Author: Kurt Hoehne

Women at the “Sharp End” of Racing, and in the Pacific Northwest

Kurt Hoehne Kurt's Cubby, Racing 8 Comments
Women at the “Sharp End” of Racing, and in the Pacific Northwest

CNN’s Shirley Robertson takes a look at women “at the sharp end of the sport.” (Don’t you love how the Brits use their language?) She’s a double Olympic medalist, so well qualified. In this 22 minute video that’s getting a lot of play interenationally, she interviews Ellen MacArthur, Sam Davies, Dawn Riley and others. I love it when she talks to Ken Read about why he hadn’t recruited more women, and he admits “shame on me.”

It’s pretty clear that there isn’t gender equality at that sharp end, especially when it comes to the America’s Cup. The argument that it’s difficult for women revolves around size and strength.

I’ve always thought that the Northwest had a relatively (to other areas) high percentage of women skippers and crews. Almost all the crews I’ve been a part of have had a mix. And Ellen MacArthur and Sam Davies reinforce what I’ve always felt, that the best way into the sport for women is to just ignore the few bone-heads out there that think that women don’t belong, and just sail the boat. I can’t speak for the sharp end of the sport.

Check out the video below. I’d love to open up the conversation about Northwest women racers. Are there more bone-heads out there than I think? Is the racing climate conducive or prohibitive to women? Start it up in the comments below and if there’s interest I can open up a forum.

 

Southern Straits Race Wrap

Kurt Hoehne Racing 0 Comment
Southern Straits Race Wrap

Southern Straits is often a great race, and by the sounds of it it was this year. We’re lucky to have Peter Salusbury report on the race soon after finishing a strong second with his amazing Longboard. Enjoy the photos Peter and crew supplied, plus more photos courtesy of race chair Sonia Telford. If anyone has tales/pix/video to add, send them along and I’ll incorporate them into this post. Here’s Peter: 

Southern Straits Race 2017 started with a packed clubhouse at the race host, West Vancouver Yacht Club, for a pre-race dinner and weather briefing. Bruce Hedrick had been watching the weather models all week and while he couldn’t make it the evening to present it himself, you could have heard a pin drop in the room as his detailed weather forecast was shared with the 200+ people in the room.

Thankfully, the overnight rain let up first thing in the morning and start off Dundarave Pier featured a slowly oscillating NE to SE wind of around 5 knots.  The long course boats started first with the NE wind prevailing initially with Longboard leading the pack on the rhumb line while the the two TP52’s, Smoke and Kinetic, gybed south to take advantage of better ebb current looking for the SE which eventually would settle in.  As the morning went on, the southeasterly built to 10 to 15 knots as the fleet took the long port tack gybe to Sister’s Islet.  The wind eventually built to a steady 20 knots with the big division 1 boats rounding Sister’s in the middle of the afternoon. 

Leg two back south to the TA mark started in the 15 knot SE which slowly lifted to an easterly so you could parallel the Vancouver Island shore until about the Wincheslea Islands.  From there to Entrance Island was a slow transitional zone with light airs, shifting breeze from NE to SW to no breeze at all.  As always, there were winners and losers through this stretch but the boats that stayed offshore a little seemed to benefit from the post frontal southwesterly that eventually asserted itself south of Entrance Island.

Entrance Island to the TA was a starboard tack fetch in 15 knots of breeze – very fast sailing conditions.  After rounding TA, the next leg to Halibut bank was too tight for many boats to carry a kite in the 15 to 20 knots of breeze but if you could carry one, it paid big time to sail low with a reaching kite and benefit from a slow lift and lightening breeze on the approach to Halibut Bank.  From Halibut Bank to the finish line was a one tack fetch again in the 15 know southwesterly which lasted all the way to Bowen Island where there was one final massive transition zone. The boats that did the best led their fleets south on a port tack to stay in the dying SW and eventually were rewarded with a solid easterly coming out of English Bay. 

So overall, a very fast and mostly dry race – much drier than anticipated interrupted by two to three significant transition zones that if you were good and a little lucky, really paid off in the results.  (Race results here.) It was a classic Pacific NW race where the faster the boat, the better you did on the Long course for sure, and the standings suggest that applied to the Medium and Short courses as well.  Kinetic and Smoke had a good battle going on all race with Kinetic eventually prevailing to take line honors just before 3 am on Saturday and the overall course win in both PHRF and ORC.  It was David Sutcliffe’s first win in Straits race either as crew or skipper and good primer as he gets ready to take Kinetic south this summer to take on the Transpac Race.  Stu Dahlgren’s Westerly from Royal Vic Yacht Club did a nice job staying ahead of Paul Lamarche’s always well sailed Neptune’s Car from the first leg onwards to finish third.  Another well sailed Vancouver Island boat, Colin Jackson’s Jackrabbit, had a great battle with our very own Longboard, eventually correcting out 3 minutes to win Division 2 on the Long course in PHRF. 

