Thanks to Bruce Stone for this report: Racing in the Encinal YC One Design on March 25-26 on the Olympic Circle in a light northerly, the SF Bay J/105 fleet faced a stiff ebb running from north to south, fueled by persistent rain that has fallen over NorCal the past two months and enhancing the flow of the Sacramento River that feeds the Bay with fresh water. This led to tough decisions as to hug the right going upwind and avoid adverse current or protect the left for the anticipated westerly that develops on most days starting in March/April. Hedging their bets, Bruce Stone (helm) and Nicole Breault (main/tactics) on Arbitrage managed the risks and won the six-race regatta, scoring just 12 points with three bullets and a 2, 3 and 4, ending up six points ahead of Doug Bailey in Akula and twelve points ahead of Ian Charles in Maverick. Along with Bruce and Nicole, the team consisted of Owen Sordillo, Will Paulsen, John Horsch and Jim Dorsey. Bruce mentioned, “This was tougher than racing on the City Front with its more predictable wind direction, and we ignored the tide and current charts as they did not reflect the actual water flow we witnessed. There was hardly any flood as the fresh water from the interior of California enhanced the ebb and overwhelmed and rode over the twice-daily flood. The tide lines were demonstrable, and most boats steered by water color, as the river water has more sediment and is brown compared to the bluer ocean water.” On Saturday’s third race, the course took competitors out to the notorious Blossom Rock buoy where they set spinnakers for a long downwind through the Oakland estuary, past the container port and finishing at the host club. (Photo: Team Arbitrage enjoying their run down the Oakland shipping channel to the finish at Encinal YC in race three.) “We ran wing-on-wing for most of this leg, passing several boats and nearly catching Akula at the finish. Super important to play the tack line, like playing the halyard on a blooper from our IOR days! Sunday