On Friday everyone was contemplating what a Scatchet Head Race in no wind would look like, swirling around with the currents at the south end of Whidbey Island. While Bruce Hedrick got the sunny part right, and he joined the chorus of computer models predicting a drifty sort of day for the middle race of the Center Sound Series. For those of you curious about just why the wind decided to make an appearance, Bruce explained “there was an over 2MB gradient from Bellingham to Seattle which was enough to drive a northerly and the gradient didn’t start to flatten until late on Saturday. The high simply didn’t set up as forecast.”
When the day produced a beautiful 8-12 knot northerly, Corinthian YC PRO Charley Rathkopf still wanted to make sure that if the wind shut off, there’d still be a quality race in the books, so he hedged his bets with what amounted to an extended windward-leeward, two times around. The result was a race with a lot of turns, keeping crews on their toes. It wasn’t your usual Scatchet Head Race, but it was entertaining for sure. Here’s Charley’s explanation:
The forecast early was really bad, and, although it was better Saturday morning, the forecast was still for it to drop, and I needed some marks to shorten at, as well as the finish line gate between laps.
It turns out that many sailor let me know that they preferred the strategy and tactics of the course to the standard SH race. I’ve passed this on to the club bridge.
Not surprisingly, in a race like this with steady breeze and lots of mark roundings, the usual suspects were atop the classes. The stage is set for the March 24 Three Tree Point Race for the overalls in the close classes to be decided. Two of the classes to watch are class 2 where Cherokee and Kowloon are a point apart and Class 5 where Different Drummer and Dos have traded firsts and seconds. Results.
Photos by Jan Anderson. Check out all the pictures at her Smugmug site.
The course, as written on Crossfire,
Close start for the class 6 start
Sachem crossing Firefly
Sachem scramble
The Flying Tiger Izakaya
Kowloon intensity
Mist splits
A Northwest scene, Coast Guard cutter, mountains and racing.
And, as usual, that name Buchan appeared atop to the results. But in this race it wasn’t once or twice, but three times! Bill Buchan won Class 6 in Sachem, his son Carl won Class 7 in Madrona and John (Bill’s brother) won the ORC class with Glory.
Bill Buchan during his Hall of Fame induction.
I had the great pleasure of catching up with Bill Buchan after the race. For those who don’t know, Bill’s won the Star Worlds, an Olympic Gold Medal, and just about every Pacific Northwest race there’s ever been. He was a boatbuilder for a long time and built the highly successful Buchan 37* and designed and built several Star hulls. Buchan was inducted into the National Sailing Hall of Fame in 2013. We’re extremely fortunate to have his quiet, professional and skilled presence on the waterfront.
For this year’s Scatchet Head Race he had Mark Brink on the helm most of the time, and the corrected time win was a solid four minutes. After Blakely Rock when he found the crew a little light, he put out the word for more crew. There ended up being 14 for Scatchet Head! The win gives Sachem two class firsts for the series. There are no secrets to the classic Peterson 44. The newest sail on the boat is a main from the local Ballard Sails loft. “We had to work a little bit with mast blocks and shroud tension. Now it looks gorgeous,” Buchan says. Interestingly, he keeps a “practice chute,” for a pre-race hoist rehearsal.
One gets a real perspective when speaking with Bill. He remembers when sailing had popular press coverage all the way down to what boat passed what boat on the final leg of a race. He thought back to getting advice on fiberglass boatbuilding from the Don Clark (San Juan boats) before moving from wooden Star boat construction to fiberglass. Currently, top-of-the-line Stars are from the Folli shop, but he remembers when they bought one of his boats in their early days as they were starting building Stars.
Intrepid in 1970
And finally, we chatted about the 1974 America’s Cup. As a 14-year-old boy I immersed myself in that edition and was aghast that Intrepid, the “People’s Boat,” with a largely Seattle crew, Gerry Driscoll a driving force and Bill Buchan at the helm, was cheated the opportunity to defend the Cup by the NYYC selection committee.
“We thought we had it wrapped up in the second to last race,” Bill said. “We came to the dock and wondered where the selection committee was.” Alas, the trials went one more day. “Then we gave them the excuse to eliminate us by losing that last race.” Ultimately, of course, the Cup was defended by Ted Hood at the helm of Courageous.
