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Just a Pic of Paradise

Kurt Hoehne Uncategorized 0 Comment

As the rains settle in here in the northwest, it’s worth checking in with PNW cruisers “out there.” This little photo by Cathy Sherwood is of Neiafu Harbor, Tonga. She and Kent Powley are on the big cruise. If you have a cruising shot from out there you’d like to share with PNW sailors, send it.

Neiafu Harbor, Tonga.

Dodd Narrows Closure

Kurt Hoehne Uncategorized 0 Comment

ED NOTE: Rumor has it this work has been cancelled and the Narrows are open. We can’t verify either way, so, sorry, you have to figure it out. If you can nail down a reliable source of information, please pass along their contact info. Thanks.

Amazing what you find on Facebook. I came across this and figure its a need-to-know for sailish.com cruisers. If you come across things like this, please pass them along to us and we’ll spread the word.

DODD NARROWS CLOSURES
July 14th to 18th, 2019

This notice is to inform all concerned boaters that Dodd Narrows will be closed to all vessel
traffic starting at 0915 on Sunday, July 14, 2019 until Wednesday, July 17, 2019 and possibly
extending to Thursday, July 18, 2019. The reason for this closure is that BC Hydro will be
upgrading, and replacing, the cables across Dodd Narrows. They will be using a helicopter for
some of the time as they replace the cables and put them on some new towers.
The Nanaimo Port Authority will have vessels on site to stop vessels from transiting the narrows
during the closure periods.

Image may contain: one or more people, ocean, sky, water, outdoor and nature

This work is scheduled to start on a Sunday as that is deemed to be the least disruptive to BC
Hydro customers on Gabriola and Mudge Islands as they will be without electricity during the
duration of this job.

There will be a scheduled opening for vessels to transit Dodd Narrows for one hour around
slack water on Sunday evening. The scheduled closure times are shown at the bottom of this
notice.

The information on the closures will also be broadcast on VHF radio. At this time I’m not sure if
it will be on Ch. 16 or there will be a short notice on Ch.16 directing you to the complete notice
on the weather channel.

I apologize for the short notice on this and the impact it may have on weekend plans. My
assistance was only requested earlier today, Wednesday, and the NPA was only informed of
this work on Monday, July 8.

Having said all this, there is a chance that none of this will happen and the work will be put off
for several months. At this time that is not a likely option but a slim possibility.

– Bill Wilson

Schedule
Sunday, July 14th:
Outage Day – 09:15-15:30
Flying Rope – 16:30-20:00
Pulling New Conductor

Monday, July 15th:
Pulling new conductor – 10:15-16:00

Tuesday, July 16th:
Stripping old conductor – 11:00-16:45

Wednesday, July 17th:
11:45-17:15

A Picture is Worth 1000 Words for this Swiftsure

Kurt Hoehne Racing, Uncategorized 0 Comment

Glory got through Race Rocks first, but the reality of Bruce’s forecast settled in on the Swiftsure fleet early and mercilessly. Congratulations to Rage for being the lone finisher on the long course, Panic for winning the monohull fleet in the Flattery course, Big Broderna for winning the multihull Flattery fleet and Gladiator for winning the Juan de Fuca fleet. And a tip of the hat (and glass) to the other die-hards who stuck it out. By my count that was 16 total.

Jan Anderson took lots of photos like the ones above, but don’t expect to see yourself on a screaming plane doing high-fives.

Speaking of Bruce Hedrick, he has this to say about the race: “Yes we dropped at 1059, first on the Cape Flattery course. We asked the team on the boat for a vote and I excused myself being the tactician and Wx guy and it was unanimous, let’s end this. In the morning when we met on the boat I said the our elapsed time had gone from 46 to 41 hours, the other J-35 finished in 39.5 hrs. Either way there are other ways to spend your Memorial Day weekend if it’s going to be a hair bag race, which it clearly was, let’s do family and friends things. The folks that stuck it out are clearly to be congratulated. Then there is always next year, which for me will be number 49. Will I miss the next race? Hell no! It’s always so great to see everyone from the years past as well as remember the ones who aren’t there, like Tom Rutten, Kelly O’Neil Henson, and Willy O’Neil.  It’s a great tradition and as always so we’ll run by RVYC.

