Racing

Race to the Straits

Andrew Nelson Racing 0 Comment
Race to the Straits

Ed Note: We’re lucky to have this report by Andrew Nelson, skipper of the Olson 30 Scoundrel. As the Youth Sailing Director for The Sailing Foundation, he’s getting kids’ butts in boats. A noble cause, indeed. Thanks, Andrew.

Race to the Straits is one of my favorite races, because it brings out a lot of good sailors and cool boats, especially retro ULDB’s! Everyone is faced with the challenge of being short handed. This presents itself in a lot of ways… Sail changes can be arduous, just about everyone feels overpowered way earlier, and there’s practically no down time during the race- you’re either driving or getting ready for the next thing. Maybe you get to pee or eat a sandwich (I didn’t do either on Saturday). I also like that everyone plays a little nicer doublehanded. Port-tackers get waived across frequently and everyone lines the dock at Port Hudson Marina to help others land safely (sometimes the hardest part of the race). Getting to Port Townsend feels like a big accomplishment, regardless of place.

All photos by Jan Anderson. More here.

Yes, waves.
Well, at least the leeward rudder is in the water.
Scoundrel powering to weather.
Madrona in great trim.

This year, I teamed up with Josh Larsen. He took my wife Ashley’s place at the last minute when our childcare for the weekend fell through. Josh and I last did the race together in 2011 on his Olson 30 Lunch Box. We did really well that year and Scoundrel had her 2019 (the last “real” RTTS) class title to defend. Our class was stacked with good boats and sailors, so we knew it would be tough to repeat. Looking at the forecast, our mindset was to make sure we were in striking distance after Saturday. Josh summed it up perfectly, “You might not win RTTS on Saturday, but you can definitely lose it.”

Saturday was almost exactly as Bruce Hedrick predicted. We had a nice spinnaker run until just before Foul Weather Bluff. Then it got wet and weird. No wind, hail, and then an almighty downpour. We lost our breeze completely for a few minutes in the transition and then did an alternating series of sail changes between the #2 genoa and A2 until we were around Foul Weather Bluff with a modest northeasterly breeze. This race is often about managing the transition zone gracefully. I feel we did about as well as we could have, but made the mistake of staying too far out in the middle as we approached the south end of Marrowstone. As predicted the breeze built and shifted Northwest. The boats to our left picked up some big gains. It was a slugfest from there on out. We changed to the #3 early and we were glad we did. We don’t have wind instruments, but heard others reporting 25-30 knot gusts near the end of the race. With the strong ebb, that made for some pretty big and confused seas.

The bulk of the fleet finished within 30 minutes of each other in the early afternoon. We were four minutes behind our class leader Scheme. Mission accomplished, we didn’t lose the race on Saturday and knew that anything could happen on day two. The early finish time meant there was plenty of time to dry the boat out and trade stories on the dock before dinner.

We knew Sunday would be a different kind of challenge, and it was. The day started slow with a very light northerly, which turned northeasterly. This would be a day of big gains and losses. We made the most of the light air and did lots of reaching with the A2 and #1. Once past Marrowstone Light we stayed out in the middle with better pressure. By the time we were halfway down Marrowstone the A2 was pulling hard and we had made up that 4 minute difference on Scheme with 6 Feet More in our sights. However, when we got to the south end of Marrowstone the breeze started to dry up and the ebb was really beginning to kick in.. We made a beeline for Kinney Point to find some current relief.

Some boats stayed out in the middle still clinging to spinnakers. After what seemed like an eternity, we found a little puff that we were able to ride around the point, while watching our depth sounder get down in the single digits. With the #1 we sailed deep into Oak Bay. It was the only place we could find current relief. Soon we were short-tacking the beach past Mats Mats and Port Ludlow, hoping that we could then cross back across the mouth of Hood Canal using the current to sweep us to Foul Weather Bluff. With the Foul Weather buoy as a new course mark, this was really uncharted territory and something I hadn’t expected doing. Full credit goes to Josh for making the call.

