June 15th, 2019 (Tiburon, CA) Memo Gidley and his crew of 7 had a great fifth place finish in last weekend’s OYRA Farallones Race. The Farallon Islands are known for their abundance of marine 
life, including being the breeding ground for the great white shark! The islands are 25 miles outside of the Golden Gate Bridge. The ocean swells can become very large, around here, and when the large swells meet the shallower waters of the islands, huge breaking waves occur which can become dangerous. “We have been successfully racing in the Bay and doing the Farallones Race was something I’ve wanted to do for a few years,” said Gidley. “With my schedule being open this year and my crew wanting to do it, I said, ‘Let’s go!’”
Basic Instinct and crew got a great start and were third heading out the Golden Gate Bridge. A mile later they were up to second place as the rough water settled in. “The seas started out rough, and I tried to make things as smooth as possible to keep Basic Instinct sailing as fast as possible,” said Gidley. “I was super happy with how we were doing and excited that we were the third boat around the Farallon Islands.”
Even though the top three sailboats were within a few seconds of each other, after rounding the Farallon Islands some competitors took different routes to head back towards San Francisco. “We all had different ideas on which route was best given the wind and waves,” said Gidley. “Our route back looked good until the wind died and changed directions about three miles from the finish line, just outside the Golden Gate Bridge.”
After battling through the no-wind hole and finally crossing the finish line, the crew came away with a fifth place. “That’s always the challenge of sailboat racing – the racetrack, or wind, literally changes right in front of you and can be different for everybody!” said Gidley. “So, in this race, we went from light winds and little swells to heavy winds and big swells, and then back to light winds near the finish! But, it was so exciting to race around the Farallon Islands. Their shapes look like something from another planet! And the blue waters around them were beautiful but also very eerie given what live in them! But to finish fifth in our first open ocean race was great for the Basic Instinct crew!”