Bill looks back philosophically at that episode, “Who knows, if we were selected we might have lost the America’s Cup. You wouldn’t want to be the first to lose the Cup!”
* Bill Buchan did not, as was written in a previous version of this article, design the Buchan 37. Bill explains: “I had absolutely nothing to do with the design of the Buchan 37. If anyone other than my father did, it was John who was told to take the wooden “jig” of the Buchan 40 and make it shorter and beamier to rate better. He was told to have the job done before mom and dad got home from their summer cruise. When dad saw what John had done, he couldn’t believe it would be a success. Oh how wrong he was. From the first boat, a wooden boat named Thunder, the mold was then made. The next boat, Warrior, was completed and raced quite successfully by John.”
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.
Now here’s an idea for you cruisers. You do cruise, too, right?
There are cruising rallies around just about everything. Going to California, crossing the Atlantic, cruising to Baja, trekking to Alaska and just about everything in between. Well, Joe and the gang at 48 North Magazine thought, why not a simple cruise-in-company to the San Juans and Gulf Islands? Like racing, rendezvous tend to be the impetus for casting off. After all, that’s what we all need to do more of, cast off!
Tonight is the first informational meeting. If you’re thinking of cruising this summer, it’s definitely worth popping by the 48 North offices near Shilshole Bay Marina to get the lowdown. Details can be found on the Facebook page here. Basically, it starts at 6:30pm at 6327 Seaview Ave NW.
Here are editor Joe Cline’s thoughts on the matter, from the pages (with permission) of 48 North.
CASCADIA CRUISING RALLY
We’re Going Cruising, Come With Us!
One of the reasons we love the boat show is the chance to connect with so many sailing buddies that we don’t see on a daily basis. In chatting with these great folks, sometimes we talk shop, sometimes we just catch up, and every so often we cook up something that might actually be a big idea!
Well, this year’s great notion is something that we couldn’t be more excited about. 48° North is starting a cruising rally. Credit is due to Chuck Skewes of Ullman Sails who helped develop the idea, and Ullman will be the presenting sponsor!
We want you to go cruising with friends, new and old, and we can’t wait to be part of it. There is no shortage of sailing events in our area, but we think there’s nothing quite like this. Our goal is to provide a safe and fun experience for everyone from salty dogs to yacht club cruising groups to sailing school cruising courses. All are welcome, and we’re trying to set this up with the fewest possible barriers to entry.
We will start and end in Anacortes, and will dip into the Gulf Islands for a few nights. Here are a few things about which we’re excited:
There are a lot of cruisers that have spent time in the San Juans, but haven’t sailed across the border before. We’ll go together and make the customs process easy for first timers.
In an effort to keep costs down and to facilitate cruising skill development, we will be encouraging everyone to anchor as much as they are comfortable. This is one reason we’re headed to the Gulf Islands – there will be some less busy anchorages that can better accommodate 25 boats in August. We will run an anchoring chalk talk before departure, and we’ll be there to support you (and poke fun) if you need a little anchoring guidance!
There is safety in numbers, but there’s even more safety when other attendees are industry pros. Among the rally sponsors are a sailmaker, Ullman Sails, as well as a diver and mechanic. If you have some trouble with your boat or gear during the rally, help will be close at hand.
Activities abound! We are already planning a bunch of great stuff, from scavenger hunts to blindfolded dinghy races, from tug-of-war to volleyball. We even think we’ll have some sailor musicians along for some entertainment.
There will be a mix of travel days and layover days. Rally-goers have the chance to both see some new territory and explore a particular area. Scheduled functions and parties will take place on layover days, so there’s not time pressure on travel days (that way you can sail more!).
Mainly, this is a thrilling opportunity for a community celebration of sailing and cruising and merry-making. In other words, this is sailor-folk doing what we love most. In this first annual running of the rally, we are planning to limit participation to 25 boats, so you’ll want to book your spot ASAP.
WHAT: The First Annual Cascadia Cruising Rally
WHEN: August 5 – 11, 2018
WHERE: Beginning and ending in Anacortes, headed north!
