Author: Kurt Hoehne

The Six-mile Three Tree

Kurt Hoehne Racing , 0 Comment
This photo by Arden Rathkopf pretty much tells the Three Tree tale. Arden is the 13-year-old son of proud father and CYC PRO Charley Rathkopf. Proud mom of course is Schelleen Rathkopf, owner of Whidbey Island Race Week.

The Center Sound Series was due a drifter, and the Three Tree Point race delivered. After a long delay, enough zephyrs came from the south to start the fleet of Saturday’s racers on a 6.something mile course.

A slow motion race ensued as the fleet did the usual tuck under the West Point beach and made its painful way around West Point, then off to Duwamish Head. It certainly wasn’t the rousing conditions most were hoping for to wrap up the series. Results here,.

Sonic Boom Hang

  • Sonic looking great at the start.
  • How to heel a TP 52

Most notable perhaps was Sonic‘s relatively slow motion grounding at West Point. After positively nailing the start and leading the IRC class to the beach, skipper Marek Omilian and the team took the port tack lift while clearing the lighthouse, taking Glory up with them in the process. “We got lulled into complacency by seeing all the boats around us safely clearing the bar. However, none of those boats draw 10.5’,” skipper Omelian reports. Glory headed down, taking Sonic‘s transom, just in time as Sonic hit bottom. Sonic was stuck as the fleet made its south way ever so slowly. Despite efforts including the crew perched on the end of the boom and trying to hoist a spinnaker, Sonic was stuck.

Stuck, that is, until photographer Jan Anderson and her “boat boy” Skip helped pull them off. This is yet another reminder of how Janpix helps out the racing scene around here (and how important it is to support her photography). Three Tree pix here. Apparently we need them out there for more than photographs.

Mark Omelian’s Sonic is not just a racer, it’s a charity fundraiser. Note the banner they displayed pre-start. Ormelian explains:

We are using Sonic TP52 as the platform to raise money for various programs in the Pacific Northwest through The Ocean Foundation (TOF). When you text OCEAN or SONIC to 91999 you get a text back with the invitation to contribute directly to TOF. Individual donations, along with corporate funds we are in the process of raising will benefit specific programs we are in the process of identifying. Fred Felleman (Port of Seattle Commissioner) and Peter Schrappen (NMTA) are advising us on the program selection. We are very passionate about the following three areas:

Marine Education – we identified Youth Maritime Collaborative as the beneficiary program. I am attending their event at Seattle Maritime Center today to learn more about their needs. Besides money donation, we plan to create an internship position.

Marine Safety – TBD

Marine Environment – TBD

We are always looking for input, so if you and your readers have any suggestions please let us know.

When the zephyrs cleared, Charlie Macaulay’s Absolutely won the race overall and class 8, which incidentally had seven of the first eight boats overall. More Jubilee won the three-boat tiebreaker among the J/105s, Sachem hung in well enough to win class 7 overall and Glory easily won the ORC class overall. Dos finished her class off with another bullet. In class 6, Don Leighton’s Tahlequah won the race and the series as class leader Elusive dropped to fifth for the race. Onboard was our intrepid weather guru Bruce Hedrick, who provided the following no-blow by no-blow race dissection:

Tahlequah’s Tale

By Bruce Hedrick from onboard Tahlequah

Well, it was a beautiful day on the water even though with just a .5MB pressure difference between Bellingham and Portland, we didn’t think there would even be a race. So we drifted around for a while and about 1110 we started to see a dark line extending to the west from West Point. The Race Committee also saw it and set a line and then hoisted the “S” flag with what we thought was a pretty optimistic course. Considering the time, tidal situation, and the forecast for less than existing wind it was going to be a stretch to even get back to F the first time.

Bruce Hedrick geared and waving pre-start.

I thought we had a pretty good start considering that we got tangled up with a J-120 who thought they were starting with us. After several of us yelled at him, he finally sailed off at about 30 seconds to go, leaving us one boat down from the heavily favored committee boat end. Darkside, the Shock 35, has been steadily improving this series and won the start however it wasn’t long until by going higher and faster we got into the lead. The series leader, the C&C 115 Elusive, went conservative at the start and was well to leeward of us and unable to point high, sagged off and was first into the outfall from the Ship Canal which set them back and slowed them down. We got into the shallows south of the Ship Canal and rather than tacking on anyone decided the best tactic was to sail our own race and find a clear lane to get up to the West Point Buoy.

