A few more photos and a great juicy detail have come out from last weekend’s Southern Straits Race we already reported on. The juicy detail was that the PHRF overall long course winner Blue sailed the entire race with a clump of sorbent oil boom on the sail drive. While that surely slowed them down, it wasn’t enough of a handicap considering the outstanding crew they had on board. Joe Bersch provides a little insight:
Jonathan McKee and I joined the Blue crew, along with Kris Bundy and Dalton Bergan. We had a great race in spite of carrying the remains of some sorbent oil boom on the sail dive propeller. We ran it over while motoring to the start directly in the direction of the low rising sun. Thought we had it all off before the start but upon finishing the race had a difficult time motoring.
It was a fantastic race with the full moon so bright you didn’t need a torch for sail trim or deck work. A bit cold by the time we rounded Ballenas the second time, but generally solid breeze until that point. A tricky final run to the finish in light and patchy breeze made it super tactical and hard to leave the deck for any rest. Jonathan was so focused on the puzzle he only got below about an hour or two the whole race.
Straits at it’s finest. West Van YC hospitality is always top notch. Blue is a great all around design, not just a downwind rocket waiting for the Pac Cup.
And now for the photos. Credits in captions.
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.