NEXT STEPS: Please join us for an informational meeting at 6:30pm on Tuesday March 13, 2018 at the 48° North office. We’ll discuss potential itineraries, logistics, and (hopefully) answer a bunch of your questions!
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.
Slick, Nimbus and Gardyloo in last year’s race. Jan Anderson photo.
Tom Gray, the Sail Chair for the Gig Harbor YC, wants to remind folks of the upcoming Islands Race. It’s the last race of the South Sound Series, and it’s been an interesting series so far. Note that the team series is still on the line. Here’s Tom:
The final race of this season’s Southern Sound Sailing Series is the Gig Harbor Yacht Club Islands Race on Saturday March 17th. For some reason registrations for this race are very low. I would very much appreciate it if you could give the race some mention on your Sailish.com site. I am going to as many outlets as possible to kick up interest Registration is on the series web site at: www.ssssclub.com/ssseries/
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.
Mary Anne Ward, Executive Director of Sail Sand Point Community boating center in Seattle, was one of several Northwesterners who recently attend the US Sailing Leadership Forum in St. Pete Beach, Florida. Mary Anne’s a fan (but not uncritical) of the organization. To those of us who don’t attend conferences, but are fierce proponents of sailing, it’s always interesting to hear what’s being and not being done at the national level.
Mary Anne Ward
Addiction Treatment?
Ward’s biggest takeaway came from encountering an old friend from New Jersey, Russ Lucas, who’d she had not seen in a while. In the interim, Lucas had struggled and triumphed with addiction, and came out of it feeling strongly that sailing was helpful and therapeutic in his recovery. This has prompted him to develop a program in New Jersey to help break addictions, and is seeing lot of success. Then, as if on cue, Ward was introduced by West Coast Sailing’s George Yioulos, to Ken Block who’s reaching out with a similar program in Park City, Utah in cooperation with the Veterans Administration. The VA has seen the success and is backing the effort.
Ward would love to integrate such a program here in the Seattle area at Sail Sand Point. “I’m super excited about it,” Ward says, and as we’ve noted in the past when she’s super excited about something she’s not easily dissuaded.
However, she was disappointed that US Sailing didn’t take up the cause more fully. I agree this is an area US Sailing needs to step up to the plate on. The therapeutic benefits of boating, in particular sailing, have been well documented and pass the common sense test with flying colors. Sailing gets someone out into nature and fills the senses and mind with something other than a need to take a drink or pop a pill. It’s definitely a way to redefine our sport to those who think it’s “just” recreation.
The Rest of the Forum
These conferences are all about industry networking and sharing of thoughts, and Ward found that satisfying. “I found it very valuable,” she says. This was especially true in the awards ceremony, where different recipients used their moment on stage to share the stories of their successes.
There wasn’t, Ward reports, nearly enough focus on community sailing, the one area in which the sport is seeing growth. “They talked a lot about the path to the Olympics, which of course I fully support, but they didn’t spend enough time on community sailing centers where these athletes are going to get their start.” The breakout session was over lunch and without a strong agenda.
Another area where Ward sees there’s room for improvement, is discussion of using racing to promote sailing. Too often racing isn’t clearly identified as a lead-in for lifelong sailing. “Oh, that’s different, that’s racing and not everybody likes racing” is often the attitude. Ward, a racer herself, sees racing as an important way for people to get started and develop a love for sailing.
There are a number of short videos here that will give a feel for the conference. From what I can tell, the vids are glossy, short and don’t have a lot of meat. Here’s one on kiteboarding. There are many others, including on on the America’s Cup, you may want to check out.
As a sailing evangelist, and a member, I often wonder what US Sailing does. The successful community sailing centers I’ve seen accomplish things primarily on their own with relatively little support from US Sailing. And while US Sailing does manage the US Olympic team, the stories I always hear are about athletes spending an inordinate amount of time on fundraising and logistics instead of sailing. And US Sailing has abdicated its responsibility of picking and promoting a handicapping system, instead taking a neutral stance while sailors wallow in rating uncertainty.
Sail Sand Point
Sail Sand Point, in the meantime, is going strong. Ward reports that the summer’s classes for 8-11 year olds are basically full. Other classes are filling fast There are the big high school Divisional Championships this week at SSP, and that will be followed by middle school sailors the week after. Adult sailing starts in early April, and outreach starts in May.
