2009 Beercan Racing is ON!!!

Well the beginning of the 2009 Beercan racing season is on with a vengeance. All but one Merit have gone out in the first two races, and that includes the newest boat M8 which coincidentally makes 8 boats in the Merit fleet. Since M8 is so new and does not have matching sails as the other boats we are reserving this boat for our "Club" boat so anyone who signs up to race as crew could potentially get aboard this rocket and have a better chance at winning. This should even out the odds when comparing the efficiency of a crew that works together regularly together. Don't wait until the last minute to sign up as the best boats go fast. (pun intended : ) So then, as they say, " The race is on!"

Winter Racing Final

Well our last race for the Winter Series concluded Sunday with Brett Herr taking the finish and John Dick who was subbing for Dave Goecke came in second with Peter McCormick coming in last when he tried to take a shortcut across the mud : ) The final tally for the season gave us a tie for second with Brett Herr and Peter McCormick having identical scores after dropping the worst race from the season. Dave Goecke gave a mighty showing after joining the series after the first race had already been run and having to use ALL of his races in the series without the forgiveness of throwing out your worst race like the other racers had. All in all this was a great time for our die hard racers who refuse to shut down for the winter. Congrats to all and hopefully we will run this again next year!

Last Race Called for Wind

Well, the San Francisco Bay is famous for it's wind, but yesterday that would have seemed an understatement. Gusting to 32 knots in the channel and over 40 knots on the bay we decided to call the race off rather than flirt with disaster and have to clean that mess up after it happened. There is a saying, " It is better to be on land and wish you were at sea than to be at Sea and wish you were on land"

Till next time,


Mike

Winter Racing Season update

Well the February winter race date Feb 15 got postponed due to inclement weather (really windy) so it was actually held 2/22 where we had less wind and plenty of rain. The few souls who showed up were hearty indeed and all returned safely and had a great time anyway. After all the weather we get down here is just an excuse to use the foul weather gear we bought anyway. The results are as follows:
1st place- Dave Goeke
2nd place- Brett Herr and Peter McCormick

Totals for the season so far, excluding one race per entrant:

1st place Peter McCormick - 3.50
2nd place Brett Herr - 4.75
3rd place Dave Goecke - 5.75

December Winter Race

There was a bit more of a turnout this month as Dave Goecke, Brett Herr and Peter McCormick went head to head in light air to try to establish a leading position in the series standings. All finished the race and they posted the following results:

1st place Brett Herr .75
2nd place Peter McCormick 2.00
3rd place Dave Goecke 3.00



The series totals to date are as follows:

1st place Peter McCormick 2.75
1st place Brett Herr 2.75
2nd place Dave Goecke 3.00

Miraculously because there were only 3 entrants and there is a tie for first, nobody came in last. Go figure.

New 2008 Winter Series kicks off

Our new Winter racing series has begun. Due to the amount of requests we have received we are continuing our racing program though the winter season. For more details click on the above link and it will take you to the page with all of the information regarding this new once a month series. So far the scoring is as follows:


Peter McCormick - .75 pts
Brett Herr - 2 pts

If you missed last months race don't worry. Everyone is allowed to throw out their worst race in the series, so you can still join in and be competitive next month. The next race day will be Sunday, December 21, 2008. Show up early as the race starts at 1:00pm.


Fair Winds,

Mike

Final Beer Can Race of 2008

Well, this week was the final beer can race of the season. Unfortunately, I had a family emergency and missed it. I had prepared a photo slideshow for the post-race festivities at Sequoia Yacht Club, but the people in charge of the program weren't able to get it to play from the CD I gave them. So I've decide to post it here for all to see. It's not as great as it would have been on the big screen, but at least some of you will get to see it now. Be sure to turn on your computer's sound and enjoy!

Please plan on getting out there every Wednesday next year. The racing season starts around mid-April. Check back on Spinnaker's web site for the exact date.

Fair winds,
cj

Beer Can #25 - Sept 24

It was a balmy night. There will little wind in the channel but a very nice breeze as we got out to the bay. We were racing course 2—out to marker 12 and back.

I was racing on Odyssey, my friend Alex's 44' Islander, which is berthed at Bair Island Marina. So I couldn't be on the Merit dock to take pictures before the race.

I sent out email the day before, asking for someone to take pictures of the Merit crews for me, and Dave G kindly volunteered. So these pictures are all his. Where's the picture of your crew, Dave?!

Dave also gave me the run-down of who did what to whom after the race, so I've got the stats for you.

Place	Boat	Skipper
1	M6	Nico
2	M7	Hans
3	M4	Dave G
4	M3	Brett
5	M5	Mike
6	M1	Peter

Congrats to all, and a big thank you to Dave for helping me out!

Beer Can #24 - Sept 17

I know... I've been very, very bad and missed a few weeks of races on this blog. Well, last night I shot a lot of pictures and talked to all of the racers and now I'm back on track and intend to write up the last 4 races of the season. Only 3 left! Better get out there if you haven't been in a while!

It was a gorgeous evening. We're into the extended season now, so the race started half an hour early and finished early, too, which was really nice. It was a strong ebb during the whole race with about 15-18 kt winds out of the northwest... just delightful conditions. We raced course 1, which is out to Y and back... the new race marker that was replaced a few weeks ago after it went missing in June.

I crewed on Slipstream, a 42' Catalina, for the first time. I was working the jib for a while and then the main for a while, but because there were so many crew members, I got several chances to shoot some pictures of the Merits out on the water... something I don't get to do much when I'm in one!

From all accounts, the Merits had a good start. Nico took the lead right away in M2, and Dave in M4 with Susan and my buds, Norbert and Kerry, battled M1 and M5 for second place and got it.

Smokin' J also had a bunch of my buds on board, and I was able to get several pictures of them... another thing I don't usually get to do because I'm often on it! Of course, Smokin' J has never gone aground when I've been on it!

So I don't have a lot to report, because I can't tell tales out of school (and there were some very interesting tales told to me last night!), but suffice it to say it was a glorious evening for sailing, and a lovely time was had by all.

Hey, I just realized that I don't know the order the other Merits came in. Please post a comment with whatever info you know!

Place	Boat	Skipper
1	M2	Nico
2	M4	Dave G
?	M1	Hans
?	M3	Mike
?	M5	Vadim
?	M6	Peter
?	M7	Brett

Please check out my Picasa web album for lots more pictures!

2008 Cheeseburger in Paradise

Well the latest Cheeseburger in Paradise was a huge success having over 30 participants and yielding 2 class winners for the first time in the events history. The Merit 25's were historically the annual race one design boat, but there were so many people signing up for the event that we had to add Cal 24's and the J29. Since there were 7 merit 25's we decided to give that design it's own award and also give an award for the best place overall. It was a long race to the San Mateo Bridge and back as the winds were light and the current was a fairly strong flood. The winners are as follows:

Overall Champions -

Boat - J29
Skipper - Philippe Piernot
Crew - Nico Popp
Laurence Popp

Merit 25 Champions -

Boat - M6
Skipper - Peter McCormick
Crew - Bruce Rosenthal
Tara Travers
Brendon Vining

Kimi Kosugi, who won the last two years races in a row came in a close third and was the second Merit 25 to cross the finish. Congrats to all racers and a special thanks to all the friends and family that showed up to support this event. Lots of Cheeseburgers and beverages were consumed in the celebration of this extremely popular annual regatta. We hope to see you here next year.