The 2024 Commodores Cup Race :
We had great conditions for our Annual SBCC Commodores Cup Race last Sunday. Mostly sunny skies and 10-12 kt SW winds greeted racers for the start and the wind picked up to 15 kts during the race. It doesn't get much better on the Bay!
The Race:
There were 8 boats for the pursuit start at 1:00 PM. Our RC chose course A and set the line with the pin favored. A big thanks to John Holst and his team for taking RC duties.
In keeping with the BSIR vs Babylon competition theme, the course provides both Babylon & Bay Shore marks and is 7.4 nm long. This year we had an upwind start from #6 buoy to Babylon cove buoy #9. Then it's a downwind run back through the bridge all the way to West Channel #11 buoy & up to #1 buoy. From there the final leg was an upwind beat back to the finish at #6.
We had a relatively smooth start (check your start times carefully guys!) with just enough south in the wind to make the bridge. The downwind run kept crews busy working the wind shifts and adjusting poles. There was some friendly competition between Pandemonium & Derailed and also between Kickin Back & Shadow. For the upwind beat back to the finish, most of the fleet tacked and headed south. Shadow stayed north and tacked down to the finish. It ended up being an exciting finish between Shadow & Kickin Back with Shadow first over the line by less than 2 boat lengths.
The Final Results:
1st place- Shadow
2nd place- Kickin' Back
3rd place- Lady in Red
4th- Pandemonium
5th- Derailed
6th- Czech Mate
7th- Moonrise
8th- Haven
And what were the results of the BSIR/Babylon competition? This year the Babylon series represented by teams Shadow & Kickin Back took the top two spots. Lady in Red for the BSIR series took 3rd place. The gauntlet has now been laid down by Babylon- lets see what 2025 brings!
I'm also happy to note that our Commodore Scott Gesele joined the race sailing Haven with his wife Wendy as crew. Welcome aboard Commodore!
Check the next Masthead for Commodores Cup pictures.