Ward sees one of SSP’s primary roles is to bring sailing to disadvantaged kids for at least a one-day experience. SSP already works with 47 different groups, and hopes to expand that. “Our long term goal is to target some of these kids, the ones that get really excited during their visit – to become volunteers and instructors.” When additional housing is built at Magnuson Park, there may be as many as 500 kids on site.
Note: The High School Divisionals will be a big event this weekend. If you’re not out sailing yourself or doing Blakely Rock, it would be a great chance to check out the amazing high school sailing scene.
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.
Dieter Creitz at the Sunshine State Optimist Championships
There are a lot of reasons to highlight 10-year-old (soon to be 11) Dieter Creitz. Sure, he’s a really talented sailor. And he shares his love of the sport with other kids. As a parent, I can only imagine how cool it is to have him an enthusiastic and integral part of his family’s Olson 25 Three Ring Circus. He hasn’t let all his success go to his head, and loves to do other sports as well.
But most of all, he exudes happiness around the water. It’s great to be around. If we could just bottle that….
Right now Creitz is in the middle of a very busy racing season. He just won the White division of the Sunshine State Optimist Championship sailed from the US Sailing Center in Martin County. For all of you who thumb your nose at the boxy, underpowered and overpriced Opti, consider this – over 200 kids from all over the U.S. came to this event, many trying to qualify to go to the upcoming International Events including the Optimist Meeting on Lake Garda which will have 1000-1200 competitors.
Creitz, in fact, was getting a little bored with the Opti, but the Sunshine State Champs appears to have cured that. He’s excited to be going back to Florida for the United States Optimist Dinghy Association (USODA) for the US Team Trials in April. According to his dad Nate, Creitz is up against “professional” sailors. With program budgets exceeding $100K and multiple coaches for some kids, professional is a pretty apt description. This goes way beyond Mommy Boats, which can be bad enough.
But before the team trials, Creitz is headed to Florida with crew Conrad Miller to sail in the RS Feva World Championships. With sponsorship from West Coast Sailing, this team will be waving the PNW and West Coast Sailing flags for this up and coming youth class. The kids are even blogging about it here. Creitz loves going fast, and the RS Feva delivers, as you can see in this short video.
The Sunshine State Optimist Regatta
Creitz is no stranger to big regattas, and it’s a good thing because the logistics of them weren’t easy at this regatta. With over 200 boats, there were four fleets. There was a round-robin between the fleets, so everyone got to sail against everyone else at least some of the time. There were three races per day. There was no gold/silver fleet, the scores are simply tabulated. But within the entire fleet results, kids are scored in their respective age group fleets: White for 10 and under, Blue for 11-12 and Red for 13-14 year olds. Creitz handily won the white division (and was 51st overall) by 29 points over the second place boats.
Nate was just about giddy to watch as his son Dieter applied so many skills to the fleet racing that he’d been learning over the years. “Getting off the line in an Opti race is everything. It was so cool to see him open up the tool bag and use these tools to get off the line. It was the best regatta he’s ever sailed.” Dieter found the fleet a lot more challenging than he’s used to around here. And a key to his success in Florida – hiking harder!
But of course there’s more to the story than just starting and the results. Creitz and his dad arrived in Florida early for two days of practice with the Canadian team before the two-day regatta. And it blew 25 knots every day. Several of the “pro” kids could look forward to unending weeks of training following the regatta.
But our Dieter Creitz needed to make it back to the Pacific Northwest. For skiing. After all, he’s a member of the NW Freeride freeskiing team. Yes, Creitz does jumps and stunts with skis. He’s got the 360 down and is working on the 540. It’s no surprise that a Northwest kid both skis and sails, but to do both so well is a real accomplishment. Asked if he likes skiing or sailing, he says skiing. “I guess I like it better because I only get to do it part of the year. You can sail all year long.”
It all started….
Dieter grew up sailing with his dad and mom Wanda. Dad Nate is a very active sailor and was in his youth, having sailed the US Youth Champs several times and finishing as high as fourth.