The Medium course was from the start to Sister’s and back to the finish line with the perennial favourite, Jim Prentice’s Diva taking line honors and another Vancouver Island boat, Beats per Minute skippered by Eldin Miller-Stead winning overall. The short course boats had a very quick race to Ballenas Island and return with the almost unbeatable Incisor skippered by William Phelps once again taking the overall win finishing just after midnight right behind the line honors winner Hurricane sailed by Matt Lane.

As always, a big shout out to the Race Chair, Sonia Telford, and her 90 volunteers who made this race a huge success. It was great to see so many boats from Seattle and Vancouver Island making the trek north and the race did create some great sailing memories. Hope to see everyone back for next year which is the 50th anniversary of Southern Straits Race. And finally, a huge thank-you to Bruce Hedrick for the pre-race weather forecast posted on sailish.com.  

–Peter Salusbury

Squall Punctuates PSSR Small Boats

Kurt Hoehne Racing, Youth Sailing , , 0 Comment
Squall Punctuates PSSR Small Boats

CYC’s Puget Sound Sailing Regatta (PSSR) last weekend was of the small boat and dinghy fleets, and there were plenty of options from which to choose, including both Hobie 16s and 18s! Saturday it blew in the teens (except for the last-race-of-the-day squall) and Sunday it was light. Life on the committee boat on lumpy Saturday wasn’t the most comfortable and rumor has it there was some mal de mer going around.

The largest fleet in both size boats and numbers was the J/24 class. In 2015 only six J/24’s sailed and last year it was eight. This year it was 14, which is a good sign the fleet has embraced the idea of coming out of Lake Washington for this event. Wayne Pignolet’s Joy Ride won the class with an extremely consistent performance, followed by perennial top boats Self Abuse and Tremendous Slouch.

All photos by Jan Anderson:

Mats Elf won the six-boat 505 fleet in a tight battle over Cody Kowalski while Paul Evenden, Eric Ledbetter and Jay/Lisa Renehan won the Hobie 18, Star and Tasar classes. Results here.

Only two Lasers showed up for the regatta, and were basically absorbed into the RS Aero fleet. Many new faces dotted the Aero fleet, which is great to see. It was Todd Willsie hanging on for a narrow win, especially after a satisfying last race on Saturday when a squall packing around 30 knots rolled through race course. After three firsts and a second on Saturday, Willsie watched his lead start to disappear as Eric Becker, Randy Shuman and David Rogers all showed light air speed.

It was interesting for me to watch the fleets assemble on Sunday from Golden Gardens Park. About 300 yards away from the CYC committee boat the SYC team, with a healthy number of kids Optis and Laser Radials, where happily doing drills with a coach leading the way in a RIB. While Willsie and the others were waiting between starts, the kids were drilling, practicing, MOVING. I understand the Tasar fleet decided to peel away on Sunday and have their own rabbit starts to get more sailing in.

Personally, have a hard time waiting between races, even when a RC is on top of it. I get impatient and cold. And today’s kids are used to pretty much constant engagement of one sort or another. I can’t imagine my 10-year old sitting for 20 minutes between races unless he had an iPad, and then he’d miss the next start for sure.

As we contemplate moving  kids moving into adult dinghy sailing, one of the things we should perhaps look at is how we can reduce the wait time between races or find another way to keep everyone engaged, even when there are multiple classes and challenging logistics. Nowadays I’m usually happy for a bit of a rest, but I didn’t need or want that 40 years ago and I’ll bet neither do kids today.

Blakely Rock Benefit Regatta

Kurt Hoehne Community, Racing, Youth Sailing , 0 Comment
Blakely Rock Benefit Regatta

It’s been a long time since 116 boats have been on Puget Sound for a race on the same day, but that’s exactly what happened for Saturday’s Blakely Rock Benefit Regatta (BRBR). And with a gentle southerly, sailors and non-sailors alike looking out at Sound got to see a gorgeous parade of boats headed back to Shilshole after rounding the Rock.

