One of the impossible things to explain to non-sailors is that floating around waiting for a race to happen (that never does happen) can actually be a fine way to spend a day. Such was the case with Saturday’s Three Tree What’s the Point Race.
The point was it was a lot of fun to catch up with mates. And while the crews all cheered when CYC called it off (after valiant attempt to get a shortened course race off), my guess is for nearly everyone it was a welcome, enforced, time off from their daily lives. There weren’t even too many cell phones out.
Thank goodness some cell phones were out, because we caught some shenanigans on Double Take. Thanks to Brian Ferris and Dave Ferguson for the footage.
First, there was that seal. We’re not sure what particular kind of salmon she was smoking, but she went crazy, porpoising and clearing the water over and over again for what seemed like an hour and a half, but was probably only about 15 minutes. There was something about Elusive that kept her there most of the time, so close the crew could have easily touched her on some of her jumps. (Maybe somebody from Elusive can share the video that surely took)
Then there is Malcolm’s Jump, perhaps inspired by the seal. Nobody has embraced sailboat racing more quickly or with more enthusiasm than Malcolm MacNeil. And he’s got the fun part down better than most.
Wouldn’t it be nice to have our friend the seal visit for every race delay? Or maybe Malcolm can just swim around from boat to boat and jump of spreaders. Regardless, it was a fine day for animals.
So, the results from the first two races stand and all those rivalries will have to wait for another day before they’re settled.
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.
We’ll know more tomorrow when Bruce Hedrick clues us in to Saturday’s weather/tactical scenario, but as of right now it’s looking light for Three Tree Point, the final race of CYC’s Center Sound Series. Check back tomorrow late afternoon or evening, or sign up for the email list in the sidebar to get notified of all the posts via email.
With that in mind, who’s going to win? Bloggers get to toss out their prognostications as they’re worth exactly the amount as the paper they’re printed on, so that’s what I’m doing. Here goes:
IRC: John Buchan has the TP 52 Glory dialed in, and we can expect that to continue. Look for 55′ Crossfire to possibly get it rolling, particularly if the wind is stronger just a leeeetle bit higher off the water than the TP’s squaretops. Steve Travis’ Smoke crew is figuring it out, and their time will come. And watch out for Double Take. We’re hungry.
Multi: A wild guess that Freda Mae, the only entry, will win. Where are the multis?
PHRF Class 7: Terremoto generally has her way with this rating band no matter the wind conditions. Charlie Macaulay has Absolutely going fast, but it’s a tall order to keep up with all that asymmetrical sail area on Terremoto downwind in the light stuff. Wouldn’t it be great to see the super skinny Bob Perry designed Francis Lee ghost out ahead? They had a rough time of it with a new chute in Scatchet Head. Carl and Carol Buchan’s Madrona was out for the last race, and if out they are always a threat.
Class 6: Sachem, Sachem, Sachem. I just loved it the last couple Scatchet Heads when Bill Buchan opted for winging out his jib instead of death rolling all the way to Whidbey Island, and doing just fine, thank you very much. You won’t catch me betting against Bill Buchan. Denny Vaughn’s Bravo Zulu is, as always, strong and can be expected to stay in the money. The J109s Tantivy and Shada should both be back in contentions after their DNFs for Scatchet. If you haven’t read the story of Tantivy‘s man overboard recovery, it’s here.
Class 5: You can’t get a lot different from the first two boats in this class, the Wauquiez C40S Different Drummer and the Sierra 26 Dos. DD is a strong, modern cruiser racer built to cross oceans and cruise in comfort after the race is over. The Sierra? Well, not so much. Dos has proven fast in all conditions and hasn’t capsized in a while, so look for her to excel.
Class 4: That J/105 class is solid and it’s winner take all between More Jubilee and Last Tango for Three Tree Point. Flip a coin. And try not to disrupt things if you see them match racing.
Back in 2014 the J/105s jockeyed for position at the start of another not-so-windy Three Tree Point Race. Jan Anderson Photo.
Class 3: Here and Now looked awesome in Scatchet Head, but is tied with John Cahill’s Gaucho for the series. Three Tree will be another chapter in their long rivalry. This is a very interesting and competitive class and, despite the differences in boats, they all have similar performance parameters. Muffin and Kiwi Express will keep the front runners honest. I’m thinking it’s Gaucho‘s year.
