Bruce Hedrick, center, with NMTA President George Harris at left and Craig Perry, Chairman of the Board.
At Friday’s annual Northwest Marine Trade Association (NMTA) meeting, our own Bruce Hedrick received the Jerry C. Bryant award for “the most outstanding contribution to the marine industry from someone within the marine industry.”
For those who know Bruce, this is certainly no surprise. But for those who may know Bruce only from his Briefs here on Sailish.com, let’s just say he’s the Northwest guy who’s done everything in the boating industry including owning stores, running a sail loft, editing a magazine and selling boats.
Most importantly, in addition to making a living in the marine industry, he’s always given back and is a tireless promoter of the boating lifestyle. He has served on the NMTA board and frequently makes himself available for helping promote events and clubs throughout the region.
And, by the way, he’s a helluva sailboat racer. And a keen cook. Above all, he’s a good friend willing to step in at a moment’s notice.
And you get to read his weather briefs here! (Start counting your lucky stars now.)
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.
On a recent visit to the Northwest Maritime Center in Port Townsend, Executive Director (and R2AK Guru) Jake Beattie told me about an exciting partnership of the Center with the local schools. When my own son recites the familiar refrain, “when am I ever going to use math in real life?!” as he faces homework, I think of this program. I hope to take a more in-depth look at the initiative, but in the meantime here’s a short description and some introductory videos. Be sure to share with your children’s educators! -KH
MARITIME DISCOVERY SCHOOLS INITIATIVE
Imagine a school day where students’ minds and senses are fully engaged, where subjects jump off the page in the context of the real world around them—learning to swim as part of kindergarten PE, watching math come alive through sail-making, studying salmon habitat restoration for science, or biology through growing an oyster. This is what is meant by place-based education, where the unique resources of our community are used systematically throughout a student’s academic career.
The impact on our school system is positive and profound.
Working with teachers, parents, and area business and non-profit partners, Port Townsend Schools have a 5-year plan to implement a central Maritime Framework throughout K-12 education and anchor all subjects and grade levels in experiences of our maritime community.
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.
Who cares about the Pink Boat regatta winner? That’s easy – anyone who cares about researching cures and treatments for breast cancer. That’s the race here. In addition to the wildly silly costumes donned at the three Pink Boat Regattas around the Northwest this year, real money was raised for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Jennifer Mathis of the Pink Boat Regatta shared the good news:
Following-up with you from your original email with how the 2018 Pink Boat Regattas did this year! To sum it up — AMAZING! Here are the breakdowns:
While we are still finalizing our total dollar amount that we will be writing our check to “The Breast Cancer Research Foundation”, I wanted to share this exciting news with you. As you may be aware, October is Breast Cancer Awareness month and we are still receiving donations. We hope to do our check presentation in New York sometime next month.
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.
Margaret Pommert of The Sailing Foundation wants to make sure that those who want to get into the Safety at Sea course this February are able to. Classes fill up, and rightly so. Also, there’s early bird pricing. Here’s a little video on the program, followed by the press release. By the way, if anyone who takes the course wants to do a review for sailish.com, I’d love it! – KH
Press Release for the US Sailing Safety at Sea Course
Headline: U.S. Sailing Safety at Sea Course®; Feb 9&10 2019 in Vancouver, WA
The Sailing Foundation, with local boating clubs, will be offering the U.S. Sailing two-day International Offshore Safety at Sea Course with Hands-on Training® on February 9 and 10, 2019 at the Marshall Leupke Center in Vancouver, Washington.
This complies with World Sailing Offshore Personal Survival Course guidelines. Offshore races such as the Oregon Offshore, Vic-Maui, Van Isle 360, and Pacific Cup have requirements for this training. If you hope to participate in these races, understand the requirements and don’t miss the chance to take this class! This class typically fills up a month or 2 in advance very year, leaving would-be racers and others who are “slow off the line”…. left behind. Don’t let that happen to you!
As an added incentive to sign up now, “Early Bird” pricing is available until Nov 1.
This informative and entertaining course is endorsed by Sailing World and Cruising World magazines. It includes classroom, in the pool, and hands on training, and is designed to enhance your sailing skills as a crewmember. Whether you are a racer or a cruisier it will make you, your boat and crew safer. Moderator Bruce Brown, and local boating safety experts have tailored their presentations to give you as much relevant information as possible in the two-day experience. Days are long, but you’ll come out of each with a better understanding of the many topics covered.