One big key to Dieter’s sailing was the “big boat,” the Creitz Olson 25 Three Ring Circus. Anyone racing around Seattle has seen Dieter’s bright smile aboard Three Ring Circus for the last decade. Lately Nate has pared the crew to just the family, having his son drive (seems logical to me!) while he trims and Wanda does bow.
The upcoming Race to the Straits will be the first father and son effort. Dieter has done several, of course, starting when he was six months old. But at this point it seems only fair that he be considered a full half of a doublehanded team. And Wanda? “Well, she knew this day was coming,” Nate explains.
Not surprisingly, Dieter finds himself on other boats occasionally, including the TP52s Glory and Smoke. His days of grinding and calling tactics may still be ahead of him, but Dieter still finds things to do. “I help on the bow and with the hoists,” he explains. And of course he finds himself as the “squirrel” on takedowns, helping get the spinnaker down the forehatch.
Through it all, Dieter’s love of sailing continues. His thoughts on sailing to a non-sailing 10 year old: “It’s a good way to open up, be free, get to travel and hang out with friends.”
And the future?
When a kid like Creitz makes his mark so clearly on the race course, the question has to come up “What next? Olympics?” Nate Creitz knows that possibility is out there, but like his son he has his head on straight and feet on the ground. “We’ll see what he wants to do,” he says. Nate’s not pushing, and doesn’t see any $100K “program” for Dieter. (“I’m not in that tax bracket.”) but he’ll do everything possible to enable Dieter’s dreams as they come. It’s safe to say that Nate and Wanda’s supportive, not pushy, approach to Dieter is a big reason why Dieter’s smiling at regattas.
The PNW sailing community has rallied with support for Dieter. Seattle Yacht Club and West Coast Sailing have both teamed up with support for Dieter. The rest of us can and should just root him on.
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.
Here’s one from Malcolm MacNeil aboard Crossfire. A beautiful gybe should always be celebrated. If you haven’t read the race wrap on Blakely Rocks, here it is. Don’t forget to check out Bruce’s weather outlook when we post it Friday.
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.
The Blakely Rock Race is almost always something. It’s seems to be either a wake-up gear-buster or a very chilly reminder that we get to race when a lot of the continent doesn’t, as long as we can bear the cold. And it usually points out pretty clearly who has a jump on the fleet – the perpetual winners or someone new on the scene. While the results on Saturday indicated that Firefly had won overall, it turns it was sailing with the wrong rating, and it has retired from the race. See below. This makes Ballistic the overall winner and Sachem the class 7 winner. And Crossfire, which led on the water the whole way around the course, also retired. Again, see below.
And this year, it was something really nice. Bright sunshine, plenty (but not too much) wind and an excellent gauge on boatspeed and crew work. Non sailors texted me, “There were a lot of boats out there. Looked great. What was going on? Was it a race?” I love it when non-sailors feel they’re missing out.
The perpetuals were still atop their classes. Glory won the ORC fleet. Cherokee, Here & Now, Last Tango, Dos, Sachem, Selchie and Freda Mae won their respective classes. Brad Cole’s Ballistic had an impressive showing winning Class 7 and overall. The growing (now 4-boat) casual class was won by the Beneteau Oceanis 45 Le Reve. Results.
Following are four tales from nearly every part of the fleet, from the very front to the very back. It’s a little different than the “usual” race report, and I think a much fuller look at the race. Thanks to all who contributed. If anyone wants to chime in for other CS or other races, please do!
First a word from photographer Jan Anderson, who pays tribute to Kelly O’Neil, friend to many of us and one who captured many a Blakely Rock Race before digital cameras! Tossing daffodils while rounding the Rock is a ritual that should never end. Jan took all the photos except for the one of Firefly.
Jan Anderson – Celebrating Kelly
At long last, it was a GORGEOUS day for sailing, and the action on the water reflected that. But great weather alone doesn’t come close to describing what this sport is really about … it’s more about the people with whom we share our experiences, and the relationships we’ll cherish for all time. Each year, this day, this race, this moment rounding Blakely Rock, is about celebrating the life of Kelly O’Neil, the photographer that impacted all of PNW sailing, forever. Neither I nor my Boat Boy Skip had ever met Kelly, but fate would have it that Skip and I met the same year she passed. To this day, literally this day, Skip and I are both deeply moved with the fleet’s expression of love for Kelly, by casting daffodils into the water. Above all others, this is a day where everyone wins. From the bottoms of our hearts, we thank you, Kelly.