The J/27 Wizard
Derek Bottles’ Velella
Hula jumping while chasing. A lot of boat there.
Grayling

We passed the Cal 24 Water Street, who had a similar idea, and soon noticed the Moore 24 Petty Theft was also chasing us. We gobbled up tons of ground on the boats outside as we snuck up the beach. Just past Port Ludlow we sailed out of our little zephyr and decided to cross the mouth of Hood Canal. We fought hard for almost an hour trying to get across and then around Foul Weather Bluff with almost no wind and ripping current. Right alongside us was the Moore 24. After consulting the Sailing Instructions and looking at our GPS track we realized that we had reached the halfway point much earlier than we realized. I called Ashley Bell on the radio and after some discussion she called race chair David Rogers. After more discussion, we all concurred that both boats had reached the halfway point as defined in the Sailing Instructions, which stated to record halfway times when “due west of the mark.” We had no intention of finding a loophole and every intention of rounding Foul Weather Bluff, but the ambiguity of the SIs were problematic, especially since we were approaching the mark from a westerly position and had crossed a line due west of Foul Weather Bluff Buoy several times over the previous hour and a half. Good thing we had the GPS tracker running!

With a delivery to Tacoma still ahead of me, we fired up the outboard and hightailed it south. I immediately felt a sinking feeling as a northerly began filling. We saw 6 Feet More on the other side of Foul Weather Bluff making nice headway under spinnaker. Mathematically it looked possible they could finish the whole course, especially with the pressure building. Our choice was made however, and we wouldn’t know until later that evening whether or not they got us. As it turned out, Hula, the Westsail 32, was the only boat to finish the long course on Sunday. What an incredible accomplishment by Bill and Darlene Stange!

It was a tough weekend and an especially dissatisfying way to end Sunday. I hope future SIs define a more precise halfway point, but since it’s the first year running this modified course, it was a very hard thing for race organizers to predict. Regardless of the weird ending, it was a great weekend and STYC did a fantastic job organizing the event!

Results here.

Bruce’s Briefs: Wx for May 6, 7, 8, and 9. Sloop Tavern YC Race to the Straits

Bruce Hedrick Bruce's Briefs, Racing 0 Comment

Our spring of wacky weather continues with more rain and cooler than normal temps. Then we have the Race to the Straits sailing in three distinct zones of weather: Central Sound, Admiralty Inlet, and the Eastern end of the Straits. Each offers its own particular (peculiar) set of challenges. What could possibly go wrong?

Since, once again, the models are not in agreement with when and where the wind will come from except for the Eastern Straits, more on that later. The tidal current models are, however, constant.

Bush Point Tidal Currents

7 May

0724  Max Flood    1.05 knots

1000  Slack

1318  Max Ebb      1.98 knots

1612  Slack

1918  Max Flood    2.13 knots

8 May

0600  Slack

0836  Max Flood    1.05 knots

1106  Slack

1418  Max Ebb      1.70 knots

1706  Slack

2012  Max Flood    2.02 knots

Today’s surface analysis chart shows a very weak high-pressure system over the Salish Sea and an approaching weak and fast-moving low-pressure system with an attached cold front. Our Pacific High is set up just north of Hawaii and south of a “normal” position. While the High is rounding up which would normally indicate some stability in the High, it is also still on the weak side at 1030MB.

May 6 500 MB
May 6 Surface Analysis
May 7 Surface Forecast
May 8 500 MB
May 8 Surface Forecast
May 9 Surface Forecast
May 10 500 MB
May 10 Surface Forecast

After the front moves through, a strong onshore flow will bring NW breeze down the coast, down the Straits, and through the Chehalis Gap. The flow through the Gap will keep the breeze out of the SSW in the Central and South Sound until midday Saturday. Then, as the flow develops down the Strait, expect breezy conditions in the Eastern Straits to push down Admiralty inlet and into the Central Sound starting about midday. The breeze from Fowlweather Bluff(FWB) to the south end of Marrowstone will tend to be from the NNW at 10-20 knots with the breeze backing to the WNW and building into the 15-25 knots range the closer you get to the Marrowstone Light. This breeze will hold into mid-evening.

