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.
As dramatic as this was, quite frankly it’s not as dramatic as these two photos:
I’ve watched a few videos of the incident, and from what I can tell Patriot was bearing away (if you can tell – I can’t always tell when they’re going upwind or down), and either there was a human or equipment error that allowed the boat to leap out of the water, get beam-to in the wind and over she went. Maybe an eyewitness can give us more accurate detail. The breezy bear-away is a tough maneuver in most boats, and it’s particularly challenging for foiling boats.
Then the slow motion drama of saving the boat took place. It quickly became apparent Patriot was sinking. The photo above shows why. It’s not at the point where the foil goes into the boat, but maybe part of the control system? I’d love for someone who hasn’t signed a contract in blood to describe what that may be,
Otherwise, I’ll put links out there on the clearest analysis of what exactly happened. (If any of you alert Sailish readers come up with them, please share!)
The powers that be wanted drama to show the non-sailing public, and here it is. Patriot was finally winning a race (they’d lost the three previous races) and Prada was “only” about 500 meters behind. For many of these races, the distances between the boats were quite large. But this third day of racing in the Prada Cup had high winds (up to 20, it was reported) and the boats were flying at 40 knots or so.
For the record, in this round of Prada Cup challenger races, Britain’s Ineos Team UK Brittania has become dominant winning all four of its races. the Italian Prada is 2-2 and American Magic’s Patriot is 0-4. But clearly they have more to overcome than just a poor score.
More later. Please share if you get more information. I have to say, the AC racing doesn’t hold a lot of interest for me these days, but this is certainly worth the attention.
Bruce has raced and cruised the Pacific Northwest his entire life. 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 Associate Publisher for Northwest Yachting Magazine, retiring in mid-2015, and was the chairman of the board of trustees for the Northwest Marine Trade Association in 2014. (photo of Bruce driving Playstation is a bit dated, but cool)
The Pacific Northwest has a proud tradition of women “being at the helm.” All woman racing crews have participated in all of the areas major events including the Vic-Maui race. The Seattle Women’s Sailing Association and Tacoma Women’s Sailing Association have both been successful getting women on board and on the helm. As any sailor worth his or her salt knows, gender doesn’t matter in the least regarding how vital a crew member they are.
This past Saturday, Seattle’s Sloop Tavern Yacht Club added to that tradition with the inaugural Women at the Helm regatta. Thirty-five boats participated, and by the looks of Jan Anderson’s photos, both women and men had a great time.
And here are Jan’s thoughts on the regatta: What a terrific event! 35 boats braved the ornery medical challenges the world is facing, and essentially said, “Enough is enough! We haven’t had enough sailing!” And, of course, it took women to effectively present this compelling argument, hence this new event, “Women at the Helm”, or with so darned many competitors from the Seattle area, it could have even been dubbed “SWATH” ( Seattle Women At The Helm). Well, the massive fleet cut a wide swath across the Central Puget Sound, with plenty o’sunshine, give and take breeze, smiles all around, and clearly tons to be thankful for. It was an absolute blessing to share this day on the water with so many friends – keep charging, gang!
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.
As PNW big boat racing sputters to life, not only are we seeing new races like the Salish 200, we’re seeing existing races that some of us are learning more about. Case in point, the Round Whidbey Island Race. Jan and Skip Anderson knew about the race, and jumped at the chance to shoot the event. As Skip says, “Both Jan and I were SO freakin’ glad to get back out on the water …”
Looks like fun, although we all know how “mild” Puget Sound can be like in July. As one would expect, an eclectic group showed up, including an AeroRig (I had no idea one existed here in the PNW) The event site is here. And for those who are wondering, here’s the course:
THE COURSE The committee boat will be anchored off West Beach at Deception Pass, within 0.5 nm south of Deception Island. The course then proceeds down the west side of Whidbey Island to its southern tip at Possession Point, then north up the east side of Whidbey Island to the entrance of Oak Harbor. The green buoys at Partridge Point, Double Bluff, Scatchet Head and Possession Point must all be kept to port. The course is 65 nautical miles. Alternate course: “Along Whidbey” In case the winds are too high to sail out Deception Pass as determined by the race committee, the start will be in the vicinity of the Committee Boat, around the northeast end of Whidbey Island (Hoypus Point) and race down the east side of Whidbey Island, to round Gedney Island in either direction and return to the posted finish line. The distance is approximately 54 nautical miles.
Jan’s report: What a glorious day to transition out of our COVID caves back onto the water! Sure, little to no wind, but at some point, who cares?! After all this time away, it was TERRIFIC to muster on the starting line once again, regardless of the race outcome. Seeing familiar faces, meeting new ones, smiles all around, and they’re OFF! Conditions were so light that you will not see major league action in these photographs; instead, look for the sailing spirit, the racing community’s heart, and you just might be able to spot why we do this racing thing after all. Friends for life, engaged with Mother Nature!
