The mighty sailing syndicate Valis Racing Inc. has shared its tidal current wisdom with the sailing masses. First published in private for the benefit of the elite ocean crossing team, these charts show the forecast tidal currents on the half hour for the duration of the 2010 Three Bridge Fiasco. After determining its own race strategy in a series of late night backroom "discussions", Valis has opened this knowledge to the rest of the racing universe.
Over 350 boats will line up and start this race, going every which direction and rounding marks at each of the three bridges (Golden Gate, Bay, Richmond) in a furious attempt to sail faster than the water which is planning on sweeping them out to sea if there isn't enough wind.
Valis' own strategy is to go counter clockwise, attempting to get to Treasure Island on the last vestiges of the flood, head down to Red Rock on a slack current, and have a fighting chance to beat the beginning of the ebb around the rock to ride the ebb down to the Golden Gate. That's where it gets tricky, as Valis will have to get around Blackaller without angering the South Tower Demon, and hug the coast to avoid the brunt of that ebb current. As Valis' esteemed skipper says, "Also, I'm a crappy racer, so you might want to do the exact opposite of whatever you see us doing." He kids of course. But seriously, don't follow him.
This is all predicated on a SW wind of 5 to 10 knots which we know won't be the actual wind. So expect furious debate on the most dangerous starting line known to man as dozens of boats change sides right before the start to even further confuse matters.
If none of this made sense to you then I can only recommend one thing: find a dry comfortable spot on land where you can watch the starting line between 10:00 and 10:30 right off of the Golden Gate Yacht Club or around 1:00 to 2:00 find a spot to watch Red Rock over by the Richmond Bridge. It will be epic.
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