Class 2: Here’s another class where three disparate boats are nearly tied for points. Cherokee is leading, followed by the J/80 Jolly Green and Ken Chin’s Kowloon. I’m guessing the J/80 might have the advantage if conditions get really sticky.
Class 1 : The Tbird Selchie has a 2nd and 1st in the series, but Nate Creitz’ Olson 35 Three Ring Circus is right there, and with it’s masthead rig could well have an advantage on Saturday if winds are as light as predicted.
Casual Class: Five boats were entered in this class, but so far only four have sailed and only Kite has finished both races. This is the class in which the brothers Burcar and I would enter the C&C 36 Slipstream (with our crew of 1 thru 9 year olds and a solid three bladed prop), so I’m keeping an eye on it. That’s the class where the boat having the most fun wins, right? That could go either with a boatload of kids.
Again, check out Bruce’s forecast tomorrow. Have a great race. If you have your own predictions, share them in the comments area below.
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.
You’ve seen his designs (probably even owned one) and read his design reviews, but did you know that yacht designer Bob Perry digs dogs? Ever since I’ve known him there’s been a dog or two or three around Bob’s office. It’s obvious they only help the design process. Here we see Bob chauffering Ruby.
Have a Northwest dog photo or story? Please share!
What’s Bob doing now? Well, he’s not slowing down. He’s closely monitoring the construction of the multiple carbon cutters being built by Jim Betts in Anacortes. The deck is being jointed to hull #1 today. I can’t wait to see the new boats. Talk about original!
The Perry 43′ cutter design taking shape at James Betts Enterprises.
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.
With the crew to leeward the skipper could even hike out – a bit anyway.
Focus focus focus.
This is SO exciting. When I put it out there yesterday that if anyone had photos or video from the Olympia NWISA regatta, please share, someone did! Thanks to Hannah Tuson-Turner for getting the following links to Jim Skeel’s photography and video to me.
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.
If you haven’t noticed, high school sailing is more than alive and well, it’s thriving! In this past weekend’s Olympia Regatta, Orcas Vikings 1 team won, with Lincoln High School of Portland 2nd and Bainbridge “Blue” 3rd. Results here. If anybody has a recap or some more photos they want to share, chime in in the comments section or email them to me and I’ll add them to this post.
Here’s the thing: There were 34 (!) teams, plus all the coaches, parents and, dare we say, spectators that turned up. These events are huge and healthy. Where were these when I was a kid in Illinois?
“Hurry up and wait!”
And while everyone wrings their hands about the declining racing participation, the solution may be right under our noses. Encourage and support these young people to hone their skills and keep having lots of fun and the salt water (or fresh) will run in their veins forever. Give them opportunities to join the crew of a big boat – and you might have a secret weapon on your hands.
Two Orcas crews working downwind – from the Facebook Page.
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.
During last Saturday’s Scatchet Head Race, Gina Layton fell overboard during a tack. It could happen to anyone. Luckily, it happened on Stuart Burnell’s Tantivy. Burnell not only has practiced man overboard drills, he’s had real life experience with them. Stuart has taken the time to write this tale up in the hopes that the rest of us can take something from it as well.
Gina looked perfectly dry, warm and not very traumatized at all back at the dock. – KMH
By Stuart Burnell
In the 10+ years I have owned Tantivy, we have had two people go overboard, one in 2014 and now one in 2016. Of the nine crew on Tantivy this weekend, five have fallen overboard from some boat at some point. I slipped and went overboard off a T-bird in 1996.
The point is that in every case we all found ourselves going overboard so fast there was nothing to done except to enjoy the ride. It can, and does, happen.
On this race the wind was in the low teens before we left the dock for this CYC Seattle race. Crew members Paul, Meg and I were discussing which head sail we were going to use and the rest of the crew were busy rigging the boat.
We started without a headsail, hoisted the kite and took off. Jan Anderson took a few very good photos of Tantivy right after the start and you can clearly see we did not have the Lifeslings in place.
After 15 to 30 minutes we gybed to port and crossed Balance and Sachem. Right after that, crew member Suzette noticed the two Lifeslings usually mounted on the stern rail were not in place. She immediately took care of that.
If the Slings had not been in place it would have taken a lot longer to get Gina out of the water.
Everyone had life jackets on.
Steps as executed:
Crew hollers man overboard!