US Youth Champs and Junior Women’s Championships

Kurt Hoehne Uncategorized 0 Comment

The US Youth Championships registrations are open – but close in April so if you’re young (don’t turn 20 by the end of the year) and are chosen, it’s a chance to attend a regatta won years ago by Dalton Bergan, Charlie McKee and Carl Buchan. NOR here. Entry and selection guide here.

Ed. Note: Alert reader and fellow dinghy sailor Mike Johnson points out that PNWer Emery Wager also won the US Youth champs. How can I forget Emery? I spent enough time watching him sail farther and farther ahead. Mike found an interesting paragraph on Emery’s US Youth Champs exploits:

2003
 In his fourth time to the US Youth Championship, Emery Wager of Seattle, WA, dominated the Laser fleet from the first day. Emery scored eight bullets a fourth and a fifth for 17 total points. He was so far ahead that he didn’t have to sail in the final race. Wager credits his win to good practice. “In Seattle, we can sail year round. I can practice in a variety of conditions on Puget Sound as well as Lake Washington.” Former U.S. Youth Champion and Olympic medalist Carl Buchan is one of Wager’s role models. Wager says that Buchan advised him, “If you want to win, it’s not enough to just sail fast, you have to be tough.”

Junior Women’s Championships

I’m sure our many talented young female sailors already know about this, but maybe not all. If any young PNW women out there want to start making waves at the national level, these are good events to apply for and attend if possible. (By the way, let us know if you’re going so we can keep track!)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
March 5, 2019

Bristol, R.I.  – Registration is now open for the U.S. Junior Women’s Singlehanded Championship and U.S. Junior Women’s Doublehanded Championship. The U.S. Junior Women’s Singlehanded Championship for the Leiter Trophy is scheduled for July 8 – 13, 2019, at Richmond Yacht Club (Richmond, Calif.). The U.S. Junior Women’s Doublehanded Championship for the Ida Lewis Trophy is July 19 – 24, 2019 at the San Diego Yacht Club (San Diego, Calif.). Both of the championships will feature two days of clinic instruction led by US Sailing endorsed high-performance coaches and three days of competitive racing.
 
New fleet additions for the 2019 Championships include a Laser 4.7 fleet for the Leiter and a 29er fleet for the Ida Lewis. Other fleets represented at the regattas are Club 420s and Laser Radials.
 
Ida Lewis has allocated 30 spots for Club 420 registrations and 10 spots for 29ers. Ida Lewis is expected to include up to 80 athletes ages 13-18. 60 spots are allocated for Laser Radial and 4.7 sailors at the Leiter, sailors ages 13-18.
 
“The addition of Laser 4.7’s and 29ers into the existing U.S. Junior Women’s Championship is a great step forward for these events”, recalled Alana Marks, head coach for both championships and past Olympic campaigner. “We are excited to get more competitors on the water while using the Ida Lewis and Leiter regatta structure that works so well. The new fleets will further add camaraderie of the championships”.
 
The C. Thomas Clagett Trust graciously funds the U.S. Junior Women’s Championships.
 
View past winners of the Ida Lewis and Nancy Leiter Clagett Memorial Trophy 

Seeking PCs

Kurt Hoehne Uncategorized 0 Comment

And this just in – our California neighbors are trying to track down their remaining Kettenburg offspring – the venerable PCs. As I understand it, the PC can stand for Pacific Class or Pacific Coast One-Design. Regardless, they’re fine looking boats. Get in touch with Danielle if you find one hiding out in the Northwest:

Dear Pacific Northwest Sailing Leader,
I’m looking for help locating any of the remaining Kettenburg PC’s that may be located in the Pacific Northwest.  This year is the class’s 90th anniversary and we are trying to find the status of all our missing boats.  A list can be found here and any information/questions can be directed to Danielle Richards, Class President, danielle.richards.1936@gmail.com

Thank you for your help!
Danielle Richards

Where’s the Fire?

