El Toro 2018 Worlds
by Tom Burden
​Images by Susan Burden
​​A lighthearted but brutally competitive High Sierra tradition​
​It's a satire on a super-serious "World Championship," with bizarre, gauche trophies. The winner of each race picks the course for the next race from a menu of choices with names like Zig-Zag, Zag-Zig, Senility, Portable, Starboard and Monarch.
The wind conditions on Pinecrest Lake, located at about 5000' elevation in the Sierras, vary from fluky to "Acid-trip-flashback", but the competition is hardly a joke. Top San Francisco Bay big-boat racers, aspiring junior sailing rock stars (four), class North American Champions (four), even a Transpac-winning navigator; all are going at it in this small but talented 15-boat fleet.
With smoky skies from the Carr Fire and other California wildfires, we were glad for relatively clear conditions Saturday, as Race One started. A group of five boats rounded the Beach mark, found their own private gust of pressure, and ran away to play by themselves, as the rest of the fleet slatted in a hole.
Having the entire fleet pass you in this manner, while you're sitting parked, is called "getting Pinecrested." During a typical hour-long race here, it can befall many an unlucky racer. You can also get your own "personal puff" to take you into the lead. Yet with all the epic flukiness, the same people manage to come out on top. It's all about improvisation, looking around and shifting gears.
At the end of the first race, John Pacholski crossed the line followed by "Steady Freddie," Fred Paxton, perennial winner Art Lange, Vaughn Seifers and Tom Burden.
Race Two
John picked the Senility course with a Beach mark added first for Race Two. Art Lange, Tom Burden and Elsa Simenstad all escaped from a bad start at the starboard end of the line, found pressure in the middle of the lake, and got to the Beach mark in the lead, crossing ahead of Vaughn and the others who went inside. Art ran off to win the race, with speedy John Pacholski gradually claiming second after a long and drama-filled race. So at the end of Saturday, John and Art were in the lead with Fred, Vaughn and Tom in striking range.
A Smoky Sunday
The Worlds tradition is to sail only one race on Sunday, so Art Lange made it a good one by picking Monarch, the longest course. That didn't help him as he struggled to escape from a terrible start. Tom's start was even worse, as he seemed to have left his mojo out on the trail during his morning run around the lake.
Vaughn, who is a two-time North American champion, nailed the start, found a lane with good breeze, and rounded Beach with a great lead. This guy performs under pressure! But the potential horizon job was not to be, as John slowly closed the gap, breaking through in the leg rounding Tower. Art clawed back to fifth place, just enough to overtake Fred for second in the regatta. Fred and Vaughn ended up in a tie, with Fred's third place in the final race as the tiebreaker.
Pinecrest is truly a perfect El Toro racing venue. With wind speeds that range from zero to 20 knots, from just about any direction at any time, it dishes out big doses of humiliation if you're not paying attention. And while the shifts and gusts may seem random and unpredictable, there are El Toro wizards like Art, John, and the late Jim Warfield, who see the secret code behind the noise.
Here's the trophy for the top-finishing SOB member (the Pinecrest locals).
Local El Toro sailor Gil Giluly concocted the crazy "Worlds" in about 1996 to revive the "Mile High Regatta" that started in 1962.
Here is Giluly's original "Worlds" course sheet. Note the names of the marks. Old-timers in the fleet will remember Gil Giluly's riotously funny skippers meetings.
Elsa Simenstad followed the right "fast guys" in the grownup fleet, escaping from a bad start along with Art and Tom to finish ahead of Chase and the other juniors.
Paul Zander and Chase Englehart round the Glory Hole of Pinecrest Lake, which is also the mark called "Tower."
Vaughn nailed the Race Three start and roared off with what looked like an unassailable lead. Here, he's just about to round Beach with Fred and Gary Winton following.
Even with the smoke, Pinecrest is fantastic place to spend a weekend. Here Susan Burden captures the stillness of moored El Toros on Sunday morning.
El Toro Worlds Scores
Tom Burden
A well-known and diehard El Toro racing competitor, Tom is also the author of over 300 how-to boating articles.