We have a designated spotter, who in this case was Suzette who moved to the back of the boat and deployed a Lifesling.
Trimmers and foredeck stayed at their posts to complete our tack as did the foredeck crew. We dropped the headsail (our #3 does not furl). The trimmers went forward to help secure it.
Tantivy, seen here smoking along downwind, was missing its Lifeslings on the stern rail. Fortunately, the mistake was caught soon after Jan Anderson took this photo.
Once the jib was secured, the main trimmer and driver maneuvered the boat back to Gina. We did the standard figure eight maneuver and rounded down wind and stopped the 20 feet from her. Paul and Suzette pulled Gina to the stern where we deployed the swim ladder and pulled her to and over the transom.
The system worked well for us. We do have the block and tackle to bring some one over the side rather than the transom. Both man overboard retrievals (2014 and 2016) have been in 20 plus knots of wind and in 3+ foot waves. Over the transom always seems safest for us.
We soon found ourselves aground and unable to get off the bottom by sailing. So, our race ended when we had to use the engine to get back into deep water.
Grounding
I think getting blown down on to a weather beach could have been avoided. After Gina grabbed the Lifesling, I was more concerned with stopping the boat than positioning the it. We could have possibly pointed the bow away from the beach, which would have allowed a little more time to hoist the jib and get control of the boat once she was completely recovered.
While we have done a number of man overboard practices, we have never tried to get the boat going again without using the engine.
This summer you will see Tantivy doing that as a drill.
Practice Practice Practice
Having done two real live man overboard maneuvers I can say doing the drills is so very important. We trained with Bill Walton before the Vic Maui in 1994, 1996, 2000, and we did it before the Van Isle 360 in 2011 and 2013. In 2013 we had everyone on board drive the boat and run though the various other positions: spotter, driver, main trim and sail handling, plus who went for the block and tackle.
Now we will work on getting the sails back up and racing again. While I feel really bad about having someone fall overboard, I feel very good about how well the crew performed under very stressful conditions. To my knowledge, three of the crew we had on Saturday had never done a man overboard drill.
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.
There’s nothing like a man overboard incident in a racing situation to see who’s got seamanship and who doesn’t.
Yep, if you haven’t heard, there was at least one overboard incident in last Saturday’s Scatchet Head Race. It was handled so well there really was no reason to hear about it. Unless you want to learn something from it.
It all started when Gina Layton was deposited in the drink during a tack. Skipper Stuart Burnell and the Tantivy crew handled Gina’s swimming sojourn with consummate skill, getting her back onboard within a minute and a half and then getting themselves out of a grounding as swimmer and boat had drifted onto the shallow shelf off Edmonds before getting stuck there.
Nope, no issues there. Another boat even stood by just in case.
The issue and some questions apply to everyone else who was out there. How many of us would react as well? How many of us have even deployed a Lifesling in rehearsal? (a fair number, I’m sure, but not nearly all.)
And how many of us take this as a sign that we need to practice, prepare and talk about man overboard and other situations more often? Seamanship, in my view, is mostly about preparing the crew for such a situation.
The first step in preparation may be listening to Neptune’s warnings. I’m thinking Gina’s plunge was one of those.
The Race
There was a race, and what a race it was. The run to Scatchet Head was fast, and the mid 20-kt gusts rewarded the planing hulls and punished heavier boats that stayed in displacement mode too much of the time. And made for some great Jan Anderson photos.
The beat back was very puffy, and sharp driving and main trim in the puffs could make a big difference one way or another.
There were a few surprises, the first being that the wind died, not built as we got further north. Another surprise was a slight right hand shift after rounding the mark that helped some of the boats coming from behind.
The stories will be trickling out over the next couple of weeks, and I plan on collecting a few then inciting a few rivalries before Three Tree Point.
In the meantime, there were a few great performances that deserve mention.
On Double Take we had to take a couple transoms to get back to the left side of the course. Jan Anderson photos.
After I reminded Charlie and his great Absolutely great crew one too many times about last year’s dismasting, they sailed an amazing race (on the former Voodoo Child) and handily won the very tough class 7. Congrats Charlie! Here and Now must have had things rolling along downwind and certainly looked good coming back to weather. On Double Take it took us a frightfully long time to catch up to her again. And don’t you just love it when a Thunderbird (Selchie) wins her class in those conditions?