In terms of who was where at this point, Darkside had gone a little further into the beach and closed up with us. The J-35 Solution and the other C&C 115 Fortuna had stayed out but gotten into the ebb coming around West Point and that set them back but since there was about two more knots of wind on the outside they didn’t lose much. Elusive had fallen well back and was starting to get tacked on by other boats which certainly didn’t help them. Rather than tacking back into the beach north of West Point, we stayed about three boat lengths off to keep our air clear and just try to get out to the West Point Buoy. It quickly became apparent that a major restart was developing at the WP Buoy and when boats tacked at the mark they pretty well parked up in the ebb. This was creating a picket fence effect so we just kept going out on port tack and kept our air clear as a nice port tack lift came through. The boats that did tack to starboard and could get back towards Magnolia did OK for a while but the stronger ebb along that shore slowed them down and then as the breeze backed from the SSE to ESE it lightened up in there as well.

We stayed out and watched as the big boats led by Glory came around behind us and then held port tack, going generally our direction. We also had sailed to leeward of Madrona and that put us in some good company in clear air. The other interesting feature at West Point that really helped the big boats was the fact that there was about 3 more knots of wind about 15-20 meters off the water. The big boats with square-top mains just kept moving. Crossfire was behind coming around the buoy but when they changed to the drifter and got a nice puff, they powered nicely into a lead they would never relinquish.

At this point, we were still on port tack just off of Four Mile Rock with the wind at about 100°M making about 1.3 knots over the bottom thinking that it was going to be a long day just to get to Duwamish Head. The wind continued to hold at about 3-4 knots but then began to clock around. The boats that had gone in under Magnolia, like Dos, parked up and gradually dropped astern. Darkside had rounded the buoy well too leeward and astern of us but, as Schock 35s generally do in 1-4 knots of wind, gradually went to leeward of us and got into the lead. Well behind was Solution, Fortuna, and Elusive generally sailing lower and slower. However, as we have painfully learned over the last couple of years you can’t put the C&C 115’s far enough behind on the upwind legs to hold them off when they put up the kites and get rolling downwind. Amazing what a carbon boat with more waterline, a lot more sail area can do going downwind. Especially so in this series as we had watched Elusive come from well astern, sail through our lee and then through Sachem’s lee to take the lead in the previous race.  

As the breeze continued to clock around to the SW it was just a question of when to tack towards Duwamish. There was more breeze to the west and if you tacked too early you would get back into the light stuff. So we waited until we could tack and be about 20 degrees low of Duwamish. We had also seen the RC boat come around West Point and head towards Elliott Bay Marina. We were thinking, those dogs are going to get lunch at Maggie’s Bluff and then go back to finish us off Shilshole but no, they continued on up to Duwamish Head. Now it was a one tack drag race to the finish.

Darkside had held on to port longer than we had, so as the breeze continued to clock we had a slightly better angle to the finish. After we tacked we also immediately set up a barber hauler to move the jib lead out and forward and once we went to that, we were able to slowly sail away from Darkside and get back into the lead.  We also started to get the crew ready for a spinnaker set as the newer boats around us went to their Code 0’s and really started to move nicely in conditions perfect for those specialty sails. Darkside was still to weather of us by about three boat lengths and just couldn’t stand to see us continue to boat speed away from them so they set a standard kite. We were ready to counter however the wind was still too far forward for our .6 to work so we just focused on constantly trimming for speed and moving the crew around below decks for the perfect angle of heel. Darkside had a little problem getting their kite to fill which slowed them down and forced them to sail lower. We used that as an opportunity to come up underneath them and put them directly astern of us by about three boat lengths. They then had to fall off even more which allowed us to boatspeed away from them and into another battle for clear air with two faster boats, an FT-10 and a Farr 395, coming in from astern. All the while, Dos had set a chute and went flying through our lee to get well ahead of us, again.

