It’s going to be a perfect weekend to be on the water and especially to race around Vashon Island. A downwind start, a nice run all the way to the bottom of Vashon, the usual light spot at that point, a nice beat with the current up Colvos, at Blake Island go across the Sound when you can lay Four-mile Rock, don’t go aground south of West Point, and then after West Point tack when you can lay the finish. Easy. Plus, it will be warm. Put the sunblock on BEFORE you leave the house and then re-apply before the beat up Colvos.
Yesterday the Pacific NW Offshore Race got underway off the mouth of the Columbia River in pretty much ideal conditions and today are in a bit of light air just south of Cape Flattery. That will change this afternoon when more of a NW breeze fills down the coast. The first boats should be in Victoria early Saturday morning.
What we have today and leading into what will be the warmest days we’ve seen this year is a weak ridge of high pressure that is building along the coast. As you can see from today’s Sat Pic we also have a thermally induced surface trough of low-pressure moving up from California. With high-pressure over eastern Washington, this will bring an offshore breeze over the area and a nice northerly to Puget Sound and it will last well into the evening.
The other charts of interest will be the upper-level or 500MB charts. The jet stream is now solidly into meridional flow and now comes ashore in SE Alaska. This will have the dual effect of bringing the warmer air up from southern California as well as keeping that big low-pressure system with its attached frontal systems trapped in the Gulf of Alaska and away from the Pacific NW. Let’s just hope the snowpack doesn’t melt away too quickly. Also, look at the 96hr 500MB chart. The jet stream will then flow straight into Seward. This has caused an upper-level, cut-off low-pressure system to form about halfway between Hawaii and the Pacific NW. The TransPac sailors are praying this doesn’t happen during their race.
The Vashon Race can expect 8-12 knots of northerly for the start and note that it’s northerly not NW. Yesterday and today in the 0900-1000 time slot there was more wind on the east side of the Sound with the west side pretty dead. There is also a NE component to the breeze on the south side of West Point, Alki, and Three Tree Point which is also the shortest course to Pt. Robinson. Also, remember that if you’re using SailFlow, the anemometer at the Alki Lighthouse is broken and just stays stuck at 9-10 knots from the North, even when it’s blowing from the south.
At the south end of Vashon don’t get caught too close to the Island where the current can be on your nose and the wind very light. For the beat up Colvos you’ll probably have 10-14 knots of northerly and it will follow the bends as you beat north. There won’t be much tidal current so it will be easy to find the long, favored tacks as you work your way north.
Once you exit Colvos stay on the east side of Blake Island and beat your way up to Restoration Pt. At Restoration, it will be time to take the long port tack across the Sound to Magnolia aiming roughly at Four Mile Rock. Just remember it is plenty shallow from along the bluff from Four Mile to West Pt. After you clear West Pt, hold starboard until you can tack and lay the entrance to the Ship Canal, Then plan your approach to the finish line.
Have a great race, enjoy the day, and resist the temptation to jump into the water after you 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)