Vallejo Season Opener - Race No. 2 on Saturday, May 4, 2002
If Saturday was typical, Sunday was anything but. Shorts and tee shirts were the attire for the whole race instead of foul weather gear and boots. The start was interesting. There was not enough wind to counteract the strong ebb tide. Minutes before the prep gun the fleet kept motoring up current trying to calculate how far up current they would have to motor to prevent from drifting over the starting line before the start. To be over early in those conditions would have been deadly. Fortunately, everyone got off the line clean and the wind filled in just at the start. It became obvious early that the left side of the course was favored due to the big lift on port tack even though there was less current. Toward the top of the beat it was better to be in the middle of the course. The leaders, Arbitrage, Walloping Swede, and Energy played it perfectly by being left and then going to the middle of the course at the right time. From the middle it was just a matter of heading toward the finish and allowing the current to push you there. Arbitrage went on to win, followed by Walloping Swede, and Energy in third.