PCISA Team Race Championship - Baker Elims

Racing got under way for the 2023 PCISA Baker Elims at approximately 11:40am after an on the water postponement due to shifting and dying breeze. As the course got squared up and racing got under way, the breeze increased from 3-4 knots up to a maximum of roughly 10 knots from the SSW. Racing really came down to boat speed and team racing skill as the breeze was relatively consistent. Around 4:30pm, breeze began to decline and at 5:30pm, the breeze shifted left and began its gradual decent to nothing. With just 8 races left to finish in the regatta, the day was called and the regatta will resume on Sunday. Currently Mater Dei is running away with the win while San Marcos and Point Loma fight it out for the second berth to the national championship.

An incredible debt of gratitude goes to the umpire crew led by Chump, Stephen Long, Lucas Pierce, Claire Hunt, Brad Schaupeter, and Jasper Reid. Thank you to Jasper and Brad for rotating in to PRO as well. Thank you to Eric Andresen for grabbing some awesome photos, Eric Stokke for doing finish boat all by his lonesome, and a huge thank you to Jon Ziskind and the Ziskind family for loaning their family boat as the rotation boat!

Racing got underway at 10:35am in a reasonable easterly breeze of approximately 4-5 knots that made for interesting sailing requiring balancing against shifts and prioritized starting well and flexibility to tack off the line. Team racing definitely mattered today, and the starting game was a main indicator of who would have the upper hand moving into mark 1.

As the breeze oscillated to the right, the course was squared up to match the conditions. Racing was interesting with San Marcos beating Mater Dei in the second race of the day, but then losing to CDM. As Point Loma looked poised to potentially mount a comeback, San Marcos defeated Mater Dei a second time securing the second berth to the ISSA Baker Team Race National Championship. Mater Dei was exceptionally strong throughout the weekend and an iconic 2,3,6 v 1,4,5 team race between Point Loma and Mater Dei was the highlight of the weekend. Awesome team racing on the west coast.

Once again, thank you to our umpires Stephen Long (Chump), Brad Schaupeter, Claire Hunt, and Joseph Politi, as well as our PRO, Jasper Reid, and our markset/photo boat Eric Andresen / Ed Behrens. Thank you also to Eric Stokke on the finish boat, who came prepared with air pods today so he had something to do besides wait for races to finish. Finally, a tremendous thank you to Jon Ziskind and the Ziskind family for so generously letting all the players use their boat for rotations and bathroom breaks.

Congratulations to Mater Dei and San Marcos for qualifying for the team race national championship!