May 6 Satellite Picture

Since this is a short-handed event if you’re sailing with conventional headsails and if you will have to do a sail change, think about hoisting the big sail to start the beat from Pt. No Pt. in the port groove. You’ll want to hold starboard tack from FWB to Marrowstone and do your sail change while on starboard, tacking to port near Marrowstone. Even though the tide will be ebbing you will want to be near the Marrowstone shore since the water will be smoother and you will position yourself to be on the inside of the coming lift as you go up the island.

After rounding Marrowstone Light, hold port tack until you can tack and be aimed at the south end of Port Townsend. This will get you into the smoother water east of town so you can do a port tack approach to the finish and avoid sailing in the mix-master of the main channel of Admiralty Inlet. Do remember that with the strong westerly, the flood will start sooner than the forecast of 1600 hrs and that will help to flatten the seas.

May 6 Langley Doppler

Sunday will be a completely different story as the area prepares for the next low-pressure system and front which will pass quickly to the south of the Salish Sea. Once it does pass, the onshore flow will once again come down the Straits however that probably won’t happen until late Sunday afternoon or early evening. This probably means light and variable winds for the racecourse and with the slack at 1100 hours, you’ll be fighting the ebb until almost 1700 hours. Getting to the FWB buoy could be challenging.

The good news in all of this? Sunday won’t be as wet as Saturday.

Note also the 500MB Charts as the Jet Stream continues to come in well south of the Pacific NW. This will continue to keep us wet and cool through the coming week. The 8 and 10 May Charts are particularly interesting with the development of an upper-level, cut-off low-pressure system just to the north and west of Hawaii. With nothing to push it around, it should be fun to watch especially if you have a trip to Hawaii planned. In the past, if these systems drift south to the islands, they have brought record rainfall to Kauai(44” in 24 hours)and 100+mph winds to the top of the Big Island.   

Be safe, and have a great weekend.   

2022 Southern Straits Race – Post Race Report from a Long Course Perspective

Peter Salusbury Racing 0 Comment
2022 Southern Straits Race – Post Race Report from a Long Course Perspective

By Peter Salusbury – Skipper of Longboard

After a three-year pandemic hiatus, it was a therapeutic reunion for those intrepid Pacific NW sailors who participated in the Southern Straits Race hosted by West Vancouver Yacht Club on Easter weekend.  Bruce Hedrick’s “good news, bad news, very good news” pre-race weather briefing proved to be largely accurate though the fleet generally finished much earlier than the models predicted the night before the race.

On the long course, we started in a very light NE, steady rain, and scary ebb tide so the fleet started up-current very conservatively with Jim Innes skippering Red Sheila crossing the line first.  As we made our way out of English Bay the wind shifted around to the SE and built nicely to 15 knots as we passed Bowen Island before building even further to over 20 knots as the leaders on the long course planed to Sister’s Island.  Westerly, Blue, and The Shadow all rounded Sisters fairly close together with Longboard not far behind.  At this point in the wind cycle, the wind shifted to the SW allowing a direct starboard upwind tack down the strait to Ballenas Island.

Photos courtesy of Graeme Clendenan and Doug Wardrop.

The wind glassed off for a few hours before rebuilding south of Ballenas to a light Qualicum which allowed us to slide down past the Winchelseas before the wind veered further to the west and increased as we crossed Nanaimo harbor.  The wind stayed in the W most of the way from Entrance to Halibut Bank and built to over 10 knots before we headed upwind to Ballenas Island.  The nighttime sail was gorgeous – dry, clear, with a big full moon all night – it was a tad chilly but comfortable in our best warm weather gear.  

After Ballenas Island the W wind stayed up in the 15 knot range all the way down the Vancouver Island shore allowing a lovely downwind slide before we gybed north of Nanaimo for the long port tack gybe to the finish line.  Up front the lead boats of Westerly, Shadow, and Blue were duking it out in the shifty conditions between the westerly and outflow winds off Bowen Island with Westerly skippered by Stuart Dahlgren breaking free to take the elapsed time win at 0612 hrs Saturday morning – a very fast race given the course was a relatively long 145 nm.