We managed to hold off the faster boats and finish just astern of Dos. Now it was a matter of seeing where the rest of our fleet finished after Darkside took a well-deserved second place. Solution had moved into third place with Fortuna next who was looking great flying a Code 0 and steadily moving away from series leader Elusive.

In the series, we had two seconds and a first for a series total of five points, with Elusive taking the silver with two firsts and a fifth for a total of seven, and taking the bronze was Darkside with a point total of nine.

Kudos to the Race Committee for getting it done in very difficult conditions.

Mahina Tiare Workshops, Parties in Richmond. Swiftsure intruduces H-R 340

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John and Amanda

John Neal and Amanda Swan Neal’s 2-day seminar in Anacortes is sold out, but they have several events on their calendar that cruisers might want to work into their calendar if they want to take a short hop to California.

It’s starting with a series of three full-day seminars with Nigel Calder at the Pacific Boat Show in Richmond, CA, April 5, 6 & 7: Link. And a 30th anniversary party that we’re doing with Swiftsure Yachts (sailish.com sponsor!) aboard the Hallberg-Rassy 340 they’ll have in the Richmond Boat Show.

APRIL 6, 2019 OFFSHORE SEMINAR AT THE PACIFIC BOAT SHOW IN RICHMOND, CA – SPACES AVAILABLE Last year our all-day seminar with Nigel Calder sold out one week before the event, so don’t wait until the last minute to register HERE. There’s also space in tech guru Nigel Calder’s famous MARINE DIESEL ENGINES seminar on Friday, April 5 and his always-packed UNDERSTANDING AND TROUBLESHOOTING BOAT ELECTRICAL SYSTEMS seminar on Sunday, April 7.

Click HERE to register for either Nigel’s or our seminars:

APRIL 5th – PARTY TIME!!! To celebrate our 30th year of sail-training expeditions aboard Mahina Tiare II & III, we’re providing cake during the free OFFSHORE CRUISING FORUM on Friday, April 5 from 2:15-4:15 at PACIFIC BOAT SHOW, Richmond, CA. We are honored to be asked to join this panel which always draws standing-room-only crowds at multiple boat shows.  

Hallberg Rassy 340

….AND MORE PARTYING ABOARD A BRAND NEW HALLBERG-RASSY 340 following the Offshore Cruising Forum! If you’ve ever been curious about the incredible quality and consistency in business that has had us choosing and sailing Hallberg-Rassy’s since 1979, join us for cake aboard a lovely (and a little radical) spanking new, Frers-designed, twin-ruddered HR 340 at 5PM, Friday, April 5 at the Pacific Boat Show in Richmond, CA. This will be our first time aboard this new design which we’re excited to be checking out. Ryan Helling and Brad Baker of Swiftsure Yachts (both occasional seminar presenters with us)  will be on hand to answer questions.

Also: 2020 MAHINA WORKSHOP DATES ARE SET! 2020 – March 21 & 22 Mahina Workshop Weekend at Anacortes Marine Tech. Plan ahead!

Sail Sand Point In-with-New Party on Thursday

Kurt Hoehne Community 0 Comment
Sail Sand Point In-with-New Party on Thursday

There’s a party next Thursday, March 28 to celebrate the arrival of Seattle’s Sail Sand Point’s new executive director Seth Muir. It’s also a celebration of Mary Anne Ward’s third retirement. Yeah right.

The party will be at the neighboring Magnusen Cafe and Brewery, and lasts from 4 to about 7.

Seth Muir and Mary Anne Ward

Islands Race a Light Beat and That’s All Folks

Kurt Hoehne Racing , 0 Comment
Islands Race a Light Beat and That’s All Folks

Gig Harbor YC’s Islands Race wasn’t looking to promising in the wind department, and indeed Bruce’s Brief pretty much nailed it for the day. But a little northerly did roll through Colvos passage and gave the fleet a nice current-aided push down Colvos Passage.

The course was shortened, making it 4 for 4 for South Sound races being shortened this season. There weren’t many complaints as the northerly was expected to die off. The breeze did stick around long enough to give some boats a gentle spinnaker run back south.

This marked the end of the 2018-19 South Sound Series. First overall went to Dos, Best in Fleet to Crossfire and the team of Bodacious, Redline and McSwoosh won the team trophy. Koosah won all four races in the non-flying sails class and Blue Max won the Flying Sails Commodore Class.

