What a difference a week makes. As sailors were freaking a week ago Friday about potential winds of 60 knots, this past weekend turned out to be a whole lot more docile than was wished for, at least for the SYC Grand Prix organizers.
Jan Anderson was only on hand for Saturday’s drifter, but got some good shots. (Jan’s photo site.)
As usual, Grand Prix kicked off on Friday for those of us who could get away for the afternoon. Only about 30 boats participated, and there was more than a little head scratching on how to improve that in the future. SYC’s Sailing Director Brian Ledbetter, for instance, would have been much happier getting his father in law Bill Buchan’s Sachem on the racecourse than being on the committee boat Portage Bay.
Friday’s racing was excellent, with steady mid-teens winds across the course for the two round the buoys races that sent grinders home with some sore muscles. After Friday several of the classes were tight including the ORC 1 class where Smoke and Glory were tied, and PHRF class 3 which had a three-way tie for first. Onboard Tango, I got to witness that one firsthand.
The second race for that class was particularly close, with Tango edging out Joy Ride by just three seconds and five boats correcting to within a minute!
Saturday and Sunday’s conditions were nothing to write home about, but a race was sailed each day and of course there is no intensity quite like light air intensity. In addition to Jan Anderson’s shots, some enterprising members of the race committee were able to get some good shots here.
At this SYC web page, scroll to the bottom and then click on the appropriate class for results!
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.