Under the category of "Some Days Are Like That" this year's 3 Bridge Fiasco saw spectacular weather courtesy of a high pressure weather system that seems to have been parked over Northern California waters since early December.
Of course with the sunshine came a lack of wind, and this, coupled with a ripping ebb current, made for either a very trying day (for those who decided to fight the weather gods), or a very relaxing and early day (for those who were more pragmatic/realistic and actually believed SailFlow and NOAA).
Since we don't have a winner to regale us with tales of personal puffs and come from behind maneuvers, I'll leave the fleet with one vignette from Mas. We saw our top SOG for the day at approximately 1045am off the Coast Guard station at Horseshoe Cove. The euphoria of topping 4kts was quickly dashed by the discovery of an underwater rock about 20 yards off the breakwater. Mas! came away significantly worse for the wear, though I am pleased to report that the rock sustained some damage of its own as you can see from the below picture (the walnut shaped object near the top of the impact zone is a piece of rock embedded in the fiberglass). Yep, it was that kind of day.
Mark English