Kurt Hoehne Uncategorized 0 Comment

Actually, there’s no fire this time. The Seattle Fire Department was at Shilshole practicing. Alert liveaboard (and a quick one with a phone camera) Scott Malone explains: “The fire fighters were practicing for injured personnel removal from dock and boats with the backboard and extension ladder.”

Sail Sand Point names Seth Muir Executive Director

Kurt Hoehne Community, Uncategorized 0 Comment
Sail Sand Point names Seth Muir Executive Director
Seth Muir

We’ve known for a while that Mary Anne Ward was leaving the Executive Director position at Sail Sand Point. Now we know her replacement! Sailish.com wishes Seth the best of luck as he is stepping into one of the very best jobs around, growing sailing in the Northwest. Here’s the press release.

January 9, 2019-Seattle, WA-Saiil Sand Point, Seattle’s Community Boating Center, is proud to announce that Seth Muir will be stepping in as Executive Director February 1, 2019.

Muir comes to Sail Sand Point from Salish Sea Expeditions, a non-profit sailing and marine science organization based in Puget Sound, where he served as Executive Director from 2012-2019. In his time with Salish Sea Expeditions, Muir expanded program offerings to increase participation and solidified significant funding relationships with area foundations and federal and state agencies (including securing one of the first organizational No Child Left Inside grants from WA State Department of Recreation and Conservation).

“I could not be more excited to be joining this vibrant community of sailors and paddlers here at Sail Sand Point,” Muir writes. “Sail Sand Point is a vital community resource that provides equitable and affordable access to one of Seattle’s most cherished spaces, the water.”

Muir will replace Mary Anne Ward who led the organization through an extraordinary period of growth in her four years as Executive Director. “It has been my incredible honor to lead Sail Sand Point as we continue to remove barriers that have historically kept people off the water,” Ward writes. “With programming nearly doubled and over 15,000 users last year, it is clear the time has come to renovate our boathouse and increase our facility space. I firmly believe that Seth brings with him the skills and experience needed for Sail Sand Point’s success in this next phase of development.”

Muir joins Sail Sand Point as they prepare for a major capital campaign to expand classroom space and improve facilities. As Executive Director, Muir will lead the organization through new strategic partnerships with local government, businesses, and philanthropic individuals who share the organization’s vision for accessible recreation on the lake. “I’m inspired by the hard work and dedication of Sail Sand Point’s community as they strive to make their mission a reality,” Muir writes. “There’s a lot in store for Sail Sand Point and I’m thrilled to be here to help make it happen.”

About Sail Sand Point

Sail Sand Point is a 501(c)3 non-profit located on the North Shore of Magnuson Park with the mission of bringing the joy and life-enhancing benefits of sailing and small boats to people of all ages, abilities, and backgrounds. Sail Sand Point achieves its mission through a wide range of youth camps, adult classes, adaptive watersports clinics, a robust community outreach program, and a fully integrated scholarship program. With 1,051 outreach participants, 458 hours of adaptive sailing, and $38,405 awarded in scholarships last year, Sail Sand Point continues its strides in making sailing and paddling accessible for all.

Sail Sand Point Party Tomorrow

Kurt Hoehne Uncategorized 1 Comment

If you’re a part of Seattle’s Sail Sand Point community, there’s a party! For more information get in touch with the good folk at Sail Sand Point.

 

Maple Bay Regatta Results, CRASH Regatta Next on Vancouver Island

Kurt Hoehne Uncategorized 0 Comment

Late summer saw the traditional Maple Bay Regatta with four classes competing. I don’t have a report, but here are the results plus some photos and slideshow, courtesy of John van den Hengel. I understand that in years gone by, this was one of the region’s big events, drawing big fleets. I think the fact that there were everything from 200-raters to an Santa Cruz 50 competing is a good sign. Hopefully, we’ll get some more details on this week’s CRASH Regatta out of Sidney which appears to have a good entry list.

