The weekend’s Sloop Tavern YC Race to the Straits was yet another not-to-be missed event. Saturday’s leg to Port Townsend was a light wind, current-plagued challenge with a lot of did not finishes. Sunday’s leg back was with plenty of breeze from the north, spinnakers flying and smiles all around.
Of all the great aspects of this race, my favorite is that it draws a whole lot of boats that “don’t” race out to race. There are couples, dogs (go Dakota!), kids, cruisers and sails of every imaginable and unimaginable condition. Win or lose, it always appears to be a good time. And with the staggered start (figuring handicaps into the start time) seems to make the whole thing results thing more palatable. It’s what’s racing should be. On Saturday it was a day for concentration and a lot of tacks. Ryan Helling estimated he did 60 tacks with Velella. On Sunday the boats with big spinnakers and long waterlines reveled. On Sunday the Westsail 32 Hula was so far ahead it seemed like she was in a different race. Results here.
We’ve got a lot of pictures to show, but no on the water reports (if you want to chime in, I’ll happily add your thoughts to this post!) First of all, there are Jan Anderson’s wonderful shots. There are many good closeups of happy sailors at her site. As always, I’d recommend going to her site and buying some to commemorate the weekend.
Sean Trew has a number of amazing shots, including one of the Schock 40 with her canard/keel/rudder configuration. Here are some:
Finally, Jay Leon was out as well, and has a number of great shots, especially of boats working the light air on Saturday along the bluffs. Here are some. The rest here.
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.