Once again, a few little items have rolled over my screen that seem worthy of sharing and/or commenting on. Please share with sailors who you think might be interested.
Stormageddon
Last weekend we in Seattle braced for “stormageddon,” but fortunately it largely passed us by. Bruce Hedrick did a great job with his first, second and third updates. In that last update, he “unwarned” us about the storm. “By 5 pm you could see it was heading more offshore,” he said. “I wish I had a good explanation, but I don’t. That’s why the National Weather sends people the Pacific Northwest for training. It teaches humility.” Cliff Mass discusses the challenge of forecasting this storm and Northwest storms in general in this blog post.
Jeanne Socrates Heading to Sea Again
Have you heard that Jeanne Socrates is planning yet another solo, nonstop circumnavigation! At age 74! (She finished her first one in 2013, setting the record for the oldest woman to do so.) The Northwest connection? She’s starting and finishing from Victoria, BC. I hope to have a conversation with her in the coming weeks.
USCG on Lake Crescent
What do you do when 40 kids and 6 adults are stuck in the sticks at Lake Crescent, the road’s blocked and bad weather is coming? If there’s water involved, call the US Coast Guard! It took half a dozen trips across Lake Crescent and more than 7 hours, but everyone was ferried from Camp David to the Marymere trailhead. Here’s the USCG press release.
Youth Season Fall Wrapup
The Pacific Northwest youth sailing programs have absolutely exploded, both in numbers and in enthusiasm, in recent years. And Sail Sand Point has been a big part of that. Their Communications Director Jeanne Currie wrote a nice piece in 48 North about the final regatta of the Northwest Youth Racing Circuit that reveals just how big these events have become, something I find a lot of people are unaware of.
Volvo Ocean Race Makes Bold Changes
No, this doesn’t have any particular relevance to the Northwest, but it’s just fun to talk about. The Volvo Ocean Race has a new Director in Mark Turner, and is nearing the end of ten major announcements. My favorite change this year is the new system of gender makeup on the boat, intended to have mixed crews in addition to the all-men, all women crews we’ve seen for the last few editions. Mixed crews are, for the most part, how we race. It’s certainly how I prefer racing. The options are: (men/women) 7 men/0 women, 7 men/1 or 2 women, 1 or 2 men/7 women, 5 men/5 women, 0 men/11 women. In addition to creating more diverse crews, the change was made so that women can tap into the experience of long-time Volvo Ocean Race racers on the race course. Of course there’s a clear incentive for mixed crew. Other changes include a new scoring system that incentivizes tactical risk-taking, and the construction of an eighth boat, team to be named later. Long live the Volvo Ocean Race.
Kurt grew up racing and cruising in the Midwest, and has raced Lasers since the late 1970s. Currently he is a broker at Swiftsure Yachts. He has been Assistant Editor at Sailing Magazine and a short stint as Editor of Northwest Yachting. Through Meadow Point Publishing he handles various marketing duties for smaller local companies. He currently is partners on a C&C 36 which he cruises throughout the Northwest. He’s married to the amazing Abby and is father to Ian and Gabe.