Day one (Saturday) will be in a classroom setting where instructors discuss topics including heavy weather sail selection and use, man overboard and safety gear, offering assistance to other vessels, safety communication devices and EPIRBs, personal safety gear, heavy weather techniques, abandon ship and life raft procedures, medical emergencies, and weather forecasting. There will also be a discussion on what lessons U.S. Sailing has learned from studying recent and relevant emergencies at sea.
Day two (Sunday) will take participants through hands-on scenarios in pyrotechnics and fire-fighting, and then into the pool for life jacket inflation and practice, life raft deployment and entry training. Classroom sessions that day delve into remote-boating medical scenarios and kits, weather routing, sail repair and maintenance, and Lifesling® crew overboard rescue training.
By participating in and completing the seminar, attendees will earn a certificate from U.S. Sailing that can be used when racing offshore and internationally.
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.
Quite frequently I come across some history about sailing on Seattle’s Green Lake, which is just down the street from my house. Just in the last few months I’ve learned that there used to be active Pelican, Sea Scouter (a purpose built Sea Scout dinghy) and El Toro racing. It sounds like the city was even supportive, or at least didn’t try to stop it. Rumor has it that it all kind of dried up when the city took over sole management. From what I can tell, a private company offers boat rentals there now – mostly SUPs and kayaks.
Even more frequently, I think “what a great place for people to sail.” Yeah, the winds there might not be steady, and it won’t be long before you bump into shore but a lot of great metro sailing happens around the world on lakes just like that, and worse. Over the years I’ve seen city owned Toppers, Zumas and now I guess Hunter Xcites, and they’re occasionally rented. I saw lessons being conducted on the lake this year but can’t find a web link for any future ones. Once in a while a Windsurfer or Laser makes its appearance. Not surprisingly, the City of Seattle doesn’t seem to recognize that recreational sailing is a vital part of our community and it should devote at least some support. There are three major rowing regattas there each year.
Here’s a chance for sailors to have their say on what happens on Green Lake via the Green Lake Small Craft Center Redevelopment program. No doubt the rowers will be on hand. We should be too. By all appearances sailing is pretty much an afterthought except for the Mount Baker Rowing and Sailing Center. Click on the following headline to be taken to the original post on the Phinneywood.com website.
Parks is holding an information session from 5:30-6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 3, at the Green Lake Small Craft Center, 5900 West Green Lake Way N. Meet the design team, Schacht | Aslani Architects, learn about the site opportunities and constraints, and offer input on what a new small craft center might look like. This is a follow-up to the initial design idea meeting in June.
Initial funding is coming from the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods’ Neighborhood Matching Fund Program. The Green Lake Rowing Advisory Council is looking for more funding from the Seattle Park District Major Projects Challenge Fund, State grants, and private fundraising.
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 Singles YC’s Northwest Harvest Benefit Race turned out to be a good one. The best turnout in some time, good competition and fundraising for a great cause. Thanks to Sue Weiss and Mark Philiposian for getting the photos and the report.
By Mark Philiposian
Breeze, sunshine, no rain…if we’re lucky on Puget Sound, this is a “pick two” proposition. For this NW Harvest Benefit race, we got all three! Bruce Hedrick’s forecast and advice turned out to be a winner, although thankfully, the expected convergence event didn’t materialize during our race. We elected to start at the nicely favored pin-end. A tough proposition for the trimarans in our class. This helped us to be first to West Point. With breeze in the 18’s with puffs to the low 20’s, it was a magic carpet ride to Spring Beach.
Outlaw
Blue Fin
Panic
Trillium
We watched the trimarans pass us as we struggled with all hands looking for the mark, only to watch Trillium sail a little extra distance past it and Freda Mae go bareheaded. A little schadenfreude on board, but we also felt sorry for them and were grateful that their course helped us locate the mark. The beat back to the start/finish was an exercise in keeping the boat on its feet, but the nice weather kept the occasional splashes from chilling our bow union down too much (in violation of their contract.)
We enjoyed the final go around Meadow Point where the challenge was to call the final tack…we got close to the heavily favored boat end and shot up to finish.
All in all, a very fun race with sporty conditions. Thanks to race committee and Britt Larsen for running the show!
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.
My friends at Sailing World recently posted a piece I wrote about Pelican Fleet 3 here in the Northwest. It was a lot of fun to research and write, and a good example of how the an organized and dedicated group of sailors can keep a class going and enjoy the heck out of it. I mean, having a Washington State Park named in a boat’s honor? Cruising open boats? Having one of the skipper’s an all-time great hydroplane drivers? A class that doesn’t put a premium on new sails, that can be sailed by young and old alike? Thanks to all those who helped me with this, and especially Sue Weiss who kept reminding me that it was a story that needed writing. Long live the Pelican!
