Spinnaker Cup on Class 40 California Condor

This past week I went to San Francisco to meet the team of California Condor in preparation for the Pacific Cup in July, and put in a few days working on the boat.  The bonus was to race in the Spinnaker Cup Friday 25 May.  As my sailing friends will know ocean racing had been shut down on the West Coast since the tragic deaths in two separate ocean races this spring.  The Spinnaker Cup (San Francisco to Monterey) was the first race where racing has resumed.

The boat is box rule Class 40 named California Condor, designed by Jim Antrim and owned by Hill “Buzz” Blackett.  Jim Antrim did a fantastic job with the design as did Berkeley Marine Center with the build.  Mast is by Hall Spars and sails are by Kame Richards owner of Pineapple Sails.  We are lucky to have both Jim and Kame as part of our team for the race.

The Spinnaker Cup was my first sail on CC.  So it was baptism by fire, which for me is not a big deal.  I am always happy to dive in with the right boat and team.

We started inside the Golden Gate just SW of Raccoon Straight.  The NNW breeze was very light inside but you could see the whitecaps at the Golden Gate Bridge.  All week the NW wind had been blowing in the mid to high 20’s into 30’s outside so the waves and breeze that were going to light up California Condor once we cracked off.

We had to pick our way out the bay staying toward the North tower to avoid the flood and stay in the light pressure.  Once at the Gate we were powered up and full water ballast tanks.  Five min later a reef in the main and powering our way upwind to #8 channel mark where we turned South to Monterey breakwater finish 65 miles away.  The run was everything from 18-30 kts true wind speed with fun waves that had built up over the week.  Once we rounded and headed south we were on a plane all the way to the finish with speeds between 12-20 kts.  California Condor handles like a dream and is very forgiving to sail, all great characteristics for a boat you want to push hard for 2400 miles to Hawaii.

We passed Humpback whales, pods of dolphin and sea lions all while building teamwork and enjoying the ride.  We were a little late setting bigger spinnaker as the breeze dropped a bit down the coast, and missed the timing on one jibe but still pulled out second in our class and third overall.  Not bad for a team that had not sailed together and were working it out long the way.

My next race on CC is the Pacific Cup from San Francisco to Kaneohe Yacht Club in Hawaii starting mid July.