(San Diego, CA)- The action promised to be fast, furious, hot and cold.
That's San Diego sailing for you. Fast and furious when the J/105s are
enjoying spectacular, un-October-like conditions of NNW winds 8-15
knots with weather so clear you can see Tijuana, Mexico's rolling hills
to the south and the infamous Coronado Islands offshore with their
majestic, breathtaking sheer vertical cliffs. Hot and cold when fleet
tactics are often governed by islands of kelp (yes, way bigger and
heavier than your family SUV) that force boats to duck, pinch, tack or
gybe to try to stay in contention. Or, have teams on-board who are
expert "kelp shedders" who employ various methods of shedding kelp as
large as small trees wrapped around keel bulbs and rudders. Yes, San
Diego sailors live in interesting times (the old kelp harvesting
operations are now gone). Despite the challenges, the sailors adapt and
make the most of the opportunities presented to them and it's clear
some "locals" are way better at the eclectic mixture of kelp avoidance/
shedding + tactics + wind shifts + mark roundings + current + starting
in kelp. It's the game you have to play in the waters offshore of the
US Navy's Third Fleet HQ with 688-class fast attack subs, enormous 1,100
ft Enterprise-class nuclear carriers and scads of frigates, missile
cruisers, destroyers and other naval hardware floating about and
criss-crossing the sailing areas. As anticipated, the fleet of 23 boats provided incredibly competitive racing. The conditions were certainly challenging and nowhere near what many of the locals were expecting. The forecast for Saturday's and Sunday's racing were for NNW winds due to the fact there was a powerful High up north and a large Low spinning in the south, both conspiring to force a northerly gradient airflow. Saturday morning saw the fleet heading out in variable winds, but by midday the northerlies blew in link a "Santa Ana" offshore wind as a large dark line of wind that continued to build all day long to 10-17 kts. On Sunday, the fleet again headed out in variable winds, mostly from the WSW before the gradient filled in more WNW with winds blowing 8-14 kts. Kelp was the big issue both days in addition to the large wind shifts and long wind streaks that would fill in from either side of the course. While many locals have seen these conditions before, many of them favored the right side of the course-- although it didn't often pay off.
Sailing a very consistent series was Gary Mozer from Long Beach racing CURRENT OBSESSION 2, not only winning overall in the last race, but also getting special recognition for having the youngest person on-board- his young son as bowman! Gary's team sailed a solid series, posting a 1-3-5-3-1 for 13 pts to narrowly beat out Dennis Conner's team sailing DC's PHOLLY by only one point to be crowned the J/105 SoCal Champion. DC's team started out well, winning the first day with a 3-1-1 in Saturday's windier conditions, then had to overcome lots of kelp issues on Sunday and still managed to sail to a 4-5 for a total of 14 pts. Chuck Driscoll and Tom Hurlburt sailed their beautiful navy-blue boat, called BLOW BOAT, to a steady series with a 2-6-7-1-8 for 24 pts to grab third place on the podium. Fourth was the tough Santa Barbara team on GROOVERDERCI sailed by Johnnie Demourkas, snagging three 2nds and a 9-11 for 26 pts. Fifth was the "other DC", Dennis & Sharon Case sailed WINGS to a 7-4-10-13-4 for 38 pts. It will be interesting to see how these teams fair in what appears to be a more standard SoCal San Diego wind scenario, light WSW sea breezes. Then again, if Hurricane Paul to the south going over Mexico's Cabo San Lucas has any effect, it could generate some more unusual NNE Santa Ana wind conditions, similar to what the fleet had to contend with the previous weekend. Sailing Photo Credits- Bronny Daniels- JoySailing.com. For more J/105 championship sailing information
