Day 1 of the Ronstan Challenge brings the long distance race while Day 2 is reserved for course racing on the city front in front of Crissy Field. Its always a tough call what to rig for the Challenge as you’ll get exposed to lots of different variables throughout the course- gusty wind and ebb chop just inside the gate, a suicide path of gnarly stand up chop at the shoals just east of Alcatraz and the possibility of a fogged in Bay to keep you guessing where the finish line might be. It could be any one’s race.
I gambled and rigged the 9.9 slalom sail and the 70 cm kashy fin. This would be a fun race no matter what happened.
The starting line was set just north of Crissy field. Approximately 23 formula boards and 15+ kiters took the line for 2 starts. The boards were off first with Mike Z winning the boat and sailing the first beat with rather quickly as the rest of the fleet struggled to double tack around the top mark. With 4 or 5 sailors in front of me already I knew I would have to work to get myself near the top. I was able to work deep with my 9.9 in the first few puffs and stay below Sylvester and Radkowski who were on their 9.0s above me. Seth and Mike Z were ahead but within stiking distance. Also in the hunt was Eric Christenson who found some decent speed this year with a kashy fin. At our first gybe near Harding rock Sylvester got a good jump on me and we evened out side by side for the ride down to Berkeley. A few minutes into the run we started to run into some decent chop, cross traffic of barges and ferries that finally separated us. Sylvester was able to go deeper with a smaller 65 cm fin while I struggled to keep my 70 cm fin in control in the chop. Midway down I saw Mike Z gybe back as it was getting lighter as we approached Treasure Island. Seth and Sylvester keep going but I split the difference and gybed back to get into more breeze. It was only a few minutes into the run that I realized the far side was paying off big. Eric and Percy both crossed me and I ended up rounding the bottom mark in 6th with another group hot on my tail.
Time to put that 70 cm fin into overdrive and start working!
For the rest of the regatta report and photos from the event – check out www.stevebodner.blogspot.com and also www.calcupevents.com for results + gps tracks + equipment used.
Sail fast,
Steve USA 4
