As the chockablock spring racing season winds down in the Northwest, lots of other racing is lining up.
J/Fest June 23, 24
J/Fest is back, and the folk at Sail Northwest are excited to have folks sign up. Here’s Sail Northwest’s intro:
Sail Northwest, your northwest J/Boat dealer, invites you to join us for the comeback of the original J/FEST. For 26 years, we produced some of the best racing and after race socializing available on the planet. This is a two-day regatta (with a Friday night PHRF fun race) is open to all J/Boats owners and crew. Starts will be provided for ONE DESIGN, PHRF AND CRUISING classes. The on the water activities are hosted by Sail Northwest and CYC Seattle. Shoreside activities will be in the Courtyard west of the main building on Friday night and at the CYC Seattle Shilshole clubhouse Saturday and Sunday.
Here’s the website where you’ll find the notice of race and entry form.
Round Orcas June 23
If you don’t have a J/Boat, or just want to try a new and different course, check this out from the folks in the San Juans. Note that there will be several different divisions including a paddleboard/kayak division. This one sounds like a lot of fun for folks who’d rather go around an island than buoys!
Orcas Island Yacht Club is pleased to invite you to participate in the first annual race around Orcas Island. Held on the longest Saturday of the year, the race presents intriguing navigational challenges set against the splendid scenic beauty and tall, forested bluffs of the largest island in the San Juans. We look forward to you joining us!
The start is between a red flag on Orcas Landing and the flag pole on Shaw Island.
We are planning on a fully crewed division, a double-handed division, and a self-propelled paddleboard/kayak division.
Buchan Star Clinic This Saturday
This Saturday is the Buchan Star clinic. In addition to all the Star aficionados out there, Laser and RS Aero sailors are invited to sit in as well. If you’ve never heard experts talk about setting up and sailing a Star, I’d recommend this as definitely worth the time. Of course much of it will be unique to the Star, but it will be great insight into perhaps the most sophisticated and challenging boat on the water. Here’s a brief description by Star sailor Dave Watt.
Our agenda is as follows: We’ll be gathering next Saturday morning at about 10:00 A.M. in the dry storage area with Carl Buchan discussing and reviewing boat set-ups, followed by Carl speaking at about 11:00 A.M. about boat handling drills. We’ll then go out onto the water for boat handling drills during Saturday afternoon, followed by a de-brief on-shore lead by Carl during the late afternoon and early evening. We’ll resume next Sunday morning at 10:00 A.M. with a short land briefing, followed by short races on the water, and concluding with a post-racing de-brief on-shore by Carl. For more information contact Foss Miller at foss@pacific-research.com.
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.