2018 Great Pumpkin Pursuit

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Results

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Busy day.

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The 1st finishers. Alan Driscoll 1st overall and Multi.




Condor 1st Mono... stay tuned...

[Buzz Light Beer]

Heard the Lois Lane tangle up with the Alcatraz Buoy after a run in with C.O.W.

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Before and after. Yep, there was an incident. full report within the full report to follow.

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Lois Lane Dismasted In Great Pumpkin Pursuit



Tony Carr's list to do on the rehab of the IOR classic Lois Lane got a bit longer over the weekend after a game of bumper cars at the "little alcatraz buoy" during
Sunday's Great Pumpkin Pursuit Race. Tony has been working to get the old cold molded classic since he acquired her in 2012 Click

Tony was sailing in the race with Ron Tostenson, Rome Uriarte and Rolfe Brittian, and was approaching the mark on starboard with about 2-3 knots of flood
and 15 knots of breeze. Coming from opposite direction was Richard vonEhrenkrook's Cal 20 Can O Whoopass, on port. Evidently, Richard had been starboard tacked
just prior to this encounter and forced to reround, and apparently was not anxious for a repeat.

Although Lois call starboard repeatedly, Can O Whoopass returned a "Hold Your Course" reply. When it became apparent to Tony that they were going to nail the Cal 20 directly, Tony bore off, hitting the mark amidships, and caught there backstay on the mark, which pulled the rig down to port and into the water. Somewhere in the process, "The Can" hit Lois on the starboard bow and bounced off.




Thankfully, nobody was injured and they were able to get the sails and mast released in about 10 minutes. "It was sort of a blessing in disguise" said Tony "That we were being held in position by the backstay wrapped on the mark, keeping us from drifting in to the island, that could have gotten pretty ugly"

Once the were free, The Can followed them back to Richmond and the exchange information, and Tony said Richard was very apologetic about the whole mess.

The insurance folks have been contacted and Lois Lane will need to get pulled to ten to the damage of cold molded siding on port and the puka on starboard, as well
as new standing rigging, running rigging and electronics.




Tony hope to get things done in time for RYC Beer Cans.

Fingers crossed!

[Panama Red]

I suppose it could have been much worse.

Rigs can be replaced.

[IOR Geezer]

Shame to see that happen.

Why is a port tacker demanding room in that situation?

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2018 Great Pumpkin Pursuit: The Big Boats Strike Back




After 2017’s miracle run in which 3 Cal 20’s and a Yankee Dolphin took the top 4 finishes, 2018 would prove vastly different. With a swoosh of winter storm clouds brushing the San Francisco Bay from a distant storm off of British Columbia, and the North Pacific High budging ever so slightly, a westerly returned to the bay, giving the early starters a gentle 5-8 knots at the Southampton start. The muggy warm weather felt like summer’s last gasp before the impending November chill, a fine, fine encore to an action packed season.








137 monohulls and 20 multis had lined up for the 1st gun at Noon, as a finger of fog, compressed low to the sea surface made it’s way in the gate, and much like a sinister creature from a B-rated 1070’s horror movie, began working its way directly towards Alcatraz on parts east. While the winds associated with the intruding arm of Pacific mist increased, the visibility decreased, and soon it had devoured the former penitentiary and adjacent waters, eliminating line of sight navigation for racers as well as ships, fishing vessels ferries and such traversing the area.

It had seemed from the direction that the high raters had chosen, that counter clockwise was the direction of choice for this year. Most of the fleet heading right off the start and up toward Raccoon Strait to round Angel Island 1st. However, 20 minutes into the reverse order start sequence, the Chevron Tanker Florida Voyager made their presence known as the moseyed north up the shipping channel, essentially eliminating the counter clockwise option for the middle of the fleet.







The wind in Raccoon Strait was lighter than winds in the slot, but the flood tide was weaker on the edges as the afternoon ebb began to make its presence known. Once at the western edge, boats had to deal with another strong patch of flood that created some havoc before heading into the bay proper. With Alcatraz and SF completely blocked from view, many of the CC boats set a course towards Blackaller to compensate for the flood and into the mystic they went.







Amazingly, a number of the low raters which had chosen the clockwise direction had emerged from the fog and worked their way to the mouth of Raccoon Strait. But by then, the wind had lessened and the ebb had a large footprint, and those boats which were not ultra lights with waterline or of multiple hulls struggled the most. And while a few of the multis and Zachary Anderson’s J-125 Velvet Hammer snuck through, off in the distance, Alan Driscoll’s D-Cat Beowulf could be seen approaching the finish.

It would appear the highest rated Cat had snuck around the edges and used the late start winds to pass the entire fleet in a Counter Clockwise fashion. Finish well ahead of the entire fleet at 2:01 PM, Beowulf would enjoy a 8 minute plus cushion over next multi’s, Peter Stonebergs Shadow X & Mathew Leitner’s Nacra F18 Double Trouble.
And then the onslaught of counterclockwise boats would come charging in from south, (where mysteriously, the fog bank had now lifted) led by Buzz Blacketts California Condor, then clockwise Velvet Hammer and back to CC boats Ruben Rocci’s J-111 Swift Ness then Tony Pohl’s Farr 40 Twisted.










Another great Great Pumpkin Regatta in the books, the 51’s edition and going strong. A perfect blend of buoy racing, costume party and pursuit race to cap off the summer sailing season. Don’t look now, but mid winters start in just a few days….

Select Images Gallery


RESULTS

[El Capitan]

Yes, a very nice event this year, even if you got hosed going the wrong way!

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Karl Robrock sent this item along late Friday. Note the back stay holding Lois in place and keeping her from washing up on the rocks.

[3D]

Video of the sights and sounds of the RYC Great Pumpkin pursuit race from aboard the Seacart 30 "Hammer".....

Started 138th (last)
Finished 4th overall

Enjoy!!!

-3D