All in all, it looks like a pretty nice stretch of great weather coming up. Even though the charts don’t really show much, it does suggest that with that area of weak high-pressure centered off of San Francisco and weak low-pressure inland, there will be some onshore flow over this evening, strengthening tomorrow afternoon. This will then weaken late Saturday and into Sunday. What is really interesting is the Tuesday chart which shows a well-developed low-pressure system poised to sweep into California. Sure they can always use the rain but maybe not so much so quickly.
What does this mean for the GHYC Islands Race? It should be, as always, a pretty great event. Even if there’s no wind it’s always a pretty great time down there. That yacht club does know how to do it right. This year with a weak onshore flow coming in through the Chehalis Gap it’s liable to be a bit of a light southerly for the start. As the morning goes on and the onshore flow builds this should result in a 5-10 knot southwesterly over most of the central and south Sound for most of the rest of the day. With a constant ebb tide in Colvos, you’ll have flat water plus with abundant sunshine it should be pretty pleasant. Don’t forget the sunblock.
For tactics it will be pretty straight forward. After the start, find a clear lane to the strongest current going north in Colvos. Once you find the axis of the current, keep your air clear and gybe aggressively to stay in the current and clear air. Once you round the top mark it will be better to stay to the west in Colvos as the wind will stay out of the SW which will mean the puffs will be lifts on starboard tack. The starboard tacks will be long tacks so when you put the jib up, have it in the port groove of the headstay. The other fact about upwind in a SW in Colvos, is that puffs roll off the hill and down to the water and then flatten out. This means you don’t want to get too close to the beach (lighter air) and your drivers and trimmers are going to be working very hard sailing south. Hard work will be rewarded. Also, don’t underestimate how far bad air can effect you as you go upwind in 6-10 knots. As a rough rule of thumb figure 15-20 times mast height of the boat in front of you is how far back it will slow you down.
While on Saturday it could be cranking in the Straits from the west, Sunday looks very light over the entire Northwest.
Have a great weekend and Happy St. Patrick’s Day to all.
Bruce has raced and cruised the Pacific Northwest his entire life. 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 Associate Publisher for Northwest Yachting Magazine, retiring in mid-2015, and was the chairman of the board of trustees for the Northwest Marine Trade Association in 2014. (photo of Bruce driving Playstation is a bit dated, but cool)