Overall Results Maple Bay Regatta

Division=Div A

Sail Boat Skipper PHRF Club Type Total Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Race 4 Race 5
1 CAN151 SunnyVale Sailing Team,West C. 99 Melges24 4 1 1 1 2* 1
2 330 Blackadder Holland,Ken 99 Melges24 7 2 2 3* 1 2
3 484 Lickety Split Stevens,Tom 39 MBYC T-320 12 3 3 2 4 5*
4 CAN67776 Lawndart Allan,Bill 0 Santa Cruz 50 15 4 4 4 7* 3
5 28108 Moonlight Mile Stamper,Duncan 72 J35 19 5* 5 5 5 4
6 67727 Pacific Pearl Fitzgibbon,Gary 99 Olsen 30 23 7* 7 6 3 7
7 87383 Interim Williams,Steve 108 Ross930 24 6 6 7* 6 6

Division=Div B

Sail Boat Skipper PHRF Club Type Total Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Race 4 Race 5
1 59990 Godzilla Ip,Alan 122 MBYC 30 6 2 1 1 2 3*
2 42512 Bullet Proof Martin,Nigel 138 Olsen 911SE 7 1 2 3* 3 1
3 29911 Caliente Walker,Simon 153 Hotfoot 27 11 5* 4 4 1 2
4 49309 Optical Illusion Daniels,Tim 114 MBYC Dash34 12 3 3 2 4 5*
5 29727 Slick Lowes,David 153 Hotfoot 27 18 4 5 5 6* 4
6 19459 Sea Lion Lott,Ken 139 Viking 33 25 6 7* 7 5 7
7 355 Spud Collins,John 141 J30 25 7* 6 6 7 6

Division=Div C

Sail Boat Skipper PHRF Club Type Total R1 Race 2 Race3 Race 4 Race 5 Race 6
1 13 Amoore Dalgren,Joy 168 Moore 24 5 1 1 1 1 1 5*
2 1115 Scooter Fox,Alex 195 26 9 2 3* 2 2 2 1
3 798 Pitoraq Heath,Graham 194 Windward 30 17 3 4 4 3 5* 3
4 819 Urbanblight Bakkan,Bill 198 J22 19 4 7* 3 6 4 2
5 251 Arriba Gray,Cam 165 MBYC Martin 242 20 6 2 5 4 3 7*
6 296 White Rabbit Davidson,Kim 165 Martin 242 27 7* 5 7 5 6 4
7 477 Mystique Johnson,Andy 186 MBYC C&C Mk2 30 5 6 6 7* 7 6

Division=Div D

Sail Boat Skipper PHRF Club Type Total R1 Race 2 Race3 Race 4 Race 5 Race 6
1 573 Songbird Hansen,Paul 204 30 10 5* 1 2 1 4 2
2 684 Short Sale Martin,Rod 205 27 10 2 2 8* 2 3 1
3 589 Nemesis Coughlin,Tim 231 San Juan 24 11 1 3 1 4 2 5*
4 74314 Wave Reviews Jenkins,Paul 235 Haida 26 14 3 4* 3 3 1 4
5 74418 Prairie Sun Windas,John 225 27 25 9*DSQ 6 6 5 5 3
6 49021 Seeadler Rozen,Jay 201 MBYC Newport 28 30 7* 5 5 6 7 7
7 49287 Makai Scorgie,David 250 MBYC San Juan 24 31 6 7 4 8* 6 8
8 49125 Two Bits Cameron,Bruce 243 Gazelle 22 32 4 8* 7 7 8 6

Cowichan Bay Report – Northwest Multihull Championship, Martin 242 NAs and Plenty of PHRFers

Alex Fox Racing, Uncategorized , 0 Comment
Cowichan Bay Report – Northwest Multihull Championship, Martin 242 NAs and Plenty of PHRFers

The 39th annual Cowichan (“Cow”) Bay Regatta was sailed at the beginning of the month. In those 39 years a lot of marks have been rounded and a lot of Canadian food and beverages consumed in that northern nooke adjacent to the Saanich Inlet. It remains BC’s summertime destination regatta, a chance for PHRFers and one-design fleets to get away from the big cities and hone in on equal parts racing and fun. I see a great appeal to Cow Bay as a likely jumping off point for a summer cruise. It provides great racing and a nice event for transitioning from racing mode to Gulf-cruising-mode. Thanks to Alex Fox for providing this racing rundown. Heidi Leckenby helmed their T-Bird Scooter to second in PHRF 4.

