Split Starts for SH and DH Divisions?

[Lanikai]

I was going to whine about my slow boat and my slower skills, but instead, I wondered:
What has the SSS fleet's speed profile looked like over the years, particularly for finishers?
And the courses: have the race distances been more or less constant since the beginning?
And doublehanders, have they always been a majority of boats on the course?
Also wondering what the started/finished/"could have started but didn't bother because I knew I wouldn't finish in time" statistics are, and how that could inform these decisions.
Regardless, despite my own waning interest, I second Jackie's comments about the virtues of SSS races.

[Wylieguy]

I"ll try to answer some of your questions. Jackie has some records from about 1990 on that might answer more of them.

I first started racing with the SSS in 1985. At that time the membership was small and sailed an eclectic fleet of mono-hull boats ranging from a ferro cement ketch to small 20' wood and fiberglass sloops. I placed in races in my Coronado 25 and not with the best racing sails. There were several multi-hulls ranging from Peter's Antrim cat to a wooden tri. The faster boats got to Finish Lines long before a struggling Coronado 25 and often early Finishers went up to the race deck to help out.

In many ways, things were different, including the clubs. The VYC, OYC, and GGYC were still in their old buildings. Both the OYC and GGYC were much more casual about protocol. When the Corinthian Race started, so was the CYC. The Corinthian Race Awards were handed out on the CYC deck following the race. Informal post-race gatherings were the norm, as were the SSS meetings. The HMB race ended in a bbq and the awards were left over awards, which were often "utilitarian" things like seat cushions, fenders, flashlights, that remained unclaimed from the other races that year. Winners got to pick from the litter. The SSS was much smaller, everyone know most everyone, and the competition was less cut throat than I sense it is today.

The courses have always been long, with long legs between marks. The original Vallejo 1-2 Started and Finished at the Golden Gate YC, with Blossom Rock as a turning mark. Some early ocean races Started and Finished, or at least Finished at the Oakland YC. The original Corinthian Race used the now departed Knox Buoy as the turning mark for Blossom Rock; there was no finish leg out to Little Harding and back. The East Bay-Estuary Race Finished up the ditch at the OYC.

No, doublehanding came later. As I remember it, all the SSS boats were singlehanded early on. When the 3-Bridge Fiasco caught on as a popular race marked a turning point in double vs singlehanding. There was considerable angst over whether to allow doublehanding in all SSS races. There was even some discussion of a doublehanded division in the "Singlehanded" Farallones Race.

About finishing. Again, as I remember it, most boats finished. Sailing singlehanded out and back to the Farallones and Finishing was thought to be an accomplishment. Just finding the damned island in the fog prior to GPS was an achievement. The time limit for the Farallones Race was Sunday, and on several occasions racers anchored off China Beach, slept for awhile, and Finished on the next Flood. There were parties at Vallejo, the GGYC, and the OYC following races, so if you got there late, there was usually something going on. There was no "overall" season champion; each race was an individual effort. --Pat B.

[BobJ]

As far as I'm concerned that sounds like a recipe for next year's NOR. Via e-mail today Jackie also suggested a singlehanded race to Monterey. I'm down w/that too.

[Lightspeed]

Lightspeed will come out for a singlehanded race to Montery! supper idea! So as a singlehanded guy I really like tweeting race starts between SH and DH. For the short run this year, I am waiting on RtR sign ups to decide the correct splits. However SSS does have a flag problem. To add a start we need another flag I am assuming H Hotel. I am searching the wed to match our 40" x 40" and looking like a 30 day delivery, so need to beg and barrow one before RtR if we want to consider a E27 seporate start...Rick

[DaveH]

I'm always up for more solo sailing on the ocean...Monterey sounds great.
on a not entirely un-related note, OYRA seems to have seen fit to give the 4 SH boats sailing the Lightbucket our own start.... just sayin'
DH

[Daydreamer]

Singlehanded to Monterey sounds like fun!

[BobJ]

SSS does have a flag problem. To add a start we need another flag I am assuming H Hotel. I am searching the wed to match our 40" x 40" and looking like a 30 day delivery, so need to beg and barrow one before RtR if we want to consider a E27 seporate start

Anything will work as long as it's in the SI's - Aunt Hildegard's bloomers with "E27" on them will do just fine.

I double-dog dare you.

[Philpott]

Singlehanded Race to Monterey: Not my idea. However, this is an idea that requires fruition, whether formal or informal.

Here it is from the First Newsletter of the Singlehanded Sailing Society, June 27, 1977:

"There will be three annual races. 1) Farllons race to be held every Easter weekend. 2) Lightship race 3) Drakes Bay/Monterey race. This race will alternate between Drakes Bay and Monterey each year. We plan to have the Drakes Bay race this year sometime in September."

There was a Drakes Bay race in 1977 following the first Farallones, and plans called for a Monterey Race for the September 23, 24 1978 weekend, but there is no evidence that it ever occurred.

[sleddog]

Singlehanded Race to Monterey: Not my idea. However, this is an idea that requires fruition, whether formal or informal.

Here it is from the First Newsletter of the Singlehanded Sailing Society, June 27, 1977:
There was a Drakes Bay race in 1977 following the first Farallones, and plans called for a Monterey Race for the September 23, 24 1978 weekend, but there is no evidence that it ever occurred.

There was indeed a SF-Monterey SSS singlehanded race in 1978. It started Friday, Oct.13 at 1400. It was a slow slog, with WILDFLOWER finishing 4th nearly 24 hours later. F2F was ARROW, Jack Halterman's 36 foot tri. Norton Smith, overall winner of the first SHTP, was also an entrant with his SC-27 SOLITAIRE.

[Lanikai]

I"ll try to answer some of your questions. ... --Pat B.

Awesome, thanks for the details, Pat! Really do love the history and anecdotal stuff from the tenured SSSers. ( can't wait for sleddog's thread to be made into a book...that is the plan, right? I mean, Kimball Livingston's "Sailing the Bay" can be read only so many times...)

The SSS of yore sounds a little up my own alley, personally, but c'est la vie. More better sailors and more better boats has its own merits, I guess.
The "Take Alcatraz" challenge got me thinking about my own personalized virtual SSS plan for this year: do the courses, solo, on days when the weather is fun and the timing is convenient, keep GPS tracks and proper logs, maybe bring crew, definitely bring beer, and repeat. Same goes for ocean races while I'm still a few ticks short of the full NCORCMER checklist. Of course, I'll start with Take Alcatraz.

Monterey, now that would be a great use of my vacation days!

-Adam