Kelly is missed and never forgotten.
Iconic Blakely Rocks shot 1.
Iconic Blakely Rocks shot 2.
Iconic Blakely Rocks shot 3!
The Thunderbird Selchie working to weather.
Glory and the Olympics.
Ocelot.
Melissa Davies, Miss Mayhem – Third to the Bar
Miss Mayhem
This is the viewpoint from the smallest/slowest/least experienced skipper in the fleet. Miss Mayhem is a San Juan 24 and is starting her sophomore year in racing. I have been sailing/racing for a little over 18 months – having jumped in with both feet. (Ed. Note – she’s also the event coordinator for CYC)
I was relieved to arrive at the club to find the weatherI ordered had arrived as requested. (Sometimes being the weather witch doesn’t always get you great sailing weather). Sunny skies and 6-12 knots of wind from the north, forecasting to increase throughout the day.
We started the race with our #1 and after watching all the other boats (we had the very last start) we decided not to fly our spinnaker due to being short crew. There were 4 boats in our class (casual) ranging from a Beneteau 45 to us. The start was favored at the pin and we were in the right place at the perfect time to cross the line first and get away from the class into good wind. Headed west to keep the wind and utilize the current (70% of the fleet did the same thing). We had a couple of tacks to get better air but mostly were able to point right at the mark. As we rounded the N mark we headed back west (again about 60% of the fleet did the same thing) in 2nd place in our class. We hit 8.1 knots on the way back to West Point with just our #1 and main, unfortunately, that didn’t work as well for us as we hoped the other two boats in our class took a more inside track and caught up to us (might have also been they had 12 feet of water line on us). We rounded the mark just as the BIG BIG Boats were coming in from Blakely rock (Glory, Crossfire, etc) – it was a straight beat back to the finish line. although we did have some wind shadow challenges, that caused us to take the boat end of the finish line (good news is they were able to get to great picture of us). Miss Mayhem corrected out in 2nd place in our class and was the 3rd boat back at the bar.
The highlight of the race was being in the back seeing all spinnakers flying and heading to Blakely Rock. Sometimes its good to be the smallest/slowest boat. The second best part was getting to cross the finish line with/before boats like Ballistic, Bravo Zulu, the other Top 25 race boats.
Doug Frazer, Oxomoxo – Man Down
Oxomoxo
I can report from the DFL position. We had a blast with a short handed crew, four souls on board and my son Bob sleeping down below in the master’s cabin under a down comforter. After a slow start in about 11 kts, just rounding the committee boat we had a great ride up to the windward mark using our 135 and full main, at this pace we were able to maintain our position in the fleet. After a successful rounding somewhere in the middle of our fleet we started to successfully take up our usual position at the back of the fleet with our trademark pink and gray spinnaker full and proud. What a great spinnaker run to Blakely Rock with three perfectly timed gybes and only one spin sheet temporarily stuck under the boat. Bob woke up in time to be the squirrel down below for the douse which we orchestrated using our newbie (Amy, former professional water polo player from Spain). By the time we turned at Blakely Rock the wind had piped up to the low teens and we realized we were doomed to be overpowered and unable to make much forward motion upwind. Making our way to West Point we were on our ear the whole time. By this time Bob had moved from the down comforter in the master’s cabin to the warm cozy folds of the pink and gray spin in the main cabin. To keep from sliding off the bunk when we were tacking, he moved to the floor and wedged himself between the dinette and the base of the settee. It was difficult to make it across the finish line as the wind direction required us to finish right at the committee boat and the resulting lay line was nearly parallel to the direction of the port tack. When we tied up at the slip, Bob woke up and we made a cameo at the yacht club and then headed home where an exhausted Bob had a big dinner and headed off to bed early.
Ed. Note: Hopefully Bob’s on deck for Scatchet Head!