Cowichan Bay 2018

By Alex Fox

This year was everything Cow Bay’s advertised to be. Great venue, fine social activities and a kind 8-12 knots of breeze, with enough shifts and current variations to open the course options up, keeping the fleets tight and competitive.

The multihulls held, as always, their Northwest Championships, with 12 boats this year ranging from the F-24 Geneva up to the 40′ Dragonfly. Duncan Gladman’s speedy new (to the area) Dragon came out on top with great consistency, seeming to like it when the breeze was up a bit. One point behind in second was Bad Kitty, Bob and Ron’s ever-present yellow cat, with Geneva, last year’s winner, settling for third. 

Division 1 was a mixed PHRF fleet, SC 50, Aerodyne 38, J-109, Flying Tiger, Henderson 30 , CM1200 and more. The battle came down to the 109 Tantivy, from Seattle, just edging out Baaad Kitty, the Henderson from Royal Victoria, again by a single point with Kairos in third. 

Division 2 was something of a sportboat fleet. Three Melges 24’s , a Left Coast Dart, Elliot 770, no fewer than four Dash 34’s, or variations of and a Ross 930. The Melges and the Dart waged war on each other and the bigger boats, with the last race deciding the overalls. Mike Bond sailing the Melges with the ever changing name (ed. note: apparently Hold My Beer for this regatta), came out on top, with Paul and April’s Ogopogo edging the Melges 24 Sunnyvale for third. The Dash’s had their own battle within the fleet and interestingly that went to the one in original form, Optical Illusion.

Division 3 was pretty much dominated by Stephanie Schwenk and crew on Wild Rumpus. The little Santa Cruz 27 came, saw and conquered after a series of runner ups in recent memory. This division had a big range of boats from the Ultimate 20 and Pocket Rocket, a gaggle of Hotfoot 27’s, to a couple of J-29’s including second place Godzilla from Vancouver, a regular on the VIRS circuit, and her sistership Rhumbline in third. Most everyone had their day in this 13 boat fleet, with seven boats recording top three race finishes. 

Division 4, the small boat division came down to a battle between four of us. Vidas Stukas on his much modified Turbo-Bird, Zig Zag, won it. Heidi making her regatta helming debut aboard our T-Bird, Scooter. Brian Robinson was third on the Cal 9.2 Flight and Windward 30 Pitoraq ended up fourth. Zig Zag dominated day one with three bullets to our one, then Flight really found the gas pedal on Sunday, winning two races. They might have finished third, had their spinnaker not blown. This was fun, tight racing with Graham Heath on Pitoraq, the 2017 VIRS series Overall winners, being a bit unlucky to fall to fourth, after mostly second and third place finishes. It was close racing with some very different boats, showing that handicap racing is alive and well.  

The Martin 242s held their North Americans at Cow Bay as part of the regatta and Michael Clements on Wicked won going away. Second was the always contending Dirty Dog with third and forth filled by two Orcas Island boats, Crazy I’s and Purple Martin, shaking up the usual pecking order. This fleet always wins the party, hiring a DJ and hosting the dock party on Friday night. 

Cow Bay Regatta is run by a group of hard working volunteers, who come from all over. Brigid, a former local sailor, who now lives in from Oak Harbour, deserves special kudos though for coordinating everyone’s efforts over the past bunch of years. Way to go everyone!

Results.

Ed. Note: If any of the fleets (multihulls, Martin 242s) want to provide more specific info and pix, I’ll be happy to do a separate post. Just email me. Long live BC racing!