AeroRig
Winner.
Recently launched trawler that wasn’t quite ready to launch.
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 had our first day of 70°F yesterday so that’s a start. Now at least until Tuesday we’ll have highs in the mid to upper 60°F range with very little precip to worry about. Although it may not be too early to start worrying about what this summer might be like especially when we look at the upper air chart for next week.
Today’s surface analysis shows our normal springtime mix of highs, lows and stalled fronts. Today won’t be as warm as yesterday as a weak low pressure system will move over us tonight and into tomorrow morning. You can already see the leading edge creep over us as we have gone from a beautiful clear morning to an afternoon of high clouds. This also shows up very clearly on the satellite image. While we’ll have our usual pattern of a light breeze in the morning building to a nice 10-15-knot northerly late this afternoon, this will all change tomorrow with the possibility of some light rain around the area. It will also bring a southerly flow to the area may be as much as 15-knots in the center Sound. This will decrease in the late afternoon as an onshore flow develops in the Strait of JdF.
By Sunday morning the breeze will be light but as the onshore flow comes down Admiralty Inlet we can expect another northerly in the Sound by late afternoon.
April 17 500MB
April 17 Surface Analysis
April 18 Surface Forecast
April 19 500MB
April 19 Surface Forecast
April 21 500MB
April 21 Surface Forecast
The other chart of interest today is the 48hr surface forecast chart (19 Apr) which shows a nice round 976mb low-pressure system in the central Pacific aimed right at the Pacific Northwest. This will weaken as it runs into our 1019mb high that will be in place, protecting the Salish Sea until about late Tuesday or early Wednesday when the remnants of the attached frontal system will drag over us possibly bringing some light rain.
Another chart of interest is todays 500mb which shows a zonal jet stream until about the longitude of Hawaii where it does a 90° turn to the north leaving a cutoff upper air low-pressure system in mid-Pacific, very unusual. Gradually that big bend in the jet stream will disappear and the flow will return to more zonal but well to the south of us which will slow the heating in the upper atmosphere and keep our area in a cooler, more unstable weather pattern. This will keep soil temperatures a little low and slow growth which is probably a good thing however we may have a bit more moisture than normal. Also a good thing, especially if you live in California.
Regardless of the weather, I do know I’d really like to get back out on the water! So let’s keep our fingers crossed that maybe Wednesday night racing can finally get started!
Bruce has raced and cruised the Pacific Northwest his entire life. 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 Associate Publisher for Northwest Yachting Magazine, retiring in mid-2015, and was the chairman of the board of trustees for the Northwest Marine Trade Association in 2014. (photo of Bruce driving Playstation is a bit dated, but cool)
Let’s face it, as we at Sailish have always said, there’s nothing better than getting out on the boat and sailing off to one of the many great anchorages that are just a short distance away. This is even more true today as we all try to figure out how to deal with this unprecedented series of events. So why not do what has always made us feel better and now is the perfect solution to effective social distancing; GO SAILING!
March 20 500MB
March 20 Surface Analysis
March 21 Surface Forecast
March 22 500MB
March 22 Surface Forecast
March 24 500MB
March 24 Surface Forecast
We are also going to have a perfect weekend to go boating. It won’t be exactly warm, but it will be sunny and once you get out of the wind, downright enjoyable. The reason for this is a very interesting weather pattern with very little pressure gradient over the Salish Sea. We have a weak high-pressure system to the south of us with a weak low-pressure system off the coast of California and a very large high-pressure system (1039mb) in the Gulf of Alaska. Today’s sat pic gives you a great view of all of these systems. None of these are moving very far or very fast and that big high-pressure system is only going to get stronger over the weekend. This will have the effect of directing a weak frontal system into our area on Monday.
Satellite picture March 20
Winds will be generally light and northerly on Saturday and
with the approach of our next weather system become southerly on Sunday.
Bruce has raced and cruised the Pacific Northwest his entire life. 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 Associate Publisher for Northwest Yachting Magazine, retiring in mid-2015, and was the chairman of the board of trustees for the Northwest Marine Trade Association in 2014. (photo of Bruce driving Playstation is a bit dated, but cool)
Matt and Charley explained what happened Saturday…..
CYC Race Committee Statement On Abandonment of 2020 Blakely Rocks Race
As all participants are aware, the 2020 Blakely Rocks Race was abandoned by the RC. As the first boats reached the north mark (mark N) scheduled to be located 1 NM East of VTS lane marker SF, the RC was informed that the mark was drifting. The RC immediately dispatched a whaler to check on the mark, but before the whaler arrived on station, subsequent communication from the fleet indicated that the mark was, indeed, in the shipping lanes.