Nigel Barron, Crossfire – Hatch Down, Retired
Crossfire
First, kudos to Bruce Hedrick. Nailed the forecast. What a lovely day of sailing! On Crossfire, we started on a J2, and a had a great sail to the weather mark. We favored the middle/left side of the course, and that seemed to work for us. Smoke and Mist went inside, while Glory mostly stayed outside with us. The fun part of the reverse start is seeing your friends as you sail through the fleet on the fast boats. The timing worked out nicely for us, as we had a relatively clean weather mark rounding with not a lot of traffic. It was a fantastic sail down to Blakely Rock. Glory and Smoke were right behind most of the way down. We, along with Glory favored the middle most of the way, while Smoke went across to the west shore. We had changed headsails to the J3 on the sail down, as it looked like more pressure for the trip to the finish. Unfortunately, while sailing back towards 4 mile rock, the jib inhauler got under the sliding companionway. As we went to point mode, with the clew being cut higher on the J3, it popped the hatch off. We of course had to go back and get it; it made a nice MOB drill. Hatch was retrieved and we set off to the finish and continued racing.
As we were approaching the finish it became apparent that the Race Committee hadn’t reconciled the Notice of Race and the Sailing Instructions, as finish pin was on the wrong side of the boat according to the NOR!
Regardless, a beautiful day on the water.
Ed. Note: The race committee queried Crossfire by phone if they were going to retire – it seems that in the process of retrieving the hatchcover the engine was started – in reverse – and ran for a few seconds that way. It didn’t occur to anybody onboard that it would indicate retirement, as it represented no forward progress on the course. But skipper Lou Bianco decided it best to withdraw regardless, hence a RET (retired) in the results. As Paul Evlstrom said, “You haven’t won the race, if in winning the race you have lost the respect of your competitors.”
Nigel Barron is the Sales and Marketing Manager at CSR Marine.
Brad Baker: Firefly – Wolf in a Sheep’s Rating
Firefly
(Note: Firefly has retired from the race when Baker realized a completely unintentional gross error in the PHRF rating. The proper rating would have put them in another class entirely. It does not, however, take away from the story of a well-sailed race.)
Firefly is a Chuck Paine designed Morris 45 performance cruiser. It is lighter than your typical Morris and has a carbon rig.
I signed on with owner Bob Strong to do this year’s Vic-Maui Race. The boat is currently definitely in full preparation mode with that final goal in mind. Bob has done quite a lot already including a new inventory of North 3DI upwind sails and a suite of downwind sails in preparation for the race. We have been out on three practices with Andrew Kerr who is a world class sailor and sailing coach. The practice sessions definitely showed in our performance.
Saturday exceeded my wildest expectations. That said, the conditions were perfect for that boat. The wind speed was just in to the #3, and we were able to use waterline. How we managed such a good finish really had to do with, as it often does, luck. We had a front row start and stayed in clear air, we duked it out with the J-120 with Grace and Beneteau 40.7 Bravo Zulu, managed to round just in first place with Bravo Zulu not far behind, we bore away and set the spinnaker on starboard. BZ did a jibe relatively soon after the mark rounding. We waited a bit, but were getting ready for a covering jibe as well when we noticed significant pressure making its way toward us more out in the middle so, instead of jibing, we held. Bottom line is we sailed in more pressure and a header while the majority if not all, of our fleet made a jibe to the east side initially. This turned out to be the reason we did so well. We sailed low and fast pretty much at the mark, caught a lift at about ½ through the run, jibed and again pointed more or less at the mark in very good pressure. Wind speeds stayed in the mid to high teens. It looked to me that the rest of our fleet and many of the entire fleet as a whole, sailed in lighter wind with some extra distance. I’m the first to point out that this was a bit of a flyer, not covering the fleet well, and more often than not flyers don’t work out. Like I said we got a bit lucky, both tactically and having conditions that were very well suited for the boat. The beat home was straightforward. We had clear air and, sailing on port, one tacked it all the way to the bluff. Went to starboard up under West Point then a long port tack to the layline for the finish. We sailed the entire race in clear air. The crew did a great job getting the sails up and down and side to side, the drivers (we changed between 4 of us) did a good job. I’m sure the next race we will have to eat humble pie, but it was nice to get this win, and on such a beautiful/comfortable boat!