Race results here. Series results here.

Photos courtesy of Jeffrey Hogan and Tom Gray.

Is the Singlehander Choice Really Important?

Kurt Hoehne Dinghy Racing, Laser Sailing, Racing 2 Comments
Is the Singlehander Choice Really Important?

World Sailing just finished evaluating the Laser, Devoti Zero, Melges 14 and RS Aero in Valencia, Spain as part of the decision which one will be the singlehanded class used in the 2024 Olympics. Don’t know which was chosen yet.

RS Aeros and Devotis

I’ll just say up front I don’t have a lot of faith in World Sailing or the Olympic Committee. Both bodies have seen their images tarnished by dubious decisions in recent years. I can’t help but wonder if all this testing is window dressing for a decision which has already been made. I don’t have any evidence, just a hunch.

I’ll add that being chosen as an Olympic class is not the end-all. The future of any class lies more with its class association and builders than it does with World Sailing or the Olympic designation. The Laser became the go-to singlehanded boat long before Olympic designation. The Olympics didn’t make the Laser a success.

Melges 14s

And there are plenty of examples of Olympic designations that never vaulted a class’s numbers. The Tempest, Flying Dutchman, Yngling, Soling, 470, Euro, 5.5 Meter and Dragon are all fine boats with active fleets. But did the Olympics create active fleets throughout the world? The Star seems to shrug off Olympic designation as it might a nice jacket. OK to wear, OK to put on a hanger. I see more interest in the Finn class outside the Olympics than inside it, so I doubt its ouster will have much effect.

Devoti

While my point isn’t exactly, “who cares?,” I must say that for those of us ordinary folk sailing any of the four singlehanders in the running, it’s not worth getting too excited about. Chances are good that all four of those classes will live on based on their own merits. Young sailors planning on Olympic campaigns will be going to where the competition is, regardless of which boat it is. This isn’t going to affect local fleets that much.

That said, I’m following World Sailing’s sea trials with interest. From a non-sailor’s standpoint, none of these boats are going to seem remarkably different from the others. Sail a mixed fleet of Lasers and Aeros, the Lasers are going to get their asses handed to them. Watch a fleet of Aeros go at it, then a fleet of Lasers, and it’s not going to seem all that much different.

So I guess the testing was to see which boat best tests a sailor’s skill. There are lots of considerations here revolving around the size of the sailor. The Laser Radial has been immensely unpopular with many women because of the size it requires to be competitive (~150 lbs). The newer boats with squaretop sails and bendier carbon rigs naturally depower a lot easier. I still wonder how, on a breezy day, a 125 lb woman depowering is going to fare against a 150 lb. woman totally powered up. On the men’s side of things, that combination will theoretically allow a wider range of sailor sizes. Dinghies have been, are and will be weight sensitive.

For me, the most important issues are worldwide availability, durability and builder support. The Olympics have the potential to popularize sailing. Laser would be the obvious choice with these criteria, except for the builder support. The primary builder, Laser Performance, has done an atrocious job of supporting sailors with parts. Its feuds with designer Bruce Kirby and the International Laser Class Association are epic. So the Laser’s main drawback doesn’t have much to do with its speed.

The upshot is, I’m watching this all with interest, but I’m not going to get too upset no matter the result. It’s just the Olympics. The more important question is: who’s bringing the sandwiches after Sunday’s frostbite racing.

Scatchet Head Race – Gorgeous, Tactical

Kurt Hoehne Racing , 0 Comment

After last week’s windy Blakely Rock Race, CYC’s Scatchet Head (the second of three Center Sound races), the fleet was looking forward to another sunny day but maybe a hair less excitement. Puget Sound delivered last Saturday.

The fleet spread across the Sound on the 10-knot beat to the Scatchet Head buoy. West was clearly bestfor some, east worked for others. Puget Sound can confound. For everyone, the run home was delightful, especially for those who stayed west. The wind was a little lighter until the northerly started to roll down the Sound later.

