Let’s begin with a little Jeopardy trivia…Answer: Charlie the Tuna. Question: What was the name of Starkist Tuna’s mascot in 1961? You knew that one? Well, try this one. Answer: Premia. Question: Who was Charlie the Tuna’s girlfriend.

And now the segue to sailboat racing. While most of us associate red-white-blue with our American flag, there is another red-white-blue flag that Race Committee uses frequently…the “C” or Charlie flag. We use the “C” flag at the start of the race to signal that boats assigned to the “C” class should begin. Later, we may use the “C” flag to signal that the course to the next mark has been changed.

Signal flags are a key requirement in the sport of sailboat racing because it’s how Race Committee communicates with the racers. Not everyone has their radio on or are within shouting distance, so we use a variety of signal flags to provide directions to the racers.
July racing is mostly about Taco Tuesdays – we get to run five Taco Tuesday races this month, so we are extra busy. For those of you who may not remember or didn’t know, we run two separate venues each Taco Tuesday evening; one for Harbor 20s and one for the PHRF boats. This means double the number of Race Committee boats and Race Committee staff on duty. Scheduling so many people for 15 weeks is a challenge, but Lynn Drury, assistant race chair, handles it with a smile. Like me and all members of Race Committee she enjoys what she does, particularly the on-the-water part.

The other race in July is the tune up for the Windward/Leeward venue of the PHRF Championship Regatta, which BCYC is hosting in August. The Tune Up is free and there are no prizes. This is just an opportunity for wanna-be PHRF Championship racers to test their crew and boat preparation before the August two-day event.

Paul DeCapua, Sail Fleet