Why so many boats? Maybe it had to do with the beneficiary of the regatta, The Sailing Foundation (TSF) and its efforts at promoting youth sailing. While all the beneficiaries of this race are worthy, there’s a natural connection with TSF. Maybe the participation had to do with the promotional efforts by the Sloop Tavern YC  and Andrew Nelson of TSF. There was lots of outreach. Maybe the Sloop offering a provisional PHRF racing for a race helped spur attendance. It did in my case.

Regardless, why were there so many boats in BRBR is probably worth some study. In the meantime here are some great Jan Anderson photos and a race to talk about. The sun mixed with clouds and a bit of warmth made for some very happy faces, and Jan caught a lot of them. Maybe a shot or two of your boat?

There were three, count’em three, non flying sails classes comprising 15 boats. Starting first, they could stay in more of the dying breeze longer, though that couldn’t help some of the boats when it got super light off Shilshole. Despite that, every non-flying sails boat that started, finish. In fact, only two boats that started DNFed. Hey, it’s a benefit regatta and a beautiful day and, really, so what if some boats are a mile ahead. It’s great to be on the water, and that racing climate is what makes this race special.

There was something really special about watching Crossfire and Smoke smoke through the fleet on the long leg to the Meadow Point buoy. With their tall rigs and generating their own apparent wind, it didn’t seem like a light air race to them. They finished first and second overall, respectively. There were lots of other impressive performances you can find in the results. The two Bob Perry-designed Flying Tigers had a great day, finishing first and second in class. An Aussie 18 skiff, brought here temporarily from the sailing skiff Foundation in San Francisco and skippered by Evan Sjostedt, flew around the leadmines with the greatest of ease.

But this race was primarily about a relaxed race and gathering some funds for TSF. Youth Sailing Director Andrew Nelson doesn’t have the final numbers yet, but it was surely a significant fundraiser for the organization. And he reported that Ben Glass on Ocelot (The Mighty Ocelot for this race, anyway) invited four high school kids, who must have had a blast. Video below and on the sailish.com Facebook page.

And we’ll throw in another photo, this one of the Swan 391 Oxomoro crossing the trimaran Escape. Photo courtesy of Oxomoro skipper Doug Frazer, and if you want to see a relationship between a happy owner and boat unfold, check this slideshow out.

Oxomoro and Escape (click to enlarge)

Onboard Slipstream

The race was SO appealing, my boat partners Joe and Becky Burcar and I raced our C&C 36 Slipstream with their 6 year old daughter Charlotte and my 10 year old son Ian.  We would have won (not) for sure if not for a major crisis rounding Blakely Rock. Charlotte needed help getting her socks on, and was really quite insistent about it. Mommy was on the helm, and Joe and I were rather busy at the time and Ian’s help was unacceptable. So, after gybing the headsail and pointing back toward Shilshole, the first order of business was Joe getting Charlotte’s socks on. And you know, that was perfect. As it turned out, Charlotte’s socks were much less of a problem than our spinnaker sock. Following are a couple little videos I posted live to Facebook.

It’s obvious that with smartphone cameras and their ubiquitous use , we’re going to see more and more onboard footage. If you want to share yours on sailish.com or our FB page, let me know.

 

 

 

David Brink Races to Havana

Kurt Hoehne PNW sailors around the world, Racing , 0 Comment
David Brink Races to Havana

It’s fun to see Seattle sailors head out to far flung destinations, and Havana, Cuba is still pretty far flung. Thanks to the efforts of the last Administration, sailors are once again racing to Havana. Even Seattle sailors!

David Brink got one of those great calls from Jamie Stewart looking for a bowman. The boat was Raisin’ Cane, a J/125 owned by Frank Atkinson that Stewart had been sailing with. A Havana Race is not an opportunity to turn down.

Raisn’ Cane

The race itself included a lot of reaching, and Cane was third to finish after the Andrews 70 Simon Says and the Class 40 Dragon. Cane corrected out to second in class and third overall.

Racing aside, the attraction of this race has got to be Havana, and Brink was duly appreciative. After resting and recovering for a day, the crew hired a taxi to show them the sites. They all piled into “René”s 1954 Chevy Coupe (yes, they really exist down there!) and got the tour.

“It’s a whole different world,” Brink explains. “After the tour we went to a bar and we asked René some personal questions, like how much does the government pay and things like that. He really opened up. It made me happy to live in the U.S. We have so many opportunities here.”