In the IRC it was again Glory winning. It was TP 52 conditions (are there any conditions really NOT for a TP52?) Smoke was second and Crossfire third. Our friends on Crossfire found it tough to hang with the TPs in the light conditions. “We made some time up on the downwind leg, but once it got back in to the 4-6 knot range downwind, we really couldn’t real them in,” Nigel Barron board Crossfire reported.

Photos courtesy of Jan Anderson. See the rest here.

  • Darkside looking good on the beat to Scatchet Head
  • Anarchy on the way to and overall win.
  • The starts were in relatively light air.
  • Smoke.
  • No, not the race committee or handicapper’s meeting.
  • Traffic to avoid.
  • More traffic to avoid. Seriously.

Results

If last week’s crew overboard incident aboard the Flying Tiger 10 Anarchy was exciting in one way, the Scatchet Head Race was about as exciting in different way as they slid home for an overall PHRF fleet win. Owner/skipper Tom Ward reported:

It was ideal conditions for the light boats.  On the beat we stayed the west side going up with Bat Out Of Hell (BOOH), Sachem and Izakaya (another FT10) working our way through the fleet. I believe we were around 9th PHRF boat to round with BOOH leading our class. After rounding we stayed hot, working west. We did a couple of gybes out to the east and back as Sachem continued on working west and closed the gap on us and Izakaya.  We saw BOOH had gone way east and fell well behind. Sachem was keeping pace but at that point not closing the gap.

We keep trading jibes with Izakaya reeling them in slowly by trying to stay a few degrees hotter than them. It was a great battle and forced both boats to sail at their best. I believe we finally jibed inside them and then back to get in front of them about 20 minutes from the finish. They tried going further out before gybing to the finish for a hotter angle and did close the gap as we soaked down to stay between them and the finish crossing just 30 seconds ahead.

Elsewhere in the fleet, Ace and Absolutely had an epic battle right to the finish, with Ace barely taking the class gun and winning by 10 minutes on corrected time. The entire J/105 fleet finished within 15 minutes and head into the final race with threeway tie for first place between Jaded, More Jubilee, and the Racers Formerly Known as Here & Now. Gaucho and Kiwi Express enjoyed a match race in Scatchet Head and are tied going into the last race.

  • Sachem, with Brian Ledbetter and Mark Brink at the controls.
  • Sachem, just ’cause she’s a knockout at any age.

Brad Greene’s Nordic 44 Kinetics enjoyed a very good race in PHRF 5, finishing third. Of course Dos ran away with the class with Different Drummer second. Considering Greene lives aboard the Perry design (no doubt a few extra pots and pans aboard), his fourth in class is pretty remarkable. Greene reports:

The start for our class 5 was light but we still got a decent start considering what it takes to get our 24,000 pound beast moving. Most of the fleet headed west as expected likely hoping Bruce’s weather brief would hold with more wind on the west side. We ended up tacking back out into the middle and then decided to go east on a flyer in part to avoid some north and south bound commercial traffic and to avoid getting pinned on the west side tacking up the beach. For a while it looked like we were doing well. Then the wind went light and we just didn’t have the power to keep the Nordic 44 moving.

We finally rounded Scatchet Head buoy and had a wonderful run home. We made up some time on a few boats in part I think because the wind started to fill in from the north again getting to us first. The only complaint on board Kinetics was the windchill upwind was a bit icy even with the sun trying its best to heat things up. Big thanks CYC for making it a great #2 for this CYC CSS.

From CYC’s standpoint, the only hitch for this race came in the form of a reminder that we all share the water with commercial ships. Fleet Captain Matt Wood reports, “The only remarkable aspect was the amount of attention the fleet garnered from deep draft pilots and Washington State ferry masters. It is critical that competitors monitor both the race channel (in this regatta, that is  VHF 69 ) and Seattle Traffic VHF 14. On the RC boat we were reaching out to the fleet to ensure Colreg Rule 10 compliance, as well as transitioning vessels were on 14. Everyone needs to be diligent in this regard.”

With two good races in the books, it’s on to the penultimate Three Tree Point Race in two weeks. Could it be three gorgeous races in a row? Check in the day before for Bruce’s Brief.

Bruce’s Brief for March 8-10 and Scatchet Head Race

Kurt Hoehne Bruce's Briefs, Racing 1 Comment
Bruce’s Brief for March 8-10 and Scatchet Head Race
Some weather guru, watching pigs in HI while we watch snow.

