Bay. The venue is parallel to shore and has very different depth at two parts of the race course. The closest side to shore has less depth than out to the middle of the bay. Sometimes the current can be going one way on shore and the other in the middle of the bay. This is why sailing in this venue is very complicated. Here is a graph to show how the current was during that exact week-end. Check out my video below to see how the current affected us.

Overall this was a great regatta even though the wind was not as high as I hoped it would be.

This is my brother Yann who finished almost every race: