
The superheroes of sailing don't wear tights or capes; they have to wear their "street" clothes over their costumes to keep anonymous in the highly competitive world of PHRF racing. But for two days this year, racers will shed their secret identities and go forth proudly proclaiming to be Sailing Superheroes!
The Big Daddy Regatta is pretty cool all on its own. Put on by the Richmond Yacht Club and named after Bob Klein of Olympic Circle "X" fame, this regatta has all of my favorite attributes: a pursuit race on Sunday, a good buffet Saturday night, $2 gin fizzes, and a race course in the Olympic Circle / Southampton Shoal area.
But this year there are also superhero costumes! If last year's Mexican themed race saw bowmen sporting sombreros, you can only imagine what might occur on the water this year. Mr. Incredible working the mast or grinding, Spiderman on the bow, The Flash on the tiller, and maybe, if the viewing public is lucky, Dr. Doom calling tactics.
Registration is online now; this race usually sees around 100 boats on the line. Saturday gives you PHRF and one design windward/leeward courses...the racing is more intense this day on the three separate courses. Sunday is a reverse start pursuit race with the slower boats starting first and the speedsters chasing them down as they race furiously around Angel Island and Alcatraz and back to Richmond, "often with 90% of the boats finishing within 30 minutes of each other", according to Veteran Bay Racer Tom Warren.
On top of the excellent racing, this regatta's reputation has been made on Saturday night. As Tom, famous as part of the Peckerhead Racing Consortium, says, the "Saturday night party is always a blast with everything from Jello shots and really bad margaritas to a kick ass band. Sunday morning gin fizzes and steel drums are a great way to fight a hang over!" After a hard day's racing, slipping into your comfortable crime-fighting costume as part of the traditional costume contest to eat dinner and dance with your fellow racers feels super.
If you have a costume, a hankering for good racing, and the 14th and 15th of March free, sign up for a crew list and join in for some super sailing at the Big Daddy.