There are a lot of great kids’ boats and programs out there, but every time I see a Bic Open “regatta” I think to myself, “Man, I wish they had that when I was a kid.” Well, I wish they had a bridge of doom when I was a kid. Come to think of it, that would put a whole new wrinkle in one of our local regattas. Even for grown ups.
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 we cover kids sailing programs around the region, lest we not forget SYC’s longstanding, outstanding program. Operating from SYC on Portage Bay, its Optis, Lasers, Vanguard 15s and 420s are a common sight as one drives on the 520. For more information, check out the brochure.
Sailing Director Brian Ledbetter was eager to share the news that his team earned some well deserved recognition from US Sailing. Here’s the scoop:
On behalf of the Seattle Yacht Club, Angela Frost and Cameron Hoard accepted the Captain Joe Prosser Award for Excellence in Sailing Instruction at the 2017 U.S. Sailing National Symposium. Angela is the Sailing Programs Coordinator at Seattle Yacht Club, and Cameron is the Junior Race Team coach.
Cameron and his Optis
This award is given to an organization that has demonstrated Excellence in Sailing Instruction, and has made an exemplary contribution toward improving the quality and safety in the training or instruction of sailors.
Cameron Hoard and Angela Frost accepting the award.
In addition to the trophy, a $500 credit, also funded by U.S. Sailing’s Training Committee, will be awarded annually to the selected program for Instructor Training. The Captain Joe Prosser Award was created to recognize the life achievement of the Merchant Marine Academy’s first sailing master. Nominees for the award may be organizations which are either “for-profit” or “not-for-profit”; and may be engaged in sailing instruction on a part-time or full-time basis. Nominees shall embody the characteristics of honor, integrity, and a selfless dedication to the sport.
Congratulations to the Seattle Yacht Club and the Junior Sailing and Racing programs for winning this prestigious award.
Congratulations, gang. One of the encouraging things that I’m seeing is that not only are there several different programs to suit different sailing communities, these organizations often pitch in on regattas together to give the kids the best experience possible.
If your junior program has a story to tell, please send it my way.
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 may be some things that are more fun than packing up and heading across the country to race against a bunch of really skilled strangers, but not many. And if you get to do this when you’re young, it’s even better.
That’s what a bunch of Seattle area Laser sailors did this past month when they travelled to Clearwater, Florida for the Laser Midwinters East. The story is best told in pictures. What you don’t see is the moms who made it happen. As Erin Timms explains, “I will tell you that the kids had a ball! And Kara (Carlson) and I are exhausted after feeding 5 teenagers for 6 days!!!!!”
I’m hoping to follow the exploits of all our young sailors (and get their reports too) as they pursue championships, new friendships and fun. Not pictured here, but definitely representing Seattle, were Talia Toland and Hanne Weaver who both finished in the top ten in the Radial class. Results here.
Moms are great.
Lotta Lasers
Is that warm sand on they’re walking on at the Clearwater Community Sailing Center?
That looks suspiciously like homework
Drifting in Florida
Happy to be in Florida: Abbie Carlson (she was in a 4.7) Analucia Clarkson (Radial – Silver Fleet) Parker Carlson (4.7) Owen Timms (Radial – Gold Fleet) and Kit Stoll (silver fleet)
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’s Mount Baker Rowing and Sailing Center is one of Seattle’s many options for sailing lessons and a sailing team. And clearly the Seattle Parks and Recreation Department, sponsored by Mount Baker Boating Advisory Council, is intent on furthering the mission. With the recent hire of Kaitlyn van Nostrand as coach, the racing team will get a big boost. And another boost comes in the form of four new FJ dinghies, which are arriving today.
Kaitlyn Van Nostrand has been selected for the Youth Sailing Coach position at MBRSC. Kaitlyn has been a US Sailing Level 1 certified coach since 2004, and has coached juniors in Optimists, Lasers and 420’s.
At Hobart and William Smith Colleges, she was twice elected captain of the sailing team and MVP. She competed at five college sailing nationals and finished second place in the 2007 College Sailing Team Race Championships. She also raced Snipes, V15’s and E-Scows.
Kaitlyn moved to New Zealand in 2011 and coached Opti’s part time whilst obtaining her Master’s degree in International Business at the University of Auckland. She relocated to Seattle in 2016, coaching camps and the youth racing team at Sail Sand Point.
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.
Moana was a very fun kids movie, with two real heroes and lots of sailing scenes. One thing that bothered me a little was that Moana herself was a pretty lame sailor until the demigod Maui gave her some lessons. Well, as it turns out in some of the earlier storyboards she was a darn good sailor. Not quite sure how the windsurfer/boat thing would have played out anywhere near to believable, but it would have been interesting to see a race in the movie. And perhaps have her teach a reluctant or fearful Maui how to sail.
This cut will be seen as an extra on the DVD version coming out soon.
Kurt grew up racing and cruising in the Midwest, and has raced Lasers since the late 1970s. Currently he is a broker at Swiftsure Yachts. He has been Assistant Editor at Sailing Magazine and a short stint as Editor of Northwest Yachting. Through Meadow Point Publishing he handles various marketing duties for smaller local companies. He currently is partners on a C&C 36 which he cruises throughout the Northwest. He’s married to the amazing Abby and is father to Ian and Gabe.