Those two TP 52s, Glory and Smoke, are ridiculously fast both downwind and upwind in those conditions. Crossfire, the Reichel/Pugh 55 hit 26 knots. We may hear more from Crossfire‘s navigator Bruce Hedrick on that score if we can pry him away from the navigation hardware and software he’s working on for Vic-Maui.
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.
I have a very mixed relationship with Legos. Like a lot of parents, the hours of entertainment for my boys (and my peace) are just about worth the absolutely ridiculous prices I pay for plastic games that clip together. They foster focus, a sense of accomplishment and true excitement for Ian (9) and Gabe (4). I even feel a certain amount of pleasure when I’m called in to help on a difficult part.
But when that final piece is snapped on, the trouble begins. The first trouble is the Sanctity of the Lego. For a time, which can vary from an hour to a month, The Toy is not to be disrupted. The box must also not be thrown into recycling. A shrine is set up somewhere in the house where It cannot be disturbed. But disturbed It will be, usually by Gabe or one of his friends. And by disturbed, unsnapped. At that point, hopefully before Ian sees the damage, I can piece it back together usually when I have something else pressing in “real life.” If I can’t fix it, when Ian finds the damage the ensuing howl will be heard all the way to Oregon.
But that’s not the worst of it. The worst of it is that ultimately when interest is lost in The Toy (usually when it’s superceded by another Lego puzzle) it goes into The Bins. The Bins are boxes of Lego pieces from 20+ puzzles over the years. Every time the boys want to play Legos and there are no new puzzles to tackle, the bins’ contents are deposited on a bed sheet on the floor. And, no matter what, Lego pieces escape from that sheet and become landmines for anyone walking around in my house, or chokable objects for visiting babies.
Either inside the bins or lurking in every nook and cranny of furniture or floor, these thousands of pieces take up permanent residence in my small house. Being a sailor, I’m not fond of clutter. So I go a little crazy.
No doubt my boys will require therapy as they explain “Dad went crazy just ’cause he found a little Lego piece in his underwear. He yelled and it wasn’t even my fault. It was my brother’s!”
Ah, but here is a completely worthwhile Lego project, done by adults and seen by thousands. And if you doubt they can make a working canting keel, you haven’t seen much of Legos lately. I’m sure kids (and grownups) will love it, but all I’ll be thinking about is how miserable it would be to have the clean up the 100,000 pieces!
Now, this gives me an idea. Show Ian these pictures and challenge him to make a miniature two-meter long Volvo 65! It would give me weeks of peace! Oh wait, there’s no room for the shrine. Oh well.
ALICANTE, March 8 – A model boat of Team SCA, made entirely of 100,000 LEGO® pieces, will be exhibited in the Volvo Ocean Race museum from today.
The launch of the Volvo Ocean 65 replica boat, which safely delivered the all-female crew of Team SCA around the world in the 2014-15 race, coincides with International Women’s Day.
The model was donated by SCA, the Swedish global hygiene company, which sponsored skipper Sam Davies’s crew in the nine-month marathon race.
It was displayed at each of the 11 ports that hosted the 12th edition before being transported to its new permanent home in the Alicante-based Volvo Ocean Race museum.
“The boat is in the best place possible. After a long journey around the world, it has returned home,” said Anders Gaasedal, one of the men who constructed it.
October 21, 2014. A 1:10 scale replica of Team SCA’s VO65, built of Lego bricks.
The Dane, who works for LEGO®, embarked in 2013 on the challenge of making the Volvo Ocean 65 replica together with his Swedish friend Johan Sahlström, an engineer for Volvo Trucks. They achieved their target after 1,200 hours of work.
“At the start of the regatta, we dreamed of bringing the boat back to Alicante. This has been an adventure for us and for Team SCA. It’s marvellous that the boat is being exhibited in the museum. The more people who can enjoy it the better,” added Sahlström.
What started as a diverting challenge for two friends, developed into a complete engineering and logistic project, replicating in miniature the dimensions of the boat (2.32 metres in length, 3.03 metres mast height, 0.56 metres width of the hull). It has a functioning, scaled-down keel (+/- 40 degrees with five degrees of tilt from its axis).
“Everything works, the pieces are not stuck together. The most difficult thing was making everything curve using pieces that are basically rectangular. This is most beautiful model that I have ever made,” said Sahlström.