As the whaler was dispatched, approximately 4 miles south of the mark, a Matson container ship was northbound, moving at roughly 20 knots. As Principal Race Officer, I made the decision to abandon the race for safety and USCG permit compliance reasons.
As conditions were ( clearly ) ideal for racing, our initial thinking was to stage an abbreviated race with a course like SWNF or SWQF. Unfortunately, the Sailing Instructions precluded any starts after 1400 hours. This situation was unanticipated in the SI’s.
Both CYC and I are always learning from conditions and situations that arise to ensure better race experiences for the community. We are aware that the N mark has posed challenges in the past, and have been able to address them. Saturday it did not work out in our favor. The sound is very deep in that area, more than 700 feet in many locations, and that combined with scope means that there is 1,000 or more feed of line between the mark and the bottom weight (a 30lb lead ball). That much line itself creates a lot of drag in the current, and kelp or other things also get caught on it, breaking the anchor free and causing unpredictable movement. We are discussing moving the location of this mark further east into shallower water.
We will explore maintaining a whaler in the area to observe the mark. There are significant challenges with this that we will need to work through. The whalers are exposed, and 2 or 3 hours minding the mark in this location can be conditionally challenging. Out of prudence, approximately 1 hour before the abandonment, the RC dispatched a whaler to confirm the status of N, which was confirmed. In the interim, the mark must have moved. Action items from lessons learned include:
Altering SI for this event to allow for restarts post-1400 hours. Utilizing alternative locations to the North in more manageable locations. Altering anchor configurations for deep water deployment. Maintain whalers on station at said marks to ensure SI and safety compliance.
You have my personal apologies, and on behalf of CYC, for the outcome of Saturday’s race. We look forward to seeing all of you on March 21 for the Scatchet Head race.
Sincerely, Charley Rathkopf CYC Senior Principal Race Officer Matthew Wood CYC Race Fleet Captain
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.
This recent sea lion escapade amused countless people online, though none of us here in the PNW can be very surprised. Here’s a nice little piece with the owner, who, shall we say, is seeing the humor in the situation.
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 is plenty of sailing going on the weekend with CYC
Turkey Bowl, the Squaxin Island Race, Snowbird #1 and the GHYC LeMans Race.
Unfortunately, the south Sound Races will be light while center Sound Races
will enjoy near-perfect conditions all-day Saturday. Saturday night a stronger
system will bring very breezy conditions to the north Sound, Admiralty Inlet,
the east end of the Straits of JdF, and the San Juan Islands. This system will
weaken as it passes through on Sunday. By Sunday morning the Turkey Bowlers
will have a nice 15-25 knots of post-frontal southwesterly breeze.
Unfortunately, as this system leaves the area, the breeze will ease
substantially by mid-afternoon Sunday.
15 Nov 500MB
15 Nov Surface Forecast
16 Nov Surface Forecast
17 Nov Surface Forecast
18 Nov Surface Forecast
19 Nov 500MB
19 Nov Surface Forecast
For the center Sound folks on Saturday, this will mean a
southerly breeze of 10-12 knots with the usual shift to the SE as you get
closer to the Seattle side of the Sound. As you get more to the middle of the
Sound the breeze will tend to stay out of the south with puffs to the SW. As
the day goes on and the barometer starts to drop this will mean that the breeze
is going to shift back to the SE probably by early afternoon and build to 12-15
knots. As the afternoon goes on the breeze will increase slightly to a steady
15 with puffs into the low 20’s.
Today’s satellite image.
Sunday will start with 15-20 knots of SW with the
possibility of higher gusts. By early afternoon the breeze will begin to ease
and stay out of the SW. As the puffs begin to swing more around to the W, the
breeze will begin to drop and by mid to late afternoon, it will become very
light and shifty.
Overall, the weather pattern is shifting and while we may be
almost 4” behind in rainfall for this month, the gap should narrow with a
steady diet of frontal systems being directed by the jet stream into the
Pacific NW. The forecast for the 19th shows an impressive set of
low-pressure systems in the northern part of the mid-Pacific with two strong
cold fronts that extend almost as far south as Hawaii. They will weaken as they
approach the coast however there are more systems after this one and they will
bring more rain and maybe some snow for the mountains.
Bruce has raced and cruised the Pacific Northwest his entire life. 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 Associate Publisher for Northwest Yachting Magazine, retiring in mid-2015, and was the chairman of the board of trustees for the Northwest Marine Trade Association in 2014. (photo of Bruce driving Playstation is a bit dated, but cool)
As Sailish readers who were following the Hamachi Hawaii exploits this year, this PNW nailed it in the 50th Transpac, winning overall. (BTW, thanks to Jason Andrews and the gang for giving reports). They’re going to be speaking at Corithian YC/Seattle about their adventures. Here’s the flyer.
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.
