2017 Express 27 Nationals & Sportboat Invitational

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Congrats to Team Irene!

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Should have had the jumbo jet drop some c-rations and beer for the troops on Friday!

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24 Express 27's gathered for a weekend of classic autumn racing at the Richmond Yacht Club. Despite a two hour postponement on Friday, the southwesterly finally arrived and delivered 10-12 breeze allowing the RC to get in the scheduled buoy race and the fleets favorite, the long distance race.











With Fleet Week in town, crews also got some visual entertainment during the delay, courtesy the US Navy and associated aerobatic air craft, but had a reduced field of play with the no flat zone walling off a large section of the Central Bay. With that in play Little Harding utilized as the windward mark, the fleet would have been in the thick of things as aircraft buzzed overhead while maneuvering through a variety of floating obstacles. But the postponement allowed the air and sea space to disperse before getting the Bay Tour going
When the dust had cleared on the day, Hood Rivers' Erik Hauge's Thumper had served notice taking the distance voyage in a race that featured lots of holes and oscillations as the westerly battled the building northerly .














Saturdays racing got off on time with 3 double lap windward leeward, and Zachary Anderson's Motorcycle Irene showing some moxie, leading around the cans all day and racking up 3 bullets in relatively flat water and a pretty consistent 10-12 knot southwesterly and a steady current flowing to the north.
"It was pretty classic Berkeley Circle conditions" indicates Will Paxton at the helm of Motorcycle Irene "With the fleet spread out right and left with all the boats coming back pretty evenly at the top, no huge benefit on either side."

Hanging in tight, last year's champions on Nick Gibben's Shenanigan's, finished the day with a 4 and two deuces for a total of 14, and would need a major miracle to repeat 2016's glory.
Sunday would offer 2 races on the circle with a bit of northerly attempting to reinsert itself while the southeasterly had the stage, leading to more oscillating breezes where keeping your head on a swivel paid dividends. Motorcycle Irene kept the throttle open and took a pair of seconds to the bank, extinguishing Shenanigans hopes, despite them sailing well enough to pick up a 4th and a 1st to end the weekend.











It should be noted that the middle and end of the fleet offered some extremely tight racing with a widely mixed bag of finishes, giving all moments of glory and memorable moments savored during another glorious fall weekend on San Francisco Bay, with much appreciation to RYC for hosting yet another superb regatta, which include a sport boat contingent on Saturday and Sunday.
Racing in handicap mode, 2 Antrim 27's, 4 Ultimate 20's , a Melges 20's, 3 J-70's, a 5.70, aVXOne and a Viper divided into 2 divisions. The 3 J-70s would place 1-2-3 in Division A, with Mark Thomas's Prime Number near perfect with 5 Aces and one 2nd to claim top position over Robert Milligan's Rampage. In Div B, Phil Kanegsbergs U Decide brought home the big bling sailing to five 1sts and a quatro and Dale Scoggin's 5.70 claiming 2nd in very close racing.


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