“Our boat from the distance looks like a real model, you can´t see it´s made of LEGO® bricks, and then, when you come closer, it´s a great surprise.
Anders Gaasedal and Johan Sahlström show off their 2-meter Lego model of the SCA Volvo 65.
Everything has curves, it´s been built in 3D, the bricks have been put together from the top, the side and the bottom, and all is shiny. Children always build from the bottom to the top.”
The Volvo Ocean Race museum, which offers free entrance, welcomed more than 50,000 visitors in 2015 and is the only one in the world dedicated to almost 43 years of history of the round-the-world race.
Alicante, headquarters of the Volvo Ocean Race organisation since 2010, was the departure port in the last three editions of the race and will be so again in the next event starting in 2017.
SCA has a long record supporting women’s causes around the world and Team SCA’s entry in the last Volvo Ocean Race underlined their commitment to the issue of female empowerment.
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.
Malcolm MacNeil free-climbed to the first set of spreaders to get this shot, much to the consternation (or at least concern) of skipper Tom Huseby.
I got a call from my friend Brad on Thursday. “Want to race Blakely Rock on Saturday?” A quick conversation with my lovely, mostly understanding wife Abby, and I was signed up. But it wasn’t without mixed feelings.
See, I had lead poisoning at an early age. Not the serious kind you might get in Flint, Michigan or die from while seeking the Northwest Passage in the 1800s, but the kind you get from racing keelboats. There is one similarity, however: judgment is one of the first things to go. I understand memory is affected as well.
Tom explaining his concern to Malcolm, and Malcolm politely “listening.”
Nobody, but nobody, can rationalize (and self-deceive) better than a racing sailor. How else can you explain spending hours in a stress position, while cold and wet, and then eagerly come out for more the next time? How else can you explain racing vastly different boats and pretending they’re somehow really equalized by a handicapping system – any handicapping system? As often as I’ve had great races, I’ve walked off the dock wondering if I should spend more time on the mountain trails or with my little Laser.
The key here is that it’s not always like that. Sometimes, like on Saturday, it’s intoxicating. It’s sunny and relatively warm, the breeze is fair and favorable and the snow-covered mountains seem to have been put there for your own private viewing pleasure. And if you’re on a good boat with a good skipper and crew, as I was on Double Take, it’s near perfect. You forget all the other stuff.
By virtue of it being the first “big” race of the season, Blakely Rock is not one to be missed. There might be a new boat or two. Let’s see who’s got a new mainsail or chute. Who is sailing with whom? Now for a few of the diehards, it’s not new at all. They’ve already been out for Duwamish Head Race or maybe some Sloop Tavern buoy races.
Personally, I love to see a big Blakely Rock blow. I love knocking the rust off in one fell swoop and watching others do the same. And this race is always a reminder of Kelly O’Neil’s positive energy that seems to bubble around the Rock along with all the tulips that are tossed in her honor.
Not much rust was knocked off this year. From the start it was a yummy fetch to the Rock, then a quick spinnaker set and gybe. Then it was a long starboard tack reach toward the mark south of Edmonds, that is until the east-south-easterly shut off completely. When the west-north-westerly appeared in the most subtle way possible, everybody got to head straight for that mark (now the finish mark, thanks to an alert and decisive Corinthian YC PRO).
Tom and Brad could stay focused in the light winds because they were assured the freighter was “no problem.” The rumble of its engines gave those of us who couldn’t see some anxious moments before it appeared to leeward.
Yes, Virginia, there weren’t many tactics to speak of. The boats that footed too much on the first leg were faced with a short but painful tack to make the Rock. The crews that weren’t paying attention on the long leg north were a step or two slow in transition. But all in all, it was point and go. Crews got to catch up on rail jokes and if you didn’t get sunscreen on early enough there was a real danger of getting a crispy nose.
On Double Take, we managed to start on the weather hip of Smoke with Glory coming up to full speed on our weather hip, so we got spit out and rolled. Then we lost our chance to go right early, but that served us well as we had a great position for the long fetch.
The rust was apparent just after the spinnaker hoist when a tangled lazy sheet yelled, NO GYBING UNTIL YOU DEAL WITH ME! Since when did something so lazy get so much power anyway?
