The 2019 edition of the Three Bridge Fiasco in San Francisco, CA will go down in the history books as one of the nicest in recent memory—sunny skies, gentle northeast winds of 4 to 12 knots and warm 72 F temperatures. The Singlehanded Sailing Society welcomed a fleet of 334 boats that were entered as singlehanded or doublehanded teams (most were sailing doublehanded). It is believed the race, a 21.0nm dash around three marks is considered the largest shorthanded sailing event in the world. Starting off Golden Gate YC on the south shore of the Bay, the sailors can choose which direction to go (clockwise or counter-clockwise). The marks are Blackaller Buoy near the south pylon of the Golden Gate Bridge at the westward opening of the Bay, around Red Rock Island near the Richmond/San Rafael Bridge in north Bay, and around the Bay Bridge by rounding Treasure & Yerba Buena Islands. Since the race is a reverse start (pursuit) race, the start time for each boat is based on its PHRF rating, with slowest boats starting first at 0900 hrs and the fastest at -102 starting two hours later. The eight-boat J/24 fleet saw a decisive leader, with Deke Klatt and Claudia Gottstein’s JADED crossing the line at 14:21:41, a solid 45 minutes ahead of the next J/24. Taking the silver was Val Lulevich and Alex Schultink’s SHUT UP AND DRIVE crossing at 15:04:03, followed in third by Randy Rasicot and Mays Dickey’s FLIGHT getting home at 15:09:35. Brandon Mercer, a new J/24 sailor, said, “It was a first for the Three Bridge Fiasco for me. First time on WOOF. First time doublehanding a J/24 in a race. First time meeting the skipper. We clicked. Awesome stuff! We finished fourth in our fleet. 22 nautical miles in 5 hours 43 minutes. The crazy part? Like over 300 boats and you can start in any direction and round the bridges in any direction. Huge fleets sailing head on into one another, with just 1-2 people on boats to look at the traffic. Lots of fiberglass touching some years. This year less of a fiasco because we had solid wind and WOOF’s team planned a smart route taking into account tides by each hour. Sailed from before dawn, finished at incredible time of 3:14 PM in the afternoon, and back at dock and buttoned up before sunset.” For more Three Bridge Fiasco information, visit http://sfbaysss.org/main/.