While we may have had some rain or snow earlier this week, it looks like we are in for another lovely day on the water this weekend. The problem will be for Scatchet Head racers that there won’t be as much wind as last weekend. As the most recent frontal system has gone past the Pac NW, it has left us with a very weak and wandering ridge of high pressure system (1020MB) that will result in little to no pressure gradient over the area. While there is a weak southerly at West Point this morning, the pressure is rising so it will gradually move around to the east before becoming light and variable. This will persist overnight and then the question becomes when and how much northerly will come down the Sound on Saturday. The answer will be for racers (and the Race Committee) to check the pressure gradient from Bellingham to Seattle and Bellingham to Portland.

As of 1000 hrs PST Friday the gradient looks like this:

Bellingham       1016.8MB

Seattle             1016.9MB

Portland           1016.6MB

Take the difference between the readings of Bellingham to Seattle and multiply times 5 to get approx wind strength over the north Sound. Any differential less than 1MB says it’s going to be very light. Take the difference between Bellingham and Portland and multiply times 10 for the approx wind over the central and south Sound. The wind will flow from areas of higher pressure to areas of lower pressure, so that tells the direction.  This will be the best way to figure out the answer to how much and when. Once again, as this a transitional period, the models are not in agreement. Two models show some semblance of a northerly starting to fill around noon and then building to a more reasonable 10 knots by 1400-1500 hrs.

  • March 8 500MB
  • March 8 Surface Analysis
  • March 9 Surface Forecast
  • March 10 500MB
  • March 10 Surface Forecasat
  • March 11 Surface Forecast
  • March 12 Surface Forecast

Once again tides will not be bad. I use the current at Foulweather Bluff for what will be happening at Scatchet Head. It’s not an exact match but it is certainly close enough.

0948    .67 Ebb

1312    Slack

1600    1.01 Flood

1930    Slack

Satellite View – Click to enlarge

I also look at Point No Point because of the timing of the flood tide for the simple reason that the flood starts on the west side of the Sound first. So, if because of wind direction, there’s a question about which way to go, head west. There will probably be slightly more wind on that side as well.

Current. At Point No Point

1018    1.38 Ebb

1354    Slack

1554    .49 Flood

1854    Slack

All in all, it should be a nice day on the water, a little cool but not freezing.

Have fun and be safe.  

Ed. Note: Last week after Bruce’s Brief, alert reader Dan Tedrow asked for a list of resources. Check out Bruce’s response by going back to that Brief and scrolling all the way down.

Port Townsend Sailing Association Schedule

Kurt Hoehne Community, Racing 0 Comment
Port Townsend Sailing Association Schedule
Port Townsend TBirds racing.

Not surprisingly, even for a relatively small town, Port Townsend has a great season’s schedule of racing. See the graphic below. A lot of these races aren’t the old bloody-knuckle, squeeze-in-as-may-starts as possible kind of races. So, take a look at your calendars and plan to attend some of these events. And if you sail from there already, you’re set. Further information on racing and other sailing events at the Port Townsend Sailing Association web site.

Blakely Rock Kicks off Center Sound with Great Conditions and a Fleet MOB Response

Kurt Hoehne Racing , 2 Comments
Blakely Rock Kicks off Center Sound with Great Conditions and a Fleet MOB Response

CYC’s Blakely Rock Race is the unofficial start to the year’s racing season. Sure, there are frostbites the South Sound Series, but those seem to be winter. As such, if you’re looking for an omen for the year to come, it’s going to be an interesting one, and a good one. After all, it’s not every race you have to restart and a (successful) man overboard recovery, but such was the case last Saturday in Puget Sound.

The day started out as Bruce predicted, bright and breezy. PRO Charley Rathkopf set the weather mark to the north and started sending off the classes. He soon was informed the mark was headed for Spring Beach and made the decision to restart and use a shorter course.

All photos by Jan Anderson. Click here to see and buy them. Click on any image to enlarge.

