Center Sound Finale Predictions

We’ll know more tomorrow when Bruce Hedrick clues us in to Saturday’s weather/tactical scenario, but as of right now it’s looking light for Three Tree Point, the final race of CYC’s Center Sound Series. Check back tomorrow late afternoon or evening, or sign up for the email list in the sidebar to get notified of all the posts via email.

With that in mind, who’s going to win? Bloggers get to toss out their prognostications as they’re worth exactly the amount as the paper they’re printed on, so that’s what I’m doing. Here goes:

IRC: John Buchan has the TP 52 Glory dialed in, and we can expect that to continue. Look for 55′ Crossfire to possibly get it rolling, particularly if the wind is stronger just a leeeetle bit higher off the water than the TP’s squaretops. Steve Travis’ Smoke crew is figuring it out, and their time will come. And watch out for Double Take. We’re hungry.

Multi: A wild guess that Freda Mae, the only entry, will win. Where are the multis?

PHRF Class 7: Terremoto generally has her way with this rating band no matter the wind conditions. Charlie Macaulay has Absolutely going fast, but it’s a tall order to keep up with all that asymmetrical sail area on Terremoto downwind in the light stuff. Wouldn’t it be great to see the super skinny Bob Perry designed Francis Lee ghost out ahead? They had a rough time of it with a new chute in Scatchet Head. Carl and Carol Buchan’s Madrona was out for the last race, and if out they are always a threat.

Class 6: Sachem, Sachem, Sachem. I just loved it the last couple Scatchet Heads when Bill Buchan opted for winging out his jib instead of death rolling all the way to Whidbey Island, and doing just fine, thank you very much. You won’t catch me betting against Bill Buchan. Denny Vaughn’s Bravo Zulu is, as always, strong and can be expected to stay in the money. The J109s Tantivy and Shada should both be back in contentions after their DNFs for Scatchet. If you haven’t read the story of Tantivy‘s man overboard recovery, it’s here.

Class 5: You can’t get a lot different from the first two boats in this class, the Wauquiez C40S Different Drummer and the Sierra 26 Dos. DD is a strong, modern cruiser racer built to cross oceans and cruise in comfort after the race is over. The Sierra? Well, not so much. Dos has proven fast in all conditions and hasn’t capsized in a while, so look for her to excel.

Class 4: That J/105 class is solid and it’s winner take all between More Jubilee and Last Tango for Three Tree Point. Flip a coin. And try not to disrupt things if you see them match racing.

Class 3: Here and Now looked awesome in Scatchet Head, but is tied with John Cahill’s Gaucho for the series. Three Tree will be another chapter in their long rivalry. This is a very interesting and competitive class and, despite the differences in boats, they all have similar performance parameters. Muffin and Kiwi Express will keep the front runners honest. I’m thinking it’s Gaucho‘s year.

Class 2: Here’s another class where three disparate boats are nearly tied for points. Cherokee is leading, followed by the J/80 Jolly Green and Ken Chin’s Kowloon. I’m guessing the J/80 might have the advantage if conditions get really sticky.

Class 1 : The Tbird Selchie has a 2nd and 1st in the series, but Nate Creitz’ Olson 35 Three Ring Circus is right there, and with it’s masthead rig could well have an advantage on Saturday if winds are as light as predicted.

Casual Class: Five boats were entered in this class, but so far only four have sailed and only Kite has finished both races. This is the class in which the brothers Burcar and I would enter the C&C 36 Slipstream (with our crew of 1 thru 9 year olds and a solid three bladed prop), so I’m keeping an eye on it. That’s the class where the boat having the most fun wins, right? That could go either with a boatload of kids.

Again, check out Bruce’s forecast tomorrow. Have a great race. If you have your own predictions, share them in the comments area below.