The provisional results at the time this report was written on the Long Course featured the Riptide 35-2 Longboard in first, followed closely by the always well-sailed J/111 65 Red Roses skippered by Alex Smyth with tactics by the Race Chairman, Graeme Clendenan.  Michael Shoendorf’s very fast Riptide 41 Blue rounded out the podium and showed amazing flashes of speed throughout the race, often going toe-to-toe with the TP52 and SC70. 

On the Medium Course, race veteran Colin Nichols skippering Jackrabbit was the line honors winner but another one of those pesky J/111’s Raku took the overall win – kudos to them as Christina and Justin Wolfe were sailing doublehanded – very impressive!  Raku also took the Division 2 win with Jim Johannessen’s Intuition taking Division 3 and Vern Lhotzky on Invictus winning Division 4.

The short course line honors, Division 5 and overall win went to Bill Kitchen’s Terna – amazing to see an almost 50 year old C&C 39 still ripping up the race course.  Kerry Phillips skippered Incisor to an impressive second place finish across the line and in Division 5 – a perennially strong performer in this race.  Another almost 50-year-old C&C 27 Silik skippered by Wade Harrogate took the Division 6 win. 

And finally, the Inshore Race Division 7 winner was PCH skippered by Philip Harland with the impressive WVYC teen age sensation, Andre Deseau, skippering a J/22 to the Division 8 win – well done Andre!

A huge shout-out to Race Chairman, Graeme Clendenan, and Race PRO, Jennifer Ross who along with the usually brilliant organizing committee and an army of volunteers and club staff resurrected Straits Race after a 3 year hiatus and made it such a successful event.  They cleverly used ‘hybrid’ Tech Talks, Weather Briefing, and Skippers Meetings using a mix of Zoom and in-person facilities to make the event safe and comfortable for the participants.

Lastly, thank to all our American and Vancouver Island friends who made the trek to West Vancouver and back and who really make this race special.  Many of you endured difficult deliveries in colder conditions than we usually get in mid-April.  Thanks for your commitment to the race – hope to see you back again next year. 

Ed. Note: Results here: wvyc.ca/on-the-water/racing/southern-straits. Scroll down and choose which course/class you want to view. Congrats to Peter Salusbury on his Division 1 victory and thanks to him for this report.

Bruce’s Briefs: Wx for 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 Dec. Winter Vashon!

Bruce Hedrick Bruce's Briefs, Racing 0 Comment
Bruce’s Briefs: Wx for 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 Dec. Winter Vashon!

While the Midwest is experiencing record high temps and a complete lack of snow, the NWS has issued a Blizzard Warning for the summit of Mauna Kea where a foot of new snow is expected combined with winds of over 100-knots! In the meanwhile, Seattle is now ahead of the average rainfall for this date by over 5”. No Climate Change going on in any of these places.

  • December 3 500 MB
  • December 3 Surface Analysis
  • December 4 Surface Forecast
  • December 5 500 MB
  • December 5 Surface Forecast
  • December 6 Surface Forecast
  • December 7 500 MB
  • December 7 Surface Forecast

Today’s surface analysis chart shows a series of weak high-pressure systems over the Pacific Northwest with more low-pressure systems headed our way. This weak high-pressure system has given us northerly breezes over most of the Sound for the last 30 hours and with 15-22-knots of breeze, today would have been a perfect day for the Winter Vashon Race even with a wind chill of freezing. As we know, the first days of high pressure are the best days for wind. By tomorrow, however, this will all change as another weak low-pressure system approaches the Oregon coast. While it is weak, it will still be strong enough to influence our weather tomorrow morning before an offshore high rebuilds in the afternoon. As always, the models are not in agreement about the timing of this transition.

December 3

The wind in the starting area will start as a southerly of about 10-knots before it starts to die and become a drainage easterly of 5-knots or less. Gradually a northerly flow will develop over the Salish Sea starting at about 10-knots and then building to 15-18 knots by mid to late afternoon. This northerly will hold until about sundown when it will start to ease and shift back to a weak drainage easterly before going very light. Try to finish before about 1800 hrs.

Navigators and tacticians will be a busy bunch trying to figure out the best way to manage the transition zones. You’ll need to keep your head out of the boat and watch the guys who really know their way around the South Sound.

Be careful and stay warm out there! Please leave your AIS on and we’ll be watching from just above Brace Point.

