ARTICLE | Timber-Hulled Tinderbox Team finishes second place for the season in the 2023 Sunset Series PH C Class
updated September 7, 2023
Timber-Hulled Tinderbox Team’s overall ranking is second place for the 2023 Sunset Series PH C Class
“Growing up in the Santa Barbara sailing community, I would hear the words, ‘If God wanted boats to be fiberglass, he would have planted fiberglass trees’,” recounts veteran yacht racer Steve Curran.
Curran’s race vessel, Tinderbox, is a 36-foot Nelson Marek constructed of cold-molded plywood— the only wooden vessel competing in Class PH C of California Yacht Club’s 2023 Sunset Series. Competing against 10 or 11 all-fiberglass vessels, the seasoned captain and crew of timber-hulled Tinderbox just may be trying harder. And their efforts are paying off. As of seventeen races ending September 6, Team Tinderbox finishes the season with an overall second place ranking in class PH C.
| Race Date | Tinderbox | Racers | PH C | Entrees | Class PH C |
| 4/26/23 | 5 | 11 | 12 |
| 5/3/23 | 2 | 11 | 12 |
| 5/10/23 | 3 | 11 | 12 |
| 5/17/23 | 3 | 12 | 12 |
| 5/24/23 | 4 | 12 | 12 |
| 5/31/23 | 1 | 12 | 12 |
| 6/7/23 | 8 | 10 | 11 |
| 6/14/23 | 2 | 10 | 11 |
| 6/21/23 | 3 | 9 | 11 |
| 6/28/23 | 6 | 11 | 11 |
| 7/5/23 | 5 | 11 | 11 |
| 7/12/23 | 9 | 11 | 11 |
| 7/19/23 | 5 | 12 | 12 |
| 7/26/23 | 1 | 11 | 11 |
| 8/9/23 | 3 | 10 | 11 |
| 8/16/23 | 10 | 11 | 11 |
| 8/23/23 | 2 | 11 | 11 |
| 8/30/23 | 7 | 11 | 11 |
| 9/6/23 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
| OVERALL
PHC CLASS for the season |
2 | ||
| POINTS | 121.000 | ||
| Division Place | 15 |
For more about TINDERBOX, enjoy these two short videos (2023 and 2016), both narrated by Steve Curran: