This past weekend 3 or our 4 crew participated in the OYRA Lightship race. This ocean race is about 25.2nm from the St. Francis YC out to the SF approach buoy and back. Conditions were lumpy to say the least due to high offshore winds leading up to the weekend. Winds for the day were 7-10 kts at the start building to about 12 kts as we approached the buoy. As the sea breeze filled in, winds built to mid-teens, and then low 20's as we came under the Golden Gate Bridge. The weather couldn't have been nicer and we had a nice ebb to help us on the way out and a flood to bring us back. This was perfect practice for PacCup because it also starts at StFYC and takes us out the Gate and along the approach channel. We also had a nice longish spinnaker run back (which we'll be doing a lot of on PacCup).
You can see the video of the race here: https://youtu.be/cK-d0oEDGok
Next month's practice race will be the Duxship Race: StFYC start, out the gate, up to Duxbury Reef mark, over to the SF approach buoy, and back. At 32nm, a bit longer than last weekend's race and another opportunity to fine-tune our crew. Our final practice race will be the Farallones race (58nm) in early June and then it's what we've been waiting for: PacCup (2,070nm) in early July!
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