Bruce’s Briefs: Wx for 12, 13, 14, and 15 Nov. Round the County!

Bruce Hedrick Bruce's Briefs, Racing 0 Comment
Bruce’s Briefs: Wx for 12, 13, 14, and 15 Nov. Round the County!

There are some signs that boating may be returning to normal with 114 entries for this weekend’s Round-The County Race. I think that this would make the RTC the most popular race this year. Well done OIYC, but then again they always do a great job with this event.

Then there’s the weather and the tides as there always is up in the Islands. Weather has been a big topic this week with big breeze, big rain, lots of snow in the passes, and even a tornado warning for the Kitsap Peninsula. Now as you can see from the Doppler Radar, today’s sat pic and surface weather analysis, it’s all changing. The big breeze is easing until at least Saturday afternoon and into Sunday morning when another frontal system will roll over the area. There is clearing to the west and the Doppler is just showing scattered rain showers. So unless you live on a steep slope, it’s all good!

  • November 12 500MB
  • November 12 Surface Analysis
  • November 13 Surface Forecast
  • November 14 500MB
  • November 14 Surface Forecast
  • November 15 Surface Forecast
  • November 16 500MB
  • November 16 Surface Forecast

Tides are always interesting for the Race and with light air forecast for tomorrow luckily they won’t be much of an issue. The real problem will be Sunday in Rosario Strait with slack at 1500 and the ebb starting, coinciding with the breeze easing off.

Tidal Currents

Lawrence Point Orcas Island Saturday 13 Nov

0612       Slack

1006       Max Flood           2.3 knts

1518       Slack

1824       Max Ebb               .97 knts

Turn Point Boundary Pass Sunday 14 Nov

0724       Slack

1130       Max Flood           2.3 knts

1454       Slack

Rosario Strait Sunday 14 Nov

0824       Slack

1130      Max Flood           1.75 knts

1506       Slack

1854       Max Ebb               2.33 knts             

The big picture for the weather shows the front moving through today with that persistent but weak high-pressure system off the coast of California,  with a lobe extending up into eastern Washington. This high will become more dominant tomorrow with the pressure gradient easing over the racecourse through the day. 

Saturday Summary

0900 Start to Lawrence Point      S-SE        8-10 knot

1200 Lawrence Pt to  Patos          S-SE       5-8 knots

1400 Patos to Turn Point              SE           5-8 knots with 6-12 knots near Turn Point

1600 Turn Point to Finish              SE           8-15 knots

1800 Turn Point to Finish              SE           15-25 knots

Overnight in Roche Harbor, it will be breezy and will hold into the Sunday morning start.               

Sunday Summary

0900 Start to False Bay                  S              25-30 knots

1100 Flase Bay to Davidson Rk    S              20-30 knots

1300 Iceberg Pt to Davidson        S              10 knots at Iceberg becoming 10-20 near Davidson

1500 Iceberg to Davidson             S              5-10 knots becoming 5 at Davidson, 10-12 at Lydia Shoal

1700 Iceberg to Lydia                     S              0-5 knots.

By Sunday morning the front will be moving rapidly off to the NE and dragging the breeze with it. The models are not in agreement about how fast this will happen. The zonal flow of the jet stream will keep this pattern coming well into next week.

For Saturday I have Zvi around the course and finishing at around 1500 hrs, the J-111 Raku finishing at 1609, The Beneteau 36.7 finishing at 1703, the J-35 at 1709, the J-105’s in at 1713, and the J-30’s in around 1752hrs.

For those boats thinking about heading South immediately after the race you’ll be able to get across the Straits in very mild conditions however once you enter Admiralty, the breeze will pick up and you’ll be powering into 20-25 knots from the due south.

Have a great race, prepare accordingly, and be safe.  Keep your AIS on so I can at least enjoy the race from the Sailish.com Weather Center.

Crew Overboard Fatality at Race Week

Kurt Hoehne Racing, safety 1 Comment
Crew Overboard Fatality at Race Week

Our condolences go out to family, friends and crew mates of Greg Mueller, who died yesterday while racing in Race Week Anacortes. Mueller was wearing a PFD aboard With Grace when he fell overboard. He could not be revived and was pronounced dead at a local emergency room.

Race Director Schelleen Rathkopf emailed this message out to competitors last night:

“Dear competitors, I am sorry to share the news that we lost a teammate today. Greg Mueller on the crew of With Grace fell overboard. His feet were tangled in some lines which exacerbated the situation. Despite the efforts of many, Greg didn’t recover. Please spend some extra time with your crews tomorrow refreshing your MOB protocols. My condolences to the With Grace skipper and crew, and to Greg’s family. – Schelleen Rathkopf”

We will follow up on this sad event to see if there are any lessons to be learned.

With Grace

Race Week the Next Generation

Kurt Hoehne Racing 0 Comment
Race Week the Next Generation

Tragedy struck yesterday when Greg Mueller died after falling overboard from With Grace. Our condolences to his family, friends and shipmates. We were unaware of this for the original post. .

Don’t look now, racers, but there’s a week of Northwest Racing again, and it’s a success. After Covid sunk Schelleen Rathkopf’s plan to move Race Week from Oak Harbor to Point Roberts, there were a lot of question marks. She’s found a home for the event in Anacortes, and with a fleet of around 70 boats (including 4 one design classes) Race Week has a glowing present and a bright future.

Rathkopf reports: “By day 2, 6 races each across 11 fleets. Blowing 12-15 every day. Tides combined with new venue keeping racers on their toes. People are super happy and have described Anacortes and the racing area as the perfect place for Race Week.”

Results here.

Enjoy these photos from Jan Anderson. We’ll do a wrapup report when all is said and done.

Bruce’s Briefs: Wx for 4, 5, 6, and 7 June, SYC Blake Island Race

Bruce Hedrick Bruce's Briefs, Racing 1 Comment
Bruce’s Briefs: Wx for 4, 5, 6, and 7 June, SYC Blake Island Race

Lots of sailboat racing this weekend as well as this coming week. SYC will run the last race of its’  Tri-Island Series on Saturday with numerous other races around the Salish Sea. For the most part, racers will have breeze on Saturday as a system moves through bringing a strong onshore flow down the Straits with the potential for gale warnings in the eastern Straits late Saturday afternoon.

  • June 6 500 MB
  • June 5 Surface Forecast
  • June 4 Surface Analysis
  • June 4 500 MB
  • June 8 Surface Forecast
  • June 8 500 MB
  • June 7 Surface Forecast
  • June 6 Surface Forecast

The surface analysis chart and the sat pic for today show the front as it’s approaching the coast with some pre-frontal showers already in the Straits. The low-pressure system associated with the front is weak and will quickly move to the east, to be followed by yet another weaker system on Sunday. The good news is that the Pacific High is slowly moving into a more normal position. This won’t help the WA 360 Race which starts on Monday and that will be a long, light air affair. The better outlook is for the Pacific NW Offshore Race which starts on Thursday. With the Pacific High continuing to strengthen that race could have 12-18 knots of NW breeze for the start with the breeze easing and backing by the afternoon. We will have a special pre-race forecast up on Wednesday late afternoon.

For the Blake Island Racers, this weather will present a mixed bag of conditions with a nice southwesterly to start however the onshore flow coming down the Straits will bring a northerly to the course around mid-day. There will be some light air in the transition however it won’t last long. There also will not be a lot of tidal current to worry about.

Tidal Currents at West Point

 0636     Slack

1206      Max Flood            .61 knots

1430      Slack

1548      Max Ebb                 .2 knots

1854      Slack

Even with shifting conditions, it will still be a quick race for the big boats which will have a big advantage being the first start. Today’s model has Zvi around the course in just over three hours finishing about 10 minutes after noon. The J-105’s will be around the course in five hours finishing just after 1400 hours. 

The Seventy48 Race starts tonight and should have mostly downwind conditions at least until Admiralty Inlet.

Have a great weekend.

Lots of Adventures

Kurt Hoehne Adventure Sailing, Racing , , , , 0 Comment
Lots of Adventures

If you’re like me, you’ve lost track of which adventure races are coming up. This, as far as I know, is the list. If you’ve got an event you want sailish readers to hear about, adventurous or not, let me know.

Today: Northwest Maritime’s Seventy48, a human powered non-sailing event from Tacoma to Port Townsend. The start is today at 7pm, giving paddlers a chance to go all night and then some. They have 48 hours to go 70 miles, including SUPs.

Tomorrow: Seattle Yacht Club’s Blake Island Race. NOR here.

June 7: WA360. The Northwest Maritime’s world renowned R2AK is another Covid victim for this year, but here’s a good alternative. One difference between this event and the R2AK is that engines are allowed onboard, though if they’re used the boat will not be scored. I imagine that’s a concession to safety in the heavily trafficked Puget Sound. Start and finish in Port Townsend

June 10: Pacific NW Offshore Race: You’ll be forgiven if you think of this as the Oregon Offshore. Because of Covid restrictions, there is no Canada, but there is a start at Ilwaco and a finish in Port Angeles, so the course remains largely the same. Bruce Hedrick will be providing a weather outlook for the racers, which we’ll print here on sailish.com

June 19: Salish 200. Back for the second annual tour of the Sound. Actually, there are three races, the Puget Sound 100, San Juan 100 and Salish 200. Here’s the page with more details.

There will be trackers and/or AIS to follow on each of these, for those of us stuck mowing lawns or sitting in offices. We have embedded sailors on each of these events, even if they don’t know they are, so we hope to have some first-hand reports. Thanks to all the clubs and organizations that are making this happen despite the Covid limitations. If racers or organizers have anything to add, please send thoughts and pictures to me.

Bruce’s Briefs: Wx for 7, 8, 9, & 10 May 2021 SYC Vashon Island Race

Bruce Hedrick Bruce's Briefs, Racing , 0 Comment
Bruce’s Briefs: Wx for 7, 8, 9, & 10 May 2021 SYC Vashon Island Race

Considering what a weird year for weather it has been it probably shouldn’t surprise anyone that it looks like a fairly nice weekend for sailing. The very strange part is that there will be more wind in the South Sound than in the Central and North Sound. Plus, for once even though we are setting up for an onshore flow, after today the Straits won’t be howling.

Today’s surface analysis chart combined with today’s satellite pic show a weak trough of low-pressure over the Sound with a weak high offshore. This pattern will persist over the weekend bringing a predominately southerly flow along the coast and into the Sound for tomorrow. The high will gradually build over the area bringing light air for Mothers Day. Since it is a weak onshore flow there will be some breeze coming through the Chehalis Gap with a stronger push later in the day as the offshore flow shifts from southerly to westerly. If you like sailing in 5-11-knots of S-SW breeze, you will like tomorrow.

  • May 7 500 MB
  • May 7n Surface Analysis
  • May 8 Surface Forecast
  • May 9 500 MB
  • May 9 Surface Forecast
  • May 10 Surface Forecast
  • May 11 500 MB
  • May 11 Surface Forecast

The problem will be that dash between the 5 and 11. The breeze will be spotty in places and shifty along the west side of the Sound. From Shilshole to Pt. Robinson you’ll want to sail fairly close to the rhumbline and avoid the obvious holes. After Robinson, look for long starboard tacks and short port tacks so you don’t get too close to the beach where while there may be big starboard tack lifts in close, the breeze will be lighter.

The bottom end of Vashon will be its usual challenge with light air in close and better current well off the beach. Just find the happy medium, usually easier said than done.

Going north in Colvos will be sailing your gybe angles and trying to find the strongest current. As you get to the north  end of Colvos the ebb will be slightly stronger along the Blake Island side just don’t get in too close. From Blake to the finish will be staying in the breeze and not sailing too far off of rhumb.

Not a lot of definitive information here but it will be one of those days where keeping your head out of the boat, watching the puffs, and the competition will keep tacticians very busy.

The models are fairly consistent with the RP-55 and the TP-52’s finishing the long course by about 1630 hrs. The J-125 in at1930 hrs, the B-40.7 in at 2115, and the J-109 in at 2140hrs.

The J-105s on the short course should be home by about 1830 hours.  

Enjoy the weekend and leave your AIS on so I can track you.