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 Pink Boat Regattas have proven an effective and extremely fun fundraiser for sailors to help fight breast cancer. The final tallies aren’t in for this year’s three Pacific Northwest events (Bellingham, Seattle, Tacoma) but Jennifer Mathis of the Pink Boat Regatta reports that more than a half million dollars have been raised over seven years, and that Tacoma exceeded their goal of $20,000.
Jan Anderson was on hand in Seattle and Tacoma to catch some of the action – er – costumes and smiles. If you want to plenty more pink, check her Seattle and Tacoma galleries.
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.
Need a good reason to get the boat off the dock this Saturday? Here it is!
2018 Benefit Race is scheduled for Sept. 22nd
Skippers–please mark your calendars for the 26th annual sailboat race to benefit Northwest Harvest! As in past years, the race will be held out of Shilshole Bay Marina starting at noon. The Skippers’ mandatory meeting will be at 9 a.m. in the parking lot of the Ballard Elks Lodge.
Race entry fee is $45 and that includes one ticket to the dinner/dance/auction. Each boat is also asked to bring 1 pound of food per boat length OR donate $1 per foot. SSYC volunteers will weigh the food during the skippers’ meeting and NWH will have a truck available to collect donations. After Sept. 17th, race entry fee goes to $55.
For skipper guests, the dinner/dance/auction party tickets are $50 per person. Ticket prices go to $60 per person after Sept. 17th. Race registration and additional party tickets can be purchased with PayPal below, or at any Monday night meeting.
In Summary:
Party Location: Ballard Elks Lodge, 6411 Seaview Ave NW, Seattle.
Race + 1 party ticket=$45.
Additional party tickets= $50.
Dance only tickets=$25 purchased at the door.
Race meeting 9 a.m. Race start noon.
No-host Happy hour and Silent Auction start at 5:30.
Seattle Singles Yacht club raised $34,000 in 2017, thanks to generous donors, skippers and club members.
The 2017 Race to Fight Hunger winners were:
Flying Sails:
First: Chuck Stephens on Panic, a J/105. Second: Mike Sinclair on Surt, a C & C 41. Third: Jerry Stephenson on Margo, a Delphia 33. Fourth: Joe Grande on Whisper, a Catalina 320.
Non Flying Sails winners:
First: Alan Vogt on Blue Fin, a Catalina 42. Second: Roger Drill on Caprice, an Ericson 29. Third: Tom McPherson on Maestrale, an Ericson 32. Fourth: Arnold Amenda on Fortune Teller, a Newport 28.
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 a great opportunity to give back to the sport and learn a thing or two in the process. While the event doesn’t happen until December, if you’re interested in becoming a US Sailing judge, save the dates now!
From Wayne Balsiger of Corinthian Yacht Club
US Sailing Advanced Judge Seminar
Are you interested in learning more about how protest committees work? Are you interested in becoming a US Sailing Judge? Become a US Sailing Certified Judge!
Judges are responsible for conducting protest and redress hearings when competitors believe there has been a breach of the rules. Judges also conduct arbitration hearings, enforce Rule 42 (Propulsion) on the water at fleet racing events and consult with organizers and race officers ahead of events to review race documents and procedures. Judges improve the quality, consistency, and fairness of racing through proper administration of the Racing Rules of Sailing.
Join us in a US Sailing two-day Judge Seminar (Advanced) required for certification as a US Sailing Judge or US Sailing National Judge. Some protest committee experience is helpful, but not required. No prerequisite class is needed. It covers topics involved in successful judging: rules and requirements for handling protests and requests for redress, techniques involved in running good hearings, deriving a set of facts from testimony , applying applicable rules, and arriving at conclusions and a decision, writing up protest committee decisions, handling open hearings and arbitration.
Additionally, the seminar will concentrate on four areas of development: Mock Hearings, Part 2 rules, Part 5 and Appendix M rules and rule 69.
The lead instructor is Charlie Macaulay. Charlie is a Judge and has served as a member of the US Sailing Judges Committee and is a member of the Area L Appeals Committee.
When: December 8-9, 2018
Where: Corinthian Yacht Club of Seattle, Shilshole Bay marina (downstairs)
Study Materials: You should answer the AJS Study Questions We strongly recommend that you study and answer each question, and write down the relevant rule citations prior to attending the seminar.
For additional information about host and location or housing available, please contact Wayne Balsiger, webalsiger@comcast.net, 206.370.1601. For questions regarding registration please email: raceadmin@ussailing.org.
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.
