End of the Season Summary

By Tom Newton

In a mirror image of last year, the 1997 YRA season came down to the last day to decide the top three places. Hooke's lead was substantial going into the final two race series, but if Bolero won both remaining races and Hooke failed to get a least a second, Bolero could win the season. Likewise, the contest for third seemed a sure thing for Sleepyhead, but a worst case scenario gives Hulakai the third place.

The two race series was on the Knox course and six Tritons took the starting gun. The first race saw Hooke round the weather mark at yellow bluff, first, then put up a small "chicken" chute. Sleepyhead, with a larger chute, is soon gaining significantly. At this rate Bolero will win to the low mark with Sleepyhead second and Hooke third. Hulakai, Viking and Dogstar are right behind making it six Tritons racing down from the golden gate toward Angel Island. As the downwind leg progressed, Hooke's lead evaporated as Sleepyhead is steaming right off Hooke's weather quarter and a well trimmed Bolero is beating both of them by sailing low. It was three Tritons, neck and neck, tied for the lead. Then Sleepyhead suddenly jibes on a big wave, then jibes back again. A few minutes later, sleepyhead's boom is broken in-half at the vang. They're out of it. Bolero wins to the low mark but on the weather leg to the finish, Hooke gets between Bolero and the finish line, bites down hard, and doesn't let go for the first place and the season championship. Hulakai, Dogstar, and Viking look great sailing up the south side of Angel Island to the finish line. The second race has only three boats left. Sleepyhead is broken, Viking fulfilled her commitment to qualify for the YRA season (finishing 5 races) then went to shop for a new set of sails, and Bolero scurried home wincing with her tail between her legs and her little butt spanking red from the Hooke Paddle (good grief…ed). The second race has Dogstar tormenting Hooke while Hulakai sails to her first YRA victory in a long time, maybe ever. Finally, Dogstar rips her jib and Hooke gets by for a second. The race committee gives the winner of each division a shotgun blast at their finish. When Alex Cheng, skippering Hulakai, got his gun, you could hear them screaming for miles. Congratulations Alex and crew. This first place gave them the third place title over Sleepyhead by one point with Sleepyhead suffering the worst case of two DNF's. If Sleepyhead had just done one place better in any race, she would have clinched third." Ouch," says foredeck crew Russ Taft, "We couda been a contender."

NEWSFLASH:

This YRA season has four boats with first place awards, unlike other years where one or two boats win all the firsts. This year Bolero won the downwind race to Vallejo, but in an upset win the next day, Dogstar, skippered by Larry Suter, won the start and held on all the way for their first YRA victory. In May, Hooke dominates the city front with back to back aces. In Aug., Sleepyhead, skippered by Greg Dubois, rolls over Bolero and Hooke for their first ace in a quite a few seasons. Next, on the last race of the season, Alex Cheng, skippering Hulakai, took his first Ace on a windy afternoon in front of the Golden Gate, and it only cost him his jumper struts.

Rumor Dept.

Andy and Julie Shepard owners of Ebb Tide Triton 141 plan on competing in next year's YRA season. Rumor has it that Andy is obsessed with beating Hooke. Andy and Julie even joined the Vallejo Yacht Club to keep an eye on Tom Newton and the weird Hookesters. "I don't care what I have to do, what I have to pay, I've raced with Newton. Those jerks don't know jack. I've been a Hookester, so has my wife Julie, poor Julie, you can't believe what's going on that boat. First of all, it's dirty, not just the language, I mean the boat. They just throw **** everywhere, it's wet, the whole operation just pisses me off. It's not Navy, It's just not Navy. Whatever it takes, I'm going to put those arrogant SOB's in their place, behind me. I'm not alone either, there's plenty of people at the Vallejo Yacht Club that feel the same way."

A quote from Eli's Gilliam's son Duncan sums up Bolero's season, "Dad would have beat the crap out of Newton, if he had new sails!"