“Havana is very, very cool,” Brink says. “I say sign up for the race soon if you can. In five years it will be a total tourist trap.”

And if you think scoring a ride is impossible, consider that one of the crew members on Cane had never sailed on the boat before was found by the skipper on the crew list put out by the race organizer.

Brink and Stewart are sailing on Cane in this year’s Transpac Race. I hear Honolulu’s not a bad place for a race to finish in its own right.

Bieker on Fujin

Kurt Hoehne PNW sailors around the world, Racing , , 4 Comments
Bieker on Fujin

The stories, videos and photos of the Paul Bieker-designed catamaran Fujin keep flying across my computer screen. It absolutely screams for attention! Paul Bieker designed Fujin, and below provides some very keen insight into his process (plus some very cool flow dynamics images!) We’re honored that Paul shares it.

Despite Fujin’s current residence in the Caribbean, it’s really a Pacific Northwest effort. Owner Greg Slyngstad is well known here for his racing campaigns. And a regular path has been beaten to the Caribbean to get Fujin flying. Jonathan and Charlie McKee, Erik Bentzen, Brian Huse, Scott Smith, Jack Christiansen and Fritz Lanzinger have all been onboard at one time or another.

(Photos have been pulled from Facebook and other sites)

It should be no surprise that there’s been plenty of success on the racecourse. She won the Round the Rock race at the St. Thomas International Regatta and placed a close second in the regatta itself. She tied for first in the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta’s Offshore Multihull Class. Unfortunately a slow Caribbean 600 and flight schedules forced Fujin to retire 120 miles from the finish.

We’d love to get some reports from onboard, but in the meantime let’s hear from Bieker, who took time from his somewhat-more-than-full-time responsibilities as Lead Design Engineer with Oracle Racing. Here’s Paul:

Greg came to us after the last America’s Cup asking for a cruising/racing catamaran for sailing in the Caribbean. 

Paul Bieker

We designed the boat with what I think are pretty innovative bow shapes partially inspired by the shapes I saw sailing in Polynesia as a teenager and partially inspired by what I have learned about hull shapes in the 14’s. The lower bow is pretty full and chined to produce more lift and to reduce wetted surface when going fast.  We kept the chine angle in profile fairly steep to help insure that it has a positive angle relative to the waterline when trimmed bow down into a moderately big wave (I have found you can “trip” over chines if they are too flat in profile). We used one of our Americas Cup contacts, Len Imas to do the computational fluid mechanics to optimize the hull shape for a range of speeds and trimming moments. The upper bow and freeboard are cut away as much as possible to reduce windage and weight.  We gave the rudders horizontal wings to help control pitching. The boat has been sailed with and without them and they seem really effective in settling out the trim of the yacht.

Most of these performance cruising cats are compromised by the weight and windage of full standing room cabin between the hulls. The arrangement of Fujin uses a mid wet deck “pod” to provide headroom for a central low profile community space where the galley, settee and navigation station are located.  The private spaces are in the hulls with each hull having a large double berth and head.

We employed another friend from our Americas Cup work, Steven Roberts to do the platform and rig structural design.  His structure for Fujin is a step above other boats of the type and hence Fujin is significantly lighter.  She is entirely carbon/epoxy/foam structure.  The builders, Gold Coast Yachts, did a great job building the boat to the structural specifications and she has proven to be structurally sound.

Now, America’s Cup stuff may have dominated Bieker’s energies for a long time, but I personally feel that his greatest efforts have been in creating innovative dual purpose yachts. Fujin is obviously one, but I’d say Jonathan McKee’s Darkstar is certainly another and my personal favorite is Longboard. Anybody looking for a truly innovative, reliable and structurally sound design would do well to talk to Bieker.

 

Update: Jack Christiansen of North Sails Seattle, one of the NW luminaries aboard Fujin, just shared some videos:

Center Sound Ends with Epic Conditions

Kurt Hoehne Racing , 0 Comment
Center Sound Ends with Epic Conditions
Sachem heading into the mark.

CYC’s Center Sound Series wrapped up with a gorgeous Three Tree Point Race on Saturday. The course, however, didn’t ever get near Three Tree Point as it was shortened to Shilshole-Alki-Meadowpoint-finish. The southerly stayed in the 12-16 knot range for the most part and was actually a bit higher for the beat to Alki. Just as Bruce Hedrick predicted. (sorry, had to mention it)

So it was a fast race with plenty of time to party afterward, and no real surprises in the results. Sachem is still a force upwind, and with waterline conditions downwind she held on for a 2-second overall win ahead of Bravo Zulu and 46 seconds ahead of Finale. In fact it was an all around good day for the “furniture” boats of the fleet, with most of the classes won by medium weight boats with real interiors.