  • J/105 start
  • PHRF 3
  • Crossfire
  • The J/40 Semper Quaerens
  • J/80s
  • The new-to-NW Sonic
  • Bat Out Of Hell going just like that
  • Jonathan McKee’s Dark Star

The reverse (small boats first) start made for a compacted fleet as they headed downwind. The planing boats planed and the cruiser racers just went fast, giving everybody a memorable start to the season.

Rescue by Committee

The biggest event of the race wasn’t the winner’s circle, it was the rescue of Anarchy crew Lindsey Lind. I haven’t yet been able to talk to the Anarchy crew or the crew of the TBird Selchie, the boat that ultimately picked Lind out of the drink. But here’s what I do know.

On the downwind leg, relatively close to the Blakely Rock, Lind fell overboard from the FT 10 Anarchy. Somewhere in there Anarchy broached. There were some chaotic radio transmissions from Anarchy to the Coast Guard, and then several boats in the fleet responded. Marek Omilian, the skipper of a the new-to-town TP 52 Sonic, saw Lind in the water about 500 yards ahead but wasn’t sure it was a person until they were 100-150 yards from her. By then the crew was already preparing the M.O.M. module and deployed it close enough that Lindsey was able to grab it. It turns out Omilian is a veteran of the Clipper Around the World Race and his crew was well prepared for a man overboard situation.

In the meantime Charlie Macaulay’s Absolutely also saw what was going on, dropped their chute and motored toward the victim. Macaulay recalled, “When we  still about 10 boatlengths away, Selchie executed a perfect kite douse and circled the MOB, turning up to leeward of her. They quickly pulled her onboard as we approached within a couple of boatlengths.” Absolutely was awarded 4 minutes redress for standing by.

Not everything was quite as seamless aboard Selchie as it appeared from the outside. Crew member Gail Tsai reported on Facebook: “The kite came down before I could release it from the pole; our green line went under and hooked to the keel while the halyard got caught with spin halfway up. It fell into water, got wet, and started pulling me off the boat. It had wrapped itself around my right leg. I was just clinging to everything for dear life trying not to cause another rescue. Never been so close to falling in the drink before.’

All’s well that ends well, and this one ended well. Lind was warm, dry and in good health in the CYC clubhouse after the race.

There has already been some discussion about the incident, and what lessons are to be learned. It seems to me that the racers can take pride in the rescue. The fleet responded immediately and skillfully. I understand there was a J/105 that also stood by in addition to the boats already mentioned. It’s interesting that one of the fastest rated boats (Sonic) and the slowest rated boat (Selchie) were both instrumental in the rescue. This might be a good argument for having a reverse start – keeping the fleet together longer on the racecourse.

New to Town with a bit of Irony

You might wonder how this TP 52 Sonic came to be here in the PNW, on Blakely Rock, and with a crew ready to play a vital role in the rescue. After all, it’s not as if the owner Marek Omilian is isn’t a household Seattle racing name like John Buchan (Glory), Steve Travis (Smoke) and Steve Johnson (Mist). I was wondering.

It turns out Marek Omilian may not be a household name yet, but it would be difficult to imagine a more prepared offshore racer owner. He recently completed the Clipper Round the World race on Visit Seattle, sailing all the legs. In fact, five people onboard Sonic on Saturday have done part or all of that race or are going to do it. Part of the Clipper preparations is “safety procedures ad nauseum.” So much of the crew was ready when they saw the person in the water.

  • The tossing of the tulips in honor of the never forgotten Kelly O’Neil
  • Freja around the Rock.
  • A great day for a big crew. Tahlequah.
  • Wind Dancer
  • Madame Pele et.al. after rounding the Rock
  • Sachem
  • Cherokee
  • The lone tri Freda Mae
  • Bravo Zulu after rounding

Omilian, originally from Poland, says he’s developing an onboard culture based on safety, respect, teamwork and commitment. He’s also pursuing an interesting facet to the Sonic campaign; he’s looking to use the boat as a fundraising tool for good causes. Omilian has identified potential groups such as the Ocean Foundation and is approaching local corporations to see if a sponsorship program can be developed.

Now for the irony. Man overboard (or crew overboard – COB – as I’ve just learned I’m supposed to say) safety issues are much on the mind of racers these days. A thorough report was just released on the death of Jon Santorelli who drowned after falling off the TP 52 Imedi shortly after the Chicago-Mac start last year. Sonic is Imedi, and so it seems fitting that the boat, with a safety-focused crew and skipper, helped in this successful rescue.

