The sail down should be pretty easy, being all offwind. The trip back is of course a beat, but usually the wind doesn't get stiff until the afternoon. Last time, coming back from Monterey, we usually had less wind than we wanted. And going north is a three day trip, with an overnight at the anchorage behind Pigeon Pnt. (Ano Nuevo). As Leah has mentioned, unless we have a good, early breeze on Friday, we may not get to Santa Cruz in time for the practice race. Frank