Check out these photos from Jan Anderson and see the all of them on her site. 

 

Crossfire’s Track

In the ORC class laden with carbon rockets, furniture didn’t fare quite as well. Glory chased Crossfire closely around the course the entire way, taking the victory from the mighty 55-footer on corrected time. the Farr 395 Eye Candy, a bone fide cruiser-racer, did manage third on corrected time for her best race of the series.

Different Drummer

Among the cruiser racers that deserve special mention is the Wauquez 40 Different Drummer. Designed by Berret/Racoupeau Yacht Design, it is a great example of what a modern cruiser racer can be. Owner Charles Hill explains the wins didn’t come right away. “It’s taken us a while. We’ve been at this for nine years.” But with being named 48 North’s top boat for 2016, and another Center Sound class win under her belt, it’s clear Different Drummer has found her stride. Hill, who is originally from the U.K., credits a stable, skilled crew for the uptick the last couple of years. A new bottom last year didn’t hurt.

Hill, whose previous racing was on the Irish Sea in events like the Fastnet, says the conditions there aren’t dissimilar to here. And, funny enough, he didn’t buy the boat for racing originally. “We were sucked into the racing,” he explained. Drummer of course has heat and and a fridge, among many other comforts.

For Three Tree, Different Drummer had a single mission, stay in touch with and hopefully ahead of the Sierra 26 Dos. “We figure below eight knots they’re going to beat us, and above 18 knots it doesn’t matter what we do upwind, they’ll just fly by us downwind,” Hill says. “Ten to 16 knots is our sweet spot.” With a 2,1,1 series in a variety conditions, I’d say the sweet spot is sweet indeed.

Oh yeah, and why the shortened course? I’ll let Matt Wood, Race Fleet Captain for CYC, explain:

All the wind models the PRO and I looked at that morning were calling for the wind dying quickly around 1 PM. As many boats DNF’d due to lack of wind in the Blakely Rock race, if the same thing were to happen in the 3Tree Point race, we could have had a 1 race ” series” . 

As the only mark in the non “alternative course” description was the 3 Tree Point turning mark, we face a logistics challenge to attempt to get on station down there and finish, but also maintain a finish line off Shilshole. The whalers are less than ideal for this purpose, and YC5 cannot be in 2 places at once, nor can it move that fast.

As such, we decided to run a race in what wind we did have, and , of course, the breeze held all afternoon. That said, the breeze did eventually go light and variable in the middle of the afternoon off Alki, and was pretty much done off Shilshole by 5 or so, which would have been when the majority of the fleet would have made it to the original finish line. We did not please everyone, but we did get a 3 race series in for most people, and pulled off a good social event at the YC in the afternoon. As a note, the RC did not get off the water until 3 PM notwithstanding, as there were several stragglers.

Up next, Sloop Tavern’s Blakely Rock Benefit Race. This year it will benefit The Sailing Foundation, so pony up and get out there. The Sailing Foundation does great things for young sailors around here. And, as always, we’ll be tapping Hedrick to prognosticate the weather on Friday.

Remember, you can sign up for the sailish.com newsletter.  I’m also trying to get some local discussion going on forums. Just look for the “Forums: Have Your Say” menu item and pull down. You’ll have to register over in the sidebar. Let me know if anything isn’t working, or if you have some topics you’d like to get going.

Bridge of DOOM

Kurt Hoehne Youth Sailing 0 Comment

There are a lot of great kids’ boats and programs out there, but every time I see a Bic Open “regatta” I think to myself, “Man, I wish they had that when I was a kid.” Well, I wish they had a bridge of doom when I was a kid. Come to think of it, that would put a whole new wrinkle in one of our local regattas. Even for grown ups.

 

Want More Bruce?

Kurt Hoehne Bruce's Briefs, Weather 2 Comments

One of the great pleasures in creating sailish.com is working with Bruce Hedrick on the weather briefs. Obviously, there’s a wealth of knowledge there. Moreover, he genuinely loves sailing and racing and wants to share that with everyone.