Ed. Note: Thanks, Brad. I’d like to point out that Brad’s idea of playing the PHRF game is not to gain an unfair advantage, but have a fair rating. If everyone did that, PHRF would be a different game altogether. Bringing a wolf in sheep’s clothing is fine, as long as you call it a wolf. And sorry, but it’s not luck when you put that kind of effort and practices in, no matter what the rating. Brad is an owner at Swiftsure Yachts.
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.
What a tremendous weekend for sailboat racing. High school racing, of course.
(Yea, the Blakely Rock Race report will follow shortly. But this high school sailing thing is really a big deal and is key to the future of our sport. If you ever have a chance to hang out and witness one of these regatta scenes, you really owe it to yourself to do so.)
Regional high school regattas were sailed in Kingston, Anacortes and the Willamette Sailing Club, in Oregon. Congratulations to all the young sailors, and especially to the teams Friday Harbor, North Kitsap and Lincoln High Schools. We have some excellent drone footage courtesy of Dave Wagner. I’m pretty sure some young skippers are going to pore over that 20+ minutes of footage from a tactical standpoint. Andrew Nelson reports from Kingston, where the South Regionals were sailed.
NWISA North Regionals
Report by Steve Orsini: The NWISA North Regionals on March 3 was held in Anacortes on what every one agreed was a stunning day for sailing. The stunning weather was matched by a stunning turnout: 93 sailors signed in and raced in a fleet of 23 FJs in a steady 7-11 knot northerly on the broad, sun sparkled waters of Fidalgo Bay. The Regatta was co-hosted by NWISA, Anacortes Parks and Recreation and the Anacortes Yacht Club(AYC). AYC provided the chase boats, dock masters with the course set by PRO Fred Abelman. At the end of 12, two island teams battled for the lead with Friday Harbor taking first, followed by Orcas and third went to Franklin from Seattle. Through the diligent efforts of Dave Wagner, AYC sailor and drone aficionado you get a cat bird seat on this regatta on YouTube at: NWISA North Regionals. Enjoy.
By Andrew Nelson, Youth Sailing Director, The Sailing Foundation
The South Regionals in Kingston were a big hit. We had 11 boats on the water representing 7 different schools. Weather was perfect with 7-12 knots of wind out of the north and sunny skies all day. This was the first time there’s been a high school regatta in Kingston, and the community was really excited to host. Sail Kingston Cove is now supporting the Kingston High School team, so we hope we can come back to this venue. The SKC volunteers and Port of Kingston did a great job putting on the event. The racing between the top couple of teams was really close, with North Kitsap edging out Central Kitsap for the top spot. PRO Chris Brown, assisted by his wife Jessica, fired off 8 races in each fleet (16 total). The sailors returned to the dock just before 5pm good and tired from a very full day of racing in mostly hiking conditions.
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.
Seattle Yacht Club and several ambitious parents put together yet another regatta trek for some lucky young Laser sailors. This year’s Laser Midwinters East were held in Clearwater, Florida. I’m hoping to get a first-hand report about the sailing conditions in a few days. But it seems clear from this picture that there were some happy sailors!
From Kara Carlson:
The SYC team had a great time!!
We got lucky with the weather 80s and sunny.
As a group, we rented a house and had the sailors staying with 3 moms cooking and doing laundry 😉
We had an SYC team dinner and had Hanne Weaver and her mom over on Tuesday night for our special chicken and fajita night (We even found a butcher shop in Clearwater). Teenagers eat a lot!!
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.
Outside Magazine posted “25 quotes that might mean you’re going to have an epic,” and it got me to thinking about a similar set of phrases you might hear on a racing keelboat in the Northwest that might indicate a long day coming up. I’m sure you can come up with others. Here goes:
“There isn’t supposed to be a buoy here.”
“It’s not supposed to snow.”
“What’s a convergence zone?”
“Is the anchor ready to go?”
“Where I come from, we pretty much ignore the current.”
“Oops, the other sea boot must be in the closet.”
“I thought you said YOU were bringing the sandwiches.”
“Who’s good with electrical systems?”
“We don’t need instruments, let’s go old school.”
“I’ll be fine. I brought an umbrella.”
“Oh, I guess that’s not Sachem after all. Who are we following?”
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.