The Racing

As far as the racing goes, the consistent breeze emphasized boatspeed and boat handling. There were nine classes, including a 1-boat multihull class. Results here.

Brad Butler’s very well-sailed Sierra 26 Dos planed to another victory, correcting easily on her class and by over a minute overall. The six second ding to her rating, pronounced in the January PHRF meeting, wasn’t nearly enough for Saturday’s conditions. When the Sierra gets on a plane, the boat is pretty much a gun in a knife fight.

Winning the Boats with Cabins division was Bill Buchan’s Sachem demonstrating how it’s done. The Peterson 43 charged along in the heavy upwind conditions and held her own downwind, correcting by nearly eight minutes ahead of the rest of her class and only a 1:24 behind Dos.

Within the classes, there were a few interesting results. The 9-boat J/105 class was won by Racers formally known as Here & Now. The J/29 Boat of the Year bunch have apparently moved on to One Design. Also, the level 72 (PHRF rating) class has made a reappearance, and it was won by the C&C 115 Elusive with the J/35 Tahlequah second and the Schock 35 Darkside third. It will be interesting to see if this class can stay together as a group and, hopefully, build.

Perhaps the most competitive of the classes was class 8. Burzicki/Shorett’s Farr 395 Ace corrected to first, with Absolutely second and Andy Mack’s J/122 Grace third. The three finished within 11 seconds on corrected time and finished fourth, fifth and sixth overall. In the proverbial race-within-a-race, the J/122 Grace and the Farr 395 Ace, had a few close crosses before Ace ultimately finished overlapped.

Mike Johnson, crew aboard Ace, recounted: “We had a good day sparring with Grace, a boat with many good sailors and friends. They had a great start and first beat to begin the run with a 100-yd lead. We were able to reel them in after a few big puffs filled in from the north and rounded Blakely Rock just ahead. Upwind, we stayed on port while they took a tack toward Wing Point and then held a higher port tack lane across the Sound.  There was a slight left shift, but not enough for them to pass. From the tack at Discovery Park we were always close and ended up overlapped at the finish. One advantage of having another equally rated and well-sailed boat is the opportunity to learn new things, which is what keeps us coming back.

Don’t you just love rivalries? All rivalries will resume in the next two Center Sound races. Bruce Hedrick will be providing his weather magic the day before each race, so check in then.

Offshore Cruising Seminar+ by John and Amanda Swan-Neal March 23-24

Kurt Hoehne Cruising, Sailing Education , 0 Comment
Offshore Cruising Seminar+ by John and Amanda Swan-Neal March 23-24
John and Amanda aboard their Hallberg Rassy
John and Amanda, not in the Northwest.

John Neal and Amanda Swan have been teaching, writing about and actually cruising for decades through their Mahina Expeditions. In March, a dream of theirs is coming true with the Mahina Cruisers College Workshop. It combines their usual offshore Cruising Seminar with hands-on diesel engine maintenance, marine electrics, sail repair, canvas construction and splicing.

Significantly, this seminar represents offshore sailors working together with the Skagit Valley College marine technical program. John Neal explains, “It started coming together when Mike Beemer, program chairman of Skagit Valley College’s marine tech program, invited us to present our normal seminar at the center last March. From that, the idea to present a two-day program came. It’s almost here now!”

  • Images from a previous workshop.

One can feel the excitement. For cruisers thinking about the big cruise to experienced offshore sailors looking to bone up on their skills, it’s a great opportunity. “Anacortes is a great location as there is moorage next to the tech center at Cap Sante, there are very reasonable hotels within walking distance and there is a great pizza place three blocks away that gives us the entire upstairs for pizza, beer and music Saturday night. We are hoping to get the same group of Celtic musicians again this year,” says John.

Pete McGonagle, who has presented alongside Neal and Swan, for the last 15 years, will also be presenting. McGonagle is a principal at Swiftsure Yachts, one of Sailish’s sponsors. Swiftsure specializes in high quality blue water yachts.

Here is a pdf with all the info, including the schedule.