Seattle YC’s second of three Tri-Island races, the Vashon Island/Pt. Robinson (short course) Race, could hardly have been sailed in better conditions last Saturday. The solid northerly whisked the fleet to the south end of Vashon Island, and after some predictably screwy conditions at getting around the end of Vashon, the fleet enjoyed a solid beat in great breeze to the finish.
Long Course
Steve Johnson’s TP 52 Mist picked up its first big victory, finishing third on the water to Smoke and Glory, but correcting on both in the ORC 1. The three boats were within four minutes of each other on the water and on corrected time. Jim Marta’s Eye Candy scored her second series win with a 20+ minute victory in ORC 2.
On the PHRF side of things it was Bob Strong’s Firefly (with her rating straightened out) that won her class and overall. Madrona and Absolutely finished second and third. Brad Baker of Swiftsure Yachts provided some insight into Firefly‘s race:
The race really played into our hands. We were short handed, so basically tried not to get fancy both tactically and maneuvers wise. Consequently we really didn’t bang any corners on the way down and actually did pretty well against the first three fast boats, Madrona, Absolutely and Constellation. The wind got funky after Point Robinson, but managed to fill in right with us as we headed to the south end of Vashon. This kept everyone close. At the south end the transition again shortened up as the wind filled with us again and we were very close to Madrona and Absolutely and actually passed Constellation at the south end. We managed to have a reasonably good sail change from the #1 to the #3 as we headed into Colvos Passage. Other than a jib halyard cover failing we had a pretty error free time of it. Thanks to Pete McGonagle’s quick reaction and a quick change to another halyard we kept losses to a minimum. Again on the beat back we realized we were in a very good position, so we tried hard not to do anything stupid and just hold on. The biggest risk/gain on the beat was deciding to follow Madrona on the west side of Blake Island. This was the way to go and cemented our lead on Constellation, caught us up to Absolutely and kept us hot on the heels of Madrona. We pretty much did what Madrona did for the rest of the beat to the finish. It was as good as it gets as far as the sailing goes and the wind gods conspired with us to for a good day for Firefly!
Short Course
A number of great rivalries and very close scores mark the short course classes. Last Tango won the J/105 class and overall, giving her the lead in J/105 class for the series. Different Drummer won the Vashon Race, but the Beneteau 36.7 Helios barely sits atop the class 5 for the series by virtue of her win in Smith Island. Actually, four boats are within two points, so it’s all to play for the final race of the series. And in class 7, Madam Pele and Kiwi Express have developed quite the rivalry, with each winning a race and going into the last race of the series tied.
The cruiser/racer classes have fully established themselves in the Tri Island series. A dozen boats split into two classes competed, with Jim Medley’s Bavaria 38 Puffin winning class 8 and Ryan Helling’s Velella winning class 9. Ryan Helling (who lives aboard Velella!) gave us this synopsis of the race:
The race was great. We were really all in awe of the weather. Our course was from Shilshole to Blakely Rock to Duwamish Head and back to Shilshole with consistent breeze that built steadily after rounding Duwamish. The whole racer/cruiser class was flying sails which keeps things interesting. It was a broad range of boats but all quite competitive. There was only about a 20 minute spread of corrected time over the full class of 12 boats! We finished shortly after noon, barbequed back at the dock at Shilshole, then sailed to Port Madison for the night!
And how about these photos from Jan Anderson. Click here for the rest.
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.