Bridge to Bridge Race in San Francisco

I just arrived back in Maui after a quick trip over to San Fran for the
Ronstan Bridge to Bridge race put on by Alan Prussia and the St.
Francis Yacht Club. I went to this race last year and had so much fun,
and got beat by a kite that I had to go back this year and man was it
worth it!

For those that do not know this race is run from just outside the
Golden Gate Bridge where the start line is between a red buoy and a
motoring boat, down to the Bay Bridge where the finish line is between
the last tower just before the bridge goes into Yerba Buena from the
city and a boat. It is open to just about anything wind powered but it
was mainly started as a race between Windsurfers and 18foot Skiffs.
Last year there were a couple of kites that entered and Chip Wasson
took the gold.

This year there were a couple more skiffs that entered and a few more
kites as well as windsurfer so it seems to be gaining in popularity.
The wind was a bit lighter this year just before the start but then
picked up to about the same as last year.

There was a pretty strong flood running so the water was very smooth
for most of the course. Last year I choose to go on my 10.9 and was a
little underpowered for most of the race so I decided to go with my
11.7 this year, especially since Kevin showed up this year and was
going out on his 12 I could not be out done. This was good for most of
the race but once i got below the St. Francis it was to big.

The start was delayed for about 20 minutes due to shippng traffic but
this seemed to be good as the wind just kept building. With such a
strong flood some of the kites were unable to make the start which was
probably good as the start was much closer this year than last. Either
the skiff level was higher this year or they all learned from last year
because they were all right on the start line as the gun went with
chutes up and full speed. This made for a very exciting/hair raising
start! It was impossible for me on a windsurfer to go below a skiff as
they were going deeper and had so much sail area that they would just
take my wind. I did try it a couple of times though and got rounded up
so hard that I almost slammed into the side of a couple skiffs, one of
them had some line trailing in the water that I almost got caught up
on. While all of this was going on, which felt like complete chaos,
there was a serious amount of current coming off the south tower which
caused a lot of chop during the whole start and it was not until we
were passed the Golden Gate by a ways until the water completely
smoothed out. This was a relief to get into the smooth water and get
clean air away from the skiffs.

By the time we had reached the St. Francis and the Startline/Gate that
we had to go through downwind the skiff RMW Marine was in the lead
followed by local windsurfer Mike Zajicek who I crossed just behind
after my gibe out. I went out towards the middle of the bay about half
way across Alcatraz and gibed on what I hoped was the lay line to the
finish. The water was still very smooth at this point so I was really
able to kick it into gear and try to make up some ground. I had a
great battle with RMW Marine while they were going deeper than me I was
able to go a bit faster and I managed to go just under their bow to
pass them and take the lead. It was a pretty hairy pass as the bow
sprits on these boats are quite long and I do not think either of us
were in much control. When I was down just off Alcatraz the wind
picked up and the water got a lot rougher, from this point to the
finish I was in and out of the harness and both back footstraps trying
to keep everything together and go as fast as possible. In this chop I
managed to put a bit more distance between me and the skiff, it seemed
we had a bit of an advantage in the chop but RMW had a lot of speed in
the smoother stuff!

I was very glad to cross the finish line as it was all I could do to
stay on top of my gear with this much power and the confused chop.
Right behind me was RMW Marine followed by Anthony Chavez on a kite.
It did not feel likeit was a very fast time to me as I was fighting the
amount of power I had most of the way but I set the new record. I
would say this is partly in thanks to RMW Marine as they were pushing
me very hard the whole way down wind and did not give me a chance to
let up at all. Even though this race only lasted just over sixteen
minutes I was quite tired after I had to sail back to the St. Francis
way overpowered!

Just like last year I had a killer time at this race and am planning to
go again next year! SF is a great place to sail and there is so much
to do there that I love going there. I am sorry that I missed a CalCup
on Saturday but after the race and a late night I was to worn out. I
have to thank Alan Prussia for getting me to come over and putting on
this great event! I also have to take my hat off to the skiffs they
were a lot more competitive this year and pushed us all hard from the
start to the finish, those guys are a hardcore group to sail those
boats in that much chop! Anyone wishing to come next year check out
the St. Francis Yacht Club website for the details.

FINAL RESULTS
Micah breaks 2002 record by 1:35 secs! &
Beats Kites & Skiffs to win the 2003 Ronstan Bridge to Bridge with a
time of 16 mins 29 secs!

Sail # Name Craft
1 USA 34 Micah Buzianis Formula Board
2 RMW Marine Robert Greenhalgh 18 Foot Skiff
3 Anthony Chavez Kite Board
4 US 3 Kevin Pritchard Formula Board
5 Total Recall Tony Hannan 18 Foot Skiff
6 ML Mike Zajicek Formula Board
7 US-M9 Bill Weir Formula Board
8 West Marine Howard Hamlin 18 Foot Skiff
9 USA 64 Seth Besse Formula Board
10 Omega Smeg Trevor Barnabas 18 Foot Skiff
11 Twin Wells Patrick Whitmarsh 18 Foot Skiff
12 1H1 Chenda Hertus Formula Board
13 US 14 Alan Prussia Formula Board
14 VYV Mike Percey Formula Board
15 Fisher & Paykel Grant Rollerson 18 Foot Skiff
16 Z Jean Rathle Formula Board
17 A Soheil Zahedi Formula Board
18 US 1 Chris Radkowski Formula Board
19 Flawless Soldano Paolo 18 Foot Skiff
20 Paul Buelow Kite Board
21 Yandoo John Winning 18 Foot Skiff
22 Jk JimKiriakis Formula Board
23 223 or X John Davenport Formula Board
24 Canada 1 Fred Eaton 18 Foot Skiff
DNF
UN Chip Wasson Kite Board
Greg Boyington Kite Board
AUS 404 Nick Martin Formula Board
US 24 Cory Roeseler Kite Board
Emery Worldwide Ryan Cox 18 Foot Skiff