One of the great pleasures in creating sailish.com is working with Bruce Hedrick on the weather briefs. Obviously, there’s a wealth of knowledge there. Moreover, he genuinely loves sailing and racing and wants to share that with everyone.
But some of us want more Bruce. Maybe we’re thinking about that Vancouver Island circumnavigation or the big trek north to Glacier Bay or is it a good window to do a delivery down the coast to California?
Fortunately, there’s a way to do it. Bruce’s advanced weather analysis and routing can be tailored to your timing and to your specific vessel. And while Bruce’s blood has a high percentage of baggywrinkle, much if not most of his routing is for motor yachts heading off on long voyages. Especially when it comes to going north of Puget Sound, using both weather and tidal analysis can extend the range of those precious tanks of diesel. Since most routing involves speaking with the skipper or navigator twice a day by sat phone, go, no-go decisions when it comes to open water crossings can be made with a very high degree of confidence. There’s no easier way to ruin a summer cruise than to get caught out in nasty weather.
If you’re not familiar with Bruce’s qualifications, they’re a great mix of academic and practical. He and his brother Gregg raced on the family’s Columbia 50 in the 1960s. In the oh-so-active 1970s, his family campaigned the Chance 50 Warrior with great success. Along the way, he earned a Bachelor’s of Science from the University of Washington in Biological Oceanography and learned meteorology “to keep from getting kicked around on the race course.”
Bruce spent nearly two decades as Managing Editor for Northwest Yachting Magazine, retiring in mid-2015, was the chairman of the Board of Trustees for the Northwest Marine Trade Association from 2013 until 2015 and currently serves on the Board.
Over the years Bruce has navigated everything from The Perry 68 Icon to the Ranger 29 Ed. In 2015 he won class in TransPac as navigator aboard the Santa Cruz 50 Allure.
Want more Bruce? Email him here.
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.
Who doesn’t want more Bruce
More Bruce!