By Tom Gray, GHYC Sail Chair
Wow! It was a fantastic day for fall sailing in the Sound as Gig Harbor Yacht Club hosted its annual LeMans Race on November 17th. Boats started at anchor in Gig Harbor with sails down and the crew below decks. When the start gun went off, crews’ raced on deck to pull up anchor and set sails. The 14-mile race course this year started in the harbor and ran up Colvos passage to Olalla and back to a finish line in the Harbor. Often run in light air or cold and rain, this year’s race enjoyed a trifecta of relatively warm air, cloudless skies and a strong steady northerly breeze. Winds in the Harbor were 8-10 kts. and in Colvos Passage the breeze was steady from the north at 12-16+ kts.
Twenty three boats raced in two classes in a reverse order start 10 minutes apart. With a good breeze the smaller boats were quickly off their anchorages in the north end of the harbor, many just on a spinnaker. They were well down the harbor by the time the class one boats pulled anchor. Just outside the entrance on the harbor in a wind shadow, velocity dropped to 4-5 knots and the fleet bunched up momentarily. Leaders took a port tack away from Gig Harbor to towards Vashon Island to catch the strong breeze coming down Colvos Passage. Others quickly followed. In fresh air, it was now a beat north to Ollala in strengthening wind and chop. Many boats elected to reef or change headsails to handle the wind conditions.
Full results not yet available. Top finshers here.
Photos by Jan Anderson. Click to enlarge. Gallery here.
In Class 1, zero rated J-160, Jam skippered by Bill Fox, took an early lead. Jam was first around the turn mark at Olalla. Less than two minutes behind them was a J-133, Constellation skippered by Ron Holbrook. In close pursuit was the John Leitzinger’s Aerodyne 38, Kahuna and Jon Knudson’s J/N 42, Korina Korina. Beating neck and neck towards the mark was a J120, Felicita and a J-35, Grace-E. Four minutes behind them a Choate 37, Asylum and IMX 38, Gardyloo played dance partners around the mark.
Jammin, a J-80, skippered by Tom Mitchell, was the first class 2 boat around the turn mark. He was closely followed by Jamie Storkman’s newly refurbished Thunderbird Fandango. Rounding the turn mark boats eased sails, pushed sprits out and popped their chutes for a sleigh ride back to Gig Harbor in a 15 kt. breeze.
Back through the harbor entrance boats headed to the finish line requiring a short beat up Gig Harbor. The first boats to cross the line were Jam in Class 1 and Jammin in Class 2. On corrected time placement honors for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place go respectively in Class 1 to Korina, Kahuna and Constellation and in Class 2 to Fandango, Jammin and Chuck Queen’s Tartan 30 Gypsy Queen. –Tom Gray
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.