But some of us want more Bruce. Maybe we’re thinking about that Vancouver Island circumnavigation or the big trek north to Glacier Bay or is it a good window to do a delivery down the coast to California? 

Bruce Hedrick

Fortunately, there’s a way to do it. Bruce’s advanced weather analysis and routing can be tailored to your timing and to your specific vessel. And while Bruce’s blood has a high percentage of baggywrinkle, much if not most of his routing is for motor yachts heading off on long voyages. Especially when it comes to going north of Puget Sound, using both weather and tidal analysis can extend the range of those precious tanks of diesel. Since most routing involves speaking with the skipper or navigator twice a day by sat phone, go, no-go decisions when it comes to open water crossings can be made with a very high degree of confidence. There’s no easier way to ruin a summer cruise than to get caught out in nasty weather.   

If you’re not familiar with Bruce’s qualifications, they’re a great mix of academic and practical. He and his brother Gregg raced on the family’s Columbia 50 in the 1960s. In the oh-so-active 1970s, his family campaigned the Chance 50 Warrior with great success. Along the way, 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 Managing Editor for Northwest Yachting Magazine, retiring in mid-2015, was the chairman of the Board of Trustees for the Northwest Marine Trade Association from 2013 until 2015 and currently serves on the Board.   

Over the years Bruce has navigated everything from The Perry 68 Icon to the Ranger 29 Ed. In 2015 he won class in TransPac as navigator aboard the Santa Cruz 50 Allure. 

Want more Bruce? Email him here.

 

The Car puts her Stamp on the Islands Race, Three Tree Team Wins South Sound Series

Kurt Hoehne Racing , , 0 Comment
The Car puts her Stamp on the Islands Race, Three Tree Team Wins South Sound Series

The South Sound Series came to warm, happy end over the weekend as the fleet sailed in good breeze the whole day and finished the race on a sunny note. Champion for the day was Paul LeMarche’s mighty SC70 Neptune’s Car, elapsed time, class and overall winner. Results here.

A rainy start to the day sent the fleet on its way along Colvos Passage on a fairly square run. After rounding the mark on the north side of Blake Island, it was back the way they came, but time fighting the permanent current. As the sun came out the wind clocked, giving the fleet a long starboard tack on the way home. Jan Anderson, whose photographs are presented here, reported

“Most of the spinnakers were fairly well organized (not a lot of calamity but a whole lotta color!), yet wet – wet – wet, making it tough to get a reasonable shot without rain on Jan’s lens.  Shoot – wipe – shoot – wipe – repeat – ad infinitum.  Passing the turning mark, though, where only momentarily the wind shut down in the lee of Blake Island, someone somewhere flipped a switch … the sky slowly cleared, the breeze kicked it up several notches, and for most of the fleet, the beat back to the finish off Gig Harbor was exactly that, a BEAT.”

See the rest of Jan’s photos here.

Onboard “The Car” 10 very busy bodies kept the sails going up and down in fine fashion and, according to Ballard Sails‘ Alex Simanis, they were clicking on pretty much all the oscillating shifts including about 10 gybes down Colvos. Upwind without much rail weight they opted for the #4 headsail instead of the #3. The Car isn’t your average SC70. She has about six more feet of rig plus a bigger J (foretriangle) and E (main foot) that other SCs, plus a lot more interior.

A look at the Car’s #4.

Simanis reports that Ballard Sails is selling a lot of sails these days. Some sails are built right here in Ballard while they also have a Sri Lanka loft build a lot of other sails to their own design. The tragic passing of sail designer Doug Christie a year and half ago left a void, which has since been filled by John Fries, who works with lot of high-powered East Coast racing programs. “We’re really happy with his designs,” Simanis reports.

Simanis has great plans for next year. He’s going to sail his own boat Poke ‘n Destroy to Hawaii in the Pacific Cup.

The South Sound Final Tally

As the Southern Sound Series comes to a conclusion, here are the winners:

Winning Team: Three Tree Point Yacht Club Nimbus, EQUUS, Les Chevaux Blancs

First Overall (on lowest cumulative class finishes): Bodacious

Best in Fleet (lowest fleet position scores: Kahuna

Congratulations all, and congrats to South Sound Sailing Society and all the host clubs, for once again putting on a fine series.

 

Don’t forget, Bruce Hedrick will be looking into his crystal weather ball on Friday before CYC’s Three Tree Point Race. To receive the sailish.com newsletter sign up here. You can also get notifications when the weather reports are online by checking the Weather Notifications box when you sign up.