Saturday Sail with a Ha Ha Boat

I was lucky enough to join a 36 cat for a sail with a bunch of folks looking to crew on the Baja Ha Ha.We set off for a run out the Gate at 9:00am. Five on board and the wind was 12-14. We tacked out the Gate about 12:30 or so with a flood tide. It was very calm with little swell. We made it out and I was surprised at how nice it was. Winds were about 10-12 with a small swell as we headed up the coast towards Muir Beach. At Muir, we tacked out for the Lightbucket nav marker. There was an announcement on 16 that the Pacific Cup boats would be sailing out the Gate towards Hawaii. The leading boat was Limit and she was cranking by with her 60' waterline. The rest of the fleet was well behind. We set the spinnaker and started our trip back. The wind was still light. We sailed under the bridge and the wind picked up dramatically. Cliff has a great set up with his kite and in no time we were flying down the bay. At this point I was driving and as we got around Treasure, the wind was in the high 20's and we hit 14.5 on the meter and I was at the helm. It was a nice thrill and gave us a glimpse of what this mighty cat could do on a run down the coast. It was a great sail and I hope to join the boat for a trip to the Cape!