Mike Borgerding, skippering Viking, is rumored to be negotiating with a sailmaker for all new sails, this coupled with new bottomwork and an already experienced skipper and crew, might be more of a challenge this up-coming year. We need more boats to race. Our fleet is improving, both the quality of the racing, and the quality of our boats. Shared knowledge of the bay and how to sail a Triton in these varying conditions is one of the benefits of having a strong organization with wonderful members, as we do. All the racers appreciate, everyone's membership and participation in our One Design Racing Class on San Francisco Bay. We are proud to have survived this long as a one design class, especially in recent years with generally less disposable income. Now, with luck, and a good organization, we will flourish as a class into the next...whatever.

Hooke log '97

Race 5 and 6..May 31, 1997

Two race day, City Front

With four races done we are one quarter point behind or rival Bolero.I could seethe mountain of fog hanging over the Marin mountains as I left Vallejo. It was blowing hard and right on the nose all the way through Raccoon Straits. Then it was solid fog from Angel Island to the Saint Francis YC. I sailed a compass heading with a full reef. Within minutes there was no horizon, no sky, no Sutro tower. I'm reaching at 7 knots, rail down, with water streaming off the mainsail foot. Zero visiblitiy. The fog horns seemed to come from everywhere. It was cold and scary, but not as scary as the thought of racing the next day in this without brother David, he's sick, or son Steve, he's on a field trip. Basically, if Bolero beats us in these two races, we lose the season.

The next day the fog has cleared, the breeze is light. The crew find the boat, nobody has a flat tire, or any of the other 1,000 things that can go wrong ( Murphy's law stalks me like a hungry wolf.). Then David shows up. What was I

worrying about? At the start of the first race,

Sleepyhead and Bolero have us in a squeeze play, but we squirt-out and tack away to clean air and a big ebb. Our crew work was great and we never looked back, except once to see Bolero finish second. The second race was much the same with Hooke sailing great to weather and rolling over Bolero. Hulikai and Sleepyhead are nipping at our heals, with Dogstar and Viking fighting it out at the back of the pack. Bolero was closer in the second race but just as they were gaining on us at the downwind mark, something happened, and they hit the mark! A 360 penalty turn can really slow you down. Call it divine intervention, call it **** ****, but Bolero ended in forth place behind Hooke, Hulikai, and Sleepyhead. A word of advice for Bolero's crew: racing is serious stuff, don't think using vulgar lower body language, obscene jesters, and nasty remarks is really going to pay off. You have to use your brains, not your butts!

From Alex Chang

Here's some comments on the last race of the season:

After taking out Capt. Hooke at the weather mark (we carried him past the mark so he had to follow our tail), I was so hyped that I didn't even think about the severity of the wind. It's hard to think when you're hyperventilating.

Then it went something like this: "Oh my God! We rounded first! What do we do NOW? We can't watch Hooke--they're in BACK of us!! Hey, Crew -- Don't we usually fly the chute now?? Which side does the pole go on—we gotta THINK!" Next thing we knew, we were hanging on for dear life, and I was on the brink of broaching dozens of times! But how can we take it down when we're out of control?? Like riding a tiger; we couldn't get off. One crew said, "Maybe we shouldn't be flying it; no one else is; besides I'm getting sick." I was delirious with our winning position. I tried to imagine what Capt. Hooke would say. So I said: "Hey, no guts -- no glory!"

Our leeward rounding was a disaster, with my 26 year-old daughter going into the water up to her waist and hanging on to the lifeline, both spinnaker sheets wrapped around the pole which first caught the jib sheets then went into the water. Did you know topping lifts are also useful for retrieving poles that are submarining alongside you?

Meanwhile, our guest from Germany who had never been on a sailboat in his life, started throwing up in the cockpit and seats. So the first part of the home leg was sailed on main while washing out the cockpit. That was the good news. Part way up to the finished we saw that we had somehow broken (and lost one section) of the jumpers. We didn't have a clue as to what to do, so we didn't. Some of us prayed. You commented about how loudly we whooped at the winning gun? Heck, we were so excited we sailed close to the committee boat just to hear the gun better! So now you know the REST of the story!

Alex

P.S. Anybody know how to repair jumpers?