This year’s Whidbey Island Race Week will probably be known as much for the unusual sailing conditions as for Schelleen Rathkopf’s ongoing makeover to keep the event fresh. The usual Penn Cove westerly took much of Race Week off, but there was still hard-fought and meaningful racing. Between the change to a 4-day regatta starting on Thursday, and the weird conditions, there was plenty to talk about this year. And once again kids were on deck enjoying both the sailing camp and fun ashore.
The Makeover
The jury’s still out on the change from a race “week” to a 4-day event. Some boats were lost, some new ones gained. Certainly fewer days but some more pressure on PRO Charley Rathkopf to get as many races off in whatever conditions there were. And this year, the pressure was on as a potpourri of weird conditions took over for the week.
Of course sailors are pretty good at entertaining themselves even if there’s no racing. Aboard Jerry Diercks’ Delirium it was all about the water. “When the chips were down on Team Delirium, swimming in Penn Cove after racing made everything better. Seeing the smiles on my crew’s faces playing in the water made all the work worthwhile.” Diercks was OK with the schedule changes, but suggests maybe a Wednesday to Saturday schedule might work better, leaving Sunday for a delivery home. “If a different schedule can continue to bring new participants, it is a no brainer. I just hope we keep having a 4+ day regatta in Penn Cove.”
John Hoag, skipper of Shrek, has done every Race Week since 1988 and shows no sign of breaking the habit even thought he’s not enamored of the new schedule. “Hats of to Schelleen (Rathkopf) for trying something new with the shortened version but I really prefer the old week. Having the weekends to deliver the boats and setup camping was so nice.”
Click to enlarge any of Jan Anderson’s photos. The full gallery is here.
The Racing
By all accounts, there was no time off for the tacticians the first three days.
Hoag, whose 18-year-old daughter JJ drove every race, explains. “Racing-wise this was definitely the strangest year I can remember. Gone were the 10-20 knot westerlies in the afternoon. We actually started and finished a race with a light easterly. Then there was the northerly and the southerly, and a race that was started in Saratoga Passage that we started in a northerly then continued downwind in some sort of dying easterly to sit at the finish and wait for a westerly on which to finish. Not good. Finally on Sunday we started two races in 8 knots of breeze! Wow, did Shrek like that.”
Shrek, a perpetual Race Week winner, liked it to the tune of third place in PHRF 1. In first was Darrin Towe’s Melges 32 Wicked Wahine, and Farr 30s were second, fourth, fifth and sixth.
The overall win was awarded to the Dash 34 MadDash, in from Canada. It would be hard to deny them that honor after having managed 4 wins in class PHRF 5 over the consistently well-sailed Here and Now and Gaucho. Stephanie Schwenk won the Molly Kool Cup award as outstanding female skipper for having won PHRF 7 with Wild Rumpus.
Diercks, who won the 10-boat J/105 class, was still left pondering a few things about the strange conditions. “The one day in Saratoga Passage in a northerly, turned easterly, turned drifting in current, was our worst day. Lesson learned, study the currents in Saratoga….I would also like to learn how to cover your two closest competitors when they go in opposite directions. Playing the middle did not work.
2019
Schelleen Rathkopf is (and has been) thinking about next year:
For 2019, the venue is Oak Harbor but the dates for 2019 haven’t yet been confirmed because I want to hear from racers first. This year marked the big shift from a 5-day (Mon-Fri) race event to a 4-day (Thurs-Sun) event and I want to hear how this did/didn’t work for people. It has been suggested that we stick with a 4 day plan but run it Wed-Sat instead to ease up on delivery issues. So I’ll be soliciting opinions/feedback until Aug 20 and once we have processed all this — a 2019 will be announced.
The important thing here is that there WILL BE a next year, and there are a lot of people trying hard with open minds and creative ideas to keep it going well on into the future. So if you have some thoughts, email Schelleen. Both the kudos and complaints.
Personally, even though I didn’t make it to the event, I’m impressed with the efforts and am encouraged by the changes. Racing is struggling in our modern culture, largely because of time pressures. It’s amazing how a family’s calendar fills up and how, before you know it, it’s impossible for many of us to block off a week. Making this an event the entire family can reasonably do among the many other activities may be the key to its survival. And having the option of a cruising class opens the event to those who can’t spend the time making a cruiser into a racer for the regatta or training up a full crew is a winner.
For those wanting more, here are links to the excellent daily paper put about by Vicky MacFeidh and Liza Tewell:
2018 Whidbey Island Race Week News
FRIDAY
http://whidbeyislandraceweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/2018-Friday-Paper.pdf
SATURDAY
http://whidbeyislandraceweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/2018-Saturday-Paper.pdf
SUNDAY
http://whidbeyislandraceweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/2018-Sunday-Paper.pdf
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.