From Ely Gilliam

Taking a break from sailing Bolero, I headed to Kaneohe, Hawaii with my wife Janet and son Duncan for the El Toro North American Championships. Twenty eight Toros jammed with extra masts, booms, sails and other equipment were shipped from Oakland in July and unloaded in Hawaii several days prior to the August 3-9 regatta. The races were sailed on Kaneohe Bay in winds from 12 to 25 knots, but in relatively flat water. Framed by green mountains plunging into the clear water, this is a great place to sail and an even better place to capsize… The Hawaiians were heavily favored to dominate seniors (over 18) the intermediates (15-18) and the juniors (14 and under) despite the strong contingent from Northern California. On the way to the race course (about a mile from Kaneohe YC) we would pass a reef and an occasional sea turtle,

but as the conditions were very challenging, it was necessary to pay attention to the various puffs moving in dark patches across the bay. I own two Toros and both are pretty good boats, but one is only 4 lbs over the 80 lb minimum and the other is over a hundred and not competitive at this level. Truthfully, I am not competitive with any Toro but have moved up steadily to the lower middle portion of the fleet. My son Duncan, on the other hand, is one of the Richmond Yacht Club’s junior rock stars and enjoys starting three minutes behind me in the Toro regattas and beating me to the finish line.

The senior fleet is split into two groups based on three qualifying races. Place in the top half and you race in the gold fleet. The rest of us race in the silver fleet. Finishing 22^nd out of 39, I missed my chance for glory of gold by 4 pts. I had three 4^th places finishes our to the six regular races and finished 6^th in the silver fleet. In my best race, I actually led at the last mark and then tried to cover whichever boat was closest, ignoring the shifts. This brilliant piece of strategy cost me three boats with the leader finishing only 20 seconds ahead. A capsize in one race and a mast that came unstepped at the weather mark in another kept me from finishing in the trophies for the silvers.

Duncan was in the very talented group of 29 juniors and sailed really well, including surviving the second day of 20-25 knt winds (getting a 6^th and 7^th) that wiped out many of the California sailors, to finish 3^rd int the regatta. RYC juniors took 1^st, 3^rd, and 5^th places as well as six out of the top 10. Kaneohe Bay has oscillating shifts lasting 2 to 5 minutes and the average race took an hour and a half. It was very easy to sleep at night after being hiked out on the rail all day.

By Ely Gilliam

The race on August 9 was, by all accounts, a complete joke. The race committee postponed the race for two hours, most of the boats went home and when they finally did manage to start a race the course was three reaches and a finish taking a total of twenty four minutes. The two boats to stay were Hooke and Bolero, with Newton and crew taking the gun a minute ahead of Bolero. August 24 in the south bay saw perfect conditions with winds of 15 to 20knts, flat water on a flood tide. Viking, Dogstar, Hulakai, Sleepyhead, Bolero and Captain Hooke all showed for this well run BVBC showdown. Hooke could clinch the championship with two bullets but Bolero had its regular crew for the first time since the nationals and took the start on a tight line. Sailing well on a windward leeward course to the city and then to Alameda, Bolero led Hooke by ten boat lengths after rounding the low mark. Tacking onto starboard after the rounding, Bolero then came back onto port to cover Hooke who found tidal relief by staying on port. By the time Hooke came back onto starboard they had made up the difference and sailed on to win the first race with Bolero 2^nd and Sleepyhead 3^rd.

The second race was almost a carbon copy of the first with a stronger flood but this time after leading the race at the low mark Bolero held on port with Hooke several boat lengths behind. Starting a tacking dual Hooke initially gained on Bolero but after 20 to 25 tacks Hooke still had not been able to roll their arch rival. As this battle was taking place, Sleepyhead, which had sailed a smarter course without all this tacking, passed both boats and recorded their first bullet of the season. Bolero finished 2^nd with Hooke 3^rd, meaning that the season would once again come down to the last day.

September 13^th was a typical very windy sailing day on the Knox course and saw at the start most of the usual suspects. Bolero was loose and Tom Newton was reported to be so tight that a lump of coal could produce a diamond if put in the right place. Again Bolero took the start but by the weather mark Hooke and Sleepyhead had slipped by with Bolero and Hulakai right behind. The weather mark saw four kites set within a minute of each other as the battle against the ebb started. Hooke in the lead was being conservative with "little boy" (his chicken chute). Sleepyhead began to reel him in but sailing by the lee caused several unplanned jubes and just a Russ, Greg and crew were ready to roll Hooke, the second boom of the season went snap. Sailing an inside track, Bolero passed Hooke on the downwind leg with Hooke rounding just ahead of Alex and Hulakai. Alex’s chute stayed up when he should have been rounding the mark, so the race was down to two. Unable to hold off Captain Hooke on the way to the finish, Tom Newton and crew won their 5^th season championship and 2^nd in a row.

Race two, starting in even more wind, saw only Hulakai, Dogstar and Captain Hooke. Dogstar, probably the lightest boat in the fleet, decided to try this one reefed. At the first mark it was Hulakai, Hooke and Dogstar, one after another (so maybe reefing paid off for Dogstar). Hooke and Dogstar went downwind in the heavy wind under jib and main only, sailing somewhat higher than Hulakai whose frenzied skipper was determined to set his spinnaker. Somehow Dogstar passed Hooke and may have been ahead of Hulakai when Alex finally got his chute to draw and went screaming off to the second mark. At the second mark it was Hulakai, Dogstar and Hooke all separated by about 10 boat lengths each. Beating into the chop in a dying breeze Dogstar kinda died and was passed by Hooke. At the finish Hulakai’s crew gave the Whoop Heard Round the Bay as they crossed the line to take first.

And so, for the first time since I’ve been racing YRA, five different boats won races. The fleet is getting very tight and with the return of some veteran racers as well as newcomers, 1998 ought to be a very exciting year.