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As it should be in San Francisco, a full moon moon brings outs a wide range of characters, and this one happened to be the 2nd one of the month, so things were bound to be extra special. The 15t rendition of the fabled B2B which began with a challenge between 49er Sailors and Windsurfers for bragging rights has grown in size and stature, as well as eccentricity. This year along with the Hydroptere, AC 45s were slated to attend, along with a few cats, 2 of which made the start and one was hung up. literally at the docks with hoist issues.
Dalton Bergan and crew on " Winging It"
As promised in the pre race program, the legendary l' Hydroptere dropped by, yet with concerns of mashing and entire fleet if things went haywire, the crew opted for an early start, revving thing things up near the North Tower then blasting off solo as sort of a pre show demo, certainly wowing the spectators which had clustered around and in the host club STFYC. There was no official time on her run although she did establish a new standard for speed earlier in the day:l' hydroptere SF Bay Speed Runs
On board with us on the Sea Blade 37 "Mini Mongo" was former StFYC Race Manager and current America's Cup PRO, John Craig, obviously delighted to be absolved from any duties for the the day. "I always hated running this race" he chuckled, "there were3 races which where a major logistical nightmare, the B2B, The Classic and The Ronstan Challenge". (all of them long distance events where racers spread out quickly and providing enough support was a constant challenge. Losing track of a contestant is a race managers nightmare) And is almost always the case with the Bridge to Bridge of late, there were heap of traffic passing through the start area just prior to and during the sequence. Combine that with a ripping ebb and a low hanging marine layer combine with brisk breeze flowing off the Pacific, add 51 entrys ranging in size from the Hydroptere to 4 foot long kiteboards and you have a challenge!
Although not officially entered this cira 1970' windsurfer venture out to the start line to see what the fuss was all about.
Among the entries which DID make it to the start line was Peter Stoneberg's Pro Sail 40' " Shadow" which had been out of commission since suffering damage in the 2011 Delta Ditch Run. Shadow finished 12th over all and was the fastest multi-hull of the day
The Kiwis on C-Tech takes an early lead and never looked back
The race got off to a sudden start after several postponements due to the inbound and out bound traffic. (Insert your conspiracy theories here) And as is usually the case, the well timed and well aware took of with wild abandon as those less prepared were left in the morass of wakes and confused seas. Did I mention that the was a report of a pod of killer whales just outside the gate earlier in the day? In the lead of the Kite division, Johnny Heineken was off like a shot, dancing effortlessly across mid bay, in immediate pursuit a small horde of kites, which are dramatically less effected by the out rushing current of their more conventional counterparts. The skiffs and wind surfers are more subject to wind direction and tend to favor a closer to shore route, which makes for a very interesting display as the critical mass duck and weave down the Marina Green and City Front.
In the end, a very fast end, Johnny Heineken lopped off a sizable chunk of the B2B record, finishing in just 14:14, 2 minutes and 1 second better than Bryan Lakes 16:15
the previous year. For the record, Kites have won 6 times, windsurfers 5 times, Aussies Skiffs 3 times and the 49er, only once.
Mike Percy ran the course for the 13th or 14th time, he's only missed the event when
something came up last minute. A true stall-wort of the B2B!
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