My Opti experience began with a 7:00a.m. flight to Oakland airport. We headed over the Bay Bridge and the Golden Gate to San Francisco Yacht Club in Belvedere. Encinal Yacht Club was nice enough let me charter a boat and even coach me.
After rigging we had an hour long tow out to an area of the bay known as Berkley Circle. We got set and did one long race on a course that was very new to me. I had never sailed on San Francisco Bay and the current and wind conditions were everything I had heard they would be. Difficult but a great learning experience. We started a second race but the wind died and so the race was abandoned. After about twenty minutes the wind REALLY came up and was clocked at twenty knots. They quickly tried to get a race started, but unfortunately, there were four general recalls and the wind died again. Consequently, we only got one race in on the first day.
On the second day we woke up bright and early and got ready for an eleven o’clock start. After the long tow, we got races started right away. Different than the first day, we got three races in right off the bat. Then the wind died, so we moved to “the slot” where I learned it is usually windy. Despite normal conditions, there was no wind so the race committee called it for the day. Five minutes later the wind picked up and blew 30 knots, but we missed it.
Overall this was a great learning experience. I learned more about Opti sailing and had a great introduction to sailing on San Francisco Bay where I have always wanted to sail.
Thank you to the BYC Maritime Sciences and Seamanship Foundation and all who support the foundation for making this experience possible.
Jack Joslin