It has been a great week for R2AK with monohulls continuing to claim all the podium positions for the first time ever in this Race. Now will see if they can hold on because Ptarmigan is definitely closing in on Wild Card. The bad news is that this would have been the perfect week to cruise from Nanaimo to Ketchikan if you had a power boat. Very uncharacteristically light for this time of the year in this part of the world. The good news is that if you’re getting ready to do Vic-Maui or Pacific Cup, the Pacific High is finally starting to set up and more importantly, stabilize.
The surface analysis for today shows an amoebic like high-pressure system still off the coast, bracketed by two low-pressure systems. It’s the one that’s further out that the R2AK racers will need to be aware of as it will cause conditions to change rapidly and bring a fair amount of wind (25-35 knots of southerly and rain) to the race course from northern Vancouver Island to SE Alaska. And it will arrive in the middle of Saturday night and last until early Monday morning. Prepare accordingly, don’t be on a lee shore and don’t anchor somewhere you can’t safely sail out of.
For the leaders today will again be light until late this afternoon as a westerly will finally make its way down Dixon Entrance and turn into a north-northwesterly in Hecate Straits of 15-20 knots by early evening. This will lighten by midday Saturday as the first effects of the approaching front will start impacting the wind.
For the Salish Sea, this will mean continued onshore flow with gale warnings and small craft advisories in the central and eastern Straits. There’s already 31 knots of westerly at Race Rocks and it will continue to build until around midnight. This breeze won’t carry on down the Sound until about mid-afternoon tomorrow and last until sunset. Sunday will be a repeat with not quite as much wind when it finally does fill in.
In meanwhile, stay glued to your computer to watch the duel between First Federal and Lagopus, it’s going to get very interesting. Plus Ptarmigan is only 80 miles behind and when the wind fills in from astern, they could easily make that up but with only 270 miles to go, that could be tough. All in all, setting up for a great finish.
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)