By Mike Ferring, Racing Captain
Around 4 o’clock on Saturday, December 9, you may drop the main, open a beverage, and mutter, “That was a fiasco!”
In fact, it will be a three-mark fiasco, a bit of fun, a bit of experiment, and definitely something different. You can thank David Newland for suggesting it, noting that San Francisco has a Three Bridge Fiasco, San Diego a Three Mark Fiasco, and Tempe Town Lake (being short of bridges), a Two Bridge Fiasco (organized by David).
We’ll apply the fiasco format to this year’s Governor’s Cup. Register here. The format matches the humorous size of the prize, the humongous Governor’s Cup. How’s it work?
The race committee will deploy three inflated yellow marks on Lake Pleasant, plus a start/finish line. Instead of the committee telling you what to do at the start gun, you’ll decide. Take the S/F line in either direction (really) and then all three marks in any order, leaving each either to port or starboard. Then finish. In either direction. Oh, and it’s a pursuit race, so boats will start in reverse order of their speed rating: slowest-rated first, followed by faster-rated.
Does that mean boats will cross the start line in both directions? Yes, it does. Will they round marks in both directions? Yes, they will. Just keep smiling and remember the wisdom of Rule 14: don’t hit anyone!
At the end of the day, head to Spinnaker Point for prizes and holiday-themed goodies. New member Barry Bond will put together a party.
Here’s the report on the 2022 Governor’s Cup. We’ll have a short version of the course to avoid the low-wind problems of 2022. And here’s the pre-race report for 2022, which offers more information on pursuit races.