The 2004 Plastic Classic was a little crazier than previous years. I guess the reason was two fold; This year marked the 20th Anniversary of the Classic (complete with tie dyed T-shirts) and, the Classic's Host, Bay View Boat Club, decided to extend the vintage to "Pre 1980 designed sailboats." Triton's can now be considered the Grand daddy's of plastic classics and the "newer" vintage generation of boats the Grandchildren... ;-) From the Host's standpoint this was a successful year. More boats, more racers, more people. For Triton One Design of San Francisco (TODSF), the PC Regatta provides us the vinue for our Annual Perpetual Trophy Race. A time when Triton owners can enjoy a fun filled day of racing around the buoys and partying however, 2004 attendance was kind of low :-(
Pegasus and
I were not racing this year. I still had not replaced my old working jib
which I blew out 2 years ago at the 2002 PC and I declined an offer to
enjoy the race itself as a crew member. Instead, my goal was
to try and photograph the TODSF portion of the race from as close as possible
to the Classic's famous T-Mark. For those not familiar with the PC, this
Mark, or racing buoy, is where all who round it are flashed by volunteer
T-Mark girls and cheered on in the race (you can now figure out what "T"
stands for.) You will notice from the photo's that I did not get close
enough to the Mark that I would be distracted by the girls or interfer
with the racers in my first attempt at photo journalism. Nor did
I focus on boats other than Triton's rounding the Mark. Generally,
all heads are facing left as they round the Mark (seeking cheers only of
course) however, one photo clearly shows a crew member looking dead ahead
while paying the girls no attention at all (fortunately he was a crew member
and not an owner...we'd never live that one down ;-) The winds this year
were 10-15 at the start although it looks a lot calmer in the photos. The
T-Mark is close to shore and protected by warehouses on the docks which
blocks the air flow. Winds did increase to 15-20 by the end of the race.
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Positions reversed - Advantage #375 |
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Advantage #166 |
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The following photo's were taken while anchored at Ayola Cove, the party after the race and departing the Bay.
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Hopefully, I'll have my working jib before next years Plastic Classic. If not, you'll have to put up with more amateur photo journalism. Till then, cya on the water........Ray