Fall sailboat races take place along city’s waterfront
By Sharael Feist
1998
Racing sailboats on the San Francisco Bay requires several things: being able to read the wind, knowing bay currents, anticipating changes in the weather, familiarity with nearby land and hazards, having technical skills and lots of luck. But the most important element is the wind.
Some of the best sailors in the world came together on the San Francisco Bay two weeks ago to compete in the 1998 Big Boat Series, which took place just offshore from the St. Francis Yacht Club, and the usually windy bay decided to take Sunday off. The unexpected calm on the event’s final day forced race officials to cancel the last leg of the regatta, and as a result, the <i>Numbers</i> crew, with Russell Coutts at the helm, edged out Illbruck Pinta by only half a point to take first place in the One Design 48 class. Illbruck Pinta, skippered by San Francisco native John Kostecki, ended up with a discouraging second place.
“We were disappointed because we couldn’t race due to weather,” Kostecki said. “We were gaining points as the race went on and thought we would make a come back on the last day.” He said he had anticipated that their being locals would give them an advantage, but the varying conditions made it a difficult race. Kostecki was assisted by crew member Paul Cayard, skipper of EF Language, which recently won the famed Whitbread Round the World Race 1997/98.
Cayard and Kostecki are both from San Francisco and are sailing the bay in preparation for the America’s Cup 2000, which will take place in Auckland, New Zealand.
“San Francisco is a great venue because you can usually count on having wind,” Kostecki said. “Some of the best sailors in the world come from San Francisco. The currents and obstacles like Alcatraz make it a challenging place to sail. It was a great place to grow up and sail.”
<i>Illbruck Pinta</i> will continue to compete in the match-racing circuit and is heading off to the Caribbean for the Bermuda Match Race, continuing on to race in Malaysia and the Virgin Islands.
The bay was back to its windy self the next weekend, however, and racing yachts whizzed past Pier 39 as spectators lined the pier to catch a glimpse of the brightly colored spinnaker sails during the fifth annual Citibank Fall Cup regatta.
The three-day event started with qualifying heats on Friday and Saturday and ended with the top 10 teams competing against each other in the final 6-mile race on Sunday. The 11:Metre class boats, which feature crews of four or five sailors, are similar in design to the America’s Cup boats and can travel at speeds of up to 20 knots.
Team Citibank, led by skipper Jeff Madrigali, captured first place, followed by Team Jeffrey’s and Co., while third place was held by Team Kodak. These top American teams beat out international competition to split a purse of $10,000 in cash and prizes.
A veteran of the Citibank Fall Cup regatta, Madrigali has led his teams to first place victories since 1995. He is also a bronze medalist from the 1996 Olympic Games. Madrigali seemed very pleased to have earned first place once again.
“We sailed consistently, and the crew work was good,” Madrigali said about his victory. “The boat that gets ahead at the start has a big advantage.”
Team Jeffrey’s and Co. was led by veteran sailor Morgan Larson, who won a bronze medal in the 1991 Pan American Games. Although he was disappointed not to have won, he believed that Team Citibank did an excellent job.
The third place team,Team Kodak, had a disadvantage due to lack of practice as a team. “We haven’t sailed the boat together very often. We’ve sailed the fewest times compared to the other teams,” skipper Seadon Wijsen said. “We made a few mistakes today and didn’t have an aggressive start. But for us, this race is mostly just for fun.”
The event was sponsored by the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau, which meant lei-bearing hula girls awaited the arrival of the winners, and the sounds of ukuleles entertained both spectators and participants throughout the weekend.
Many of the teams will be competing in the 11:Meter World Championship race, which will take place next weekend at St. Francis Yacht Club in San Francisco.