The lazy spin sheet, seen here pretty clearly, decided to make life difficult for us. Bad Sheet! Very bad sheet. Photo by Jan Anderson. Everyone should go to https://janpix.smugmug.com/Events/Blakely-Rock-2016/. Let’s all support Jan this year for all the good work she and Skip do!
We did deal with it, gybe and get rolling. Everything remained fun as Glory, Smoke and the Car ran away from us while we systematically worked our way over, through and around the smaller boats. The only bummer was Jam. She drove through and by us in what were “our” conditions, not hers. Yuk. Hmmm. Are those new sails on Jam? Whatever it is, we can’t let that happen again. “Again.” See where this is going. . .
Well, in my leaden mind I’m hearing once again,
So, did I punch the right button on this stupid thing?
“big boat racing is great.” For a while, at least, that’s all I can remember.
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.
Oh this is exciting. My buddy Bruce Hedrick is sharing his insights about tomorrow’s CYC Blakely Rock Race. If you don’t know Bruce, just ask around or come back here soon, ’cause I’ll have an explanation of just why you should listen to him on these pages as soon as I have a minute.
It’s the start of March so it’s got to be time for the best sailing series on Puget Sound, the CYC Center Sound Series. The first race is the Blakely Rock Race which is tomorrow, March 5th, and in keeping with the year so far, we’ll have wind for the start and then it will start to drop. At least it won’t be super wet as this front is coming through this afternoon and this evening, and the next one isn’t due until Sunday .
24-hour surface chart
Surface Chart 1600 Saturday
Surface Chart 0400 Sunday
Unfortunately we’ll be between fronts so it could get a bit squirrely out there tomorrow and the first folks around the course will have an advantage, especially as the tide starts to ebb at around 1300 hours. Just remember that with consistent southerlies the ebb will start sooner and last longer. With the max flood being the small flood of the day and only .2 knot it may not even show at West Point as the water is rolling out of the Duwamish and with the freshwater staying on top of the salt water it just may ebb all day at West Point.
Tides
Tides based upon West Point
Slack 0851
Max flood 1042 .2 knts
Slack 1253
Max ebb 1647 .9 knts
Slack 2032
The current is also ripping out of the Ship Canal as the ACoE is trying to make sure there won’t be too much water in Lake Washington and Lake Union and with more rain projected to be on the way, all the spillways at the Locks are open. So depending upon where CYC sets the starting line, you’ll have to adjust your tactics accordingly for getting over to the Bainbridge side of the course. You’ll want to get out to the start line early especially if you’re going to try and sail your team into racing shape and this is your first sail of the year. Check the set at the starting line and if CYC has set the line well off of Shilshole you’ll want to see if there is any flood showing up at all in the starting area. If there is, there will be a clear line of demarcation as the flood meets the ebb from the Locks and from the Duwamish. So if you start on starboard in flood tide, only go on starboard until you can see the ebb and then tack to port and beat feet to the west. The wind should be out of the due south with a very slight knock as you get to the west side of the Sound. Work your way down to Blakely Rock and don’t feel like you have to go all the way into the beach at Bainbridge as the wind and current may be better slightly offshore.
MM5 1000 Saturday
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1600
1700
1800
It will be the leg from Blakely Rock north to the temp mark that will be east of the VTS buoy where it may get light and squirrely. Typically the breeze lasts longer on the west side of the Sound as it starts to die away. Unfortunately, the MM5 charts show the Sound starting to look like Swiss cheese at around 1300 hours. Luckily you’ll have ebb to sweep you up to the top mark.
Coming back from the top mark you may have to deal with a light northerly and as that fills in, you’ll want to make your way to the beach north of Meadow Point to stay out of the building ebb. From there it will be gybing to stay in the wind and out of the tide as you work your way to the finish.
Wind speed vs air pressure the last few days at West Point.
In the morning before you leave house you’ll want to check the conditions at West Point(WPOW1), the Washington State Ferry weather, and if you subscribe to (highly recommended) the OCENS GRIB + program, you’ll want to download the most recent NDFD HiRes and GFS HiRes GRIB files to get an even better feel for what is going to happen.
When you get to the boat, do your normal rigging but set up for light air on the run and make sure you’ve got the light barber haulers set up on both the port and starboard side so you can go to it immediately without having to do the set-up on the course.
The above all else, keep your head out of the boat and watch what is going on around you. You should know who the fast folks are so keep an eye on them as well.
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.