I was headed downwind passing about 10-15 boatlengths from the Opti’s weather when I heard the jawing. Two Opti kids, one was Dieter Creitz and the other I assume was Jack Carroll, rounded it nearly overlapped, and there were words. Oh oh, I thought, the plague of my racing generation’s yelling has infected the kids. But something different was going on. As they eased off onto the run, I’m pretty sure I heard singing coming from both boys. Singing. How great is that?
There was a distinctive youth movement at this year’s Frigid Digit Regatta. Seven Optis sailed their own course, and as Matt Wood noted, “They were great. After every race they thanked the committee, and they had a great time!” I asked one kid, swishing up the dock bundled up in a drysuit and seemingly carrying more gear than his own body weight, “Did you have fun out there?” Bright eyed, he looked at me and said “Yes! Did you?” How great is that? If I hadn’t had fun (which I did), seeing his enthusiasm would have made the whole weekend for me.
But it wasn’t just the Optis. Ten Laser Radials were out as well, with kids from Portand to West Vancouver coming to Seattle for a weekend of great camaraderie – err – competition. Grant Gridley of Portland managed to beat locals Owen Timms and Abbie Carlson. As the beautiful hat-trophies were handed out, the tightness of this group of Radial sailors was evident.
Of course it was pretty hard not to have a good time out there. On Saturday the wind was light but the air was warm, and on Sunday a good breeze, building to hiking conditions in the last few races, definitely cleared some of those winter blues from our sailing psyches. Ten races were sailed, except for the Aero class which got an extra race in.
Here’s a sampling of photos from the event. I’m going to try to get some videos up as well. Thanks to Cameron Hoard, Eric Arneson and Erin Timm for taking photos and making this happen.
Radials racing in slow motion.
Saturday starts were painful sometimes.
Hangin’ out.
Mixed fleets.
A dramatic sky on Saturday.
One of Saturday’s better breezes.
The fleet splitting.
A lot of line for the Opti skippers to work.
Radials sticking close together downwind
Wind picking up Sunday.
Later races Sunday were sailed in great breeze.
This was a sea change for Frigid Digit. It’s been a Seattle Laser Fleet event for 40 some years, managed by the Laser sailors. It’s been held several different places, from Union Bay at UW to Shilshole Bay on the Sound to Sail Sand Point to Leschi. Its history is profound, from the days of 60 boat fleets to barely surviving the down cycles. This year, the fleet decided to give up much of the race and food management of the event to Corinthian YC. Laser sailor Mark Ross worked with Matt Wood of CYC to produce a spectacularly successful event, helped no doubt by the sailing conditions. PRO Geoff Pease took our pleas for lots of races, little downtime, to heart and races got reeled off one after another even through 55 degree windshifts.
The RS Aeros have certainly taken root in Seattle, and drawn in many top sailors. Carl Buchan managed the win over Jay Renehan in final race. Third in the 13 boat fleet was the mightily-bearded Dan Falk, but only one point ahead of Derek Bottles, who had recently placed third in the Aero Midwinters. Libby McKee is back on the water in her new Aero, and was fourth after the first day but had to miss day two.
Radial sailors Owen Timms, left, and winner Grant Gridley.
Opti winners were Sammy Farkas, Jack Carroll and Dieter Creitz.
The Aero winners, left to right, Dan Falk, Jay Renehan and Carl Buchan.
Laser winners, left to right, Blake Bentzen, David Brink and Dalton Bergan.
Dalton Bergan and Connor with the Frigid Digit trophy.
A dozen Lasers raced, and it was Dalton Bergan showing that even after Moth sailing and fatherhood, he still knows how to make a Laser go ridiculously fast. Second, but always big in Dalton’s rearview mirror, was David Brink. Blake Bentzen won a race and finished third overall. Carlos Abisambra, who just announced he was leaving Seattle for a new job in Colorado, was fourth and left us all a reminder about just how on it he always is by being the only one to sail the correct course in the last race. (btw, the results at CYC have it as race 8 when it should really be race 10)
Rumor has it that a number of our young Radial sailors are headed to Laser Radials Midwinter East, and that should be yet another milestone in their development. I’ll track what they’re up to there and ask for on-the-scene reporting. I understand that youth no longer do emails. Maybe I can get them to text some reports.
Yeah, I hope they tear up the fleets back east. But mostly, I want them to keep having fun.
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.
Armel Le Cléac’h after finishing. Copyright Jean Marie Liot/DPPI Vendee Globe
As Armel Le Cléac’h came into Les Sables d’Olonne a few hours ahead of Alex Thomson today, one of offshore racing’s great duels ended. Le Cléac’h finished with Banque Populaire VIII amid cheers of thousands at Les Sables and his hero status is assured. Alex Thomson is sure to finish in a few hours.
I’ll be watching too see if Alex Thomson’s Hugo Boss really has as broken foil. He reported his starboard foil broken back on in November while he was leading the race, but has sailed just about as fast as Le Cléac’h ever since. I’m not sure I believe it. And if it is true I’m going to have to have an expert explain to me just how he managed to sail so well in that broken wing condition.
Alex Thomson is great for sailing. A Brit taking on the French at very much their own game, he’s managed to be a wise corporate investment for Hugo Boss (not always the case in yacht racing sponsorship), a consummate showman (check out his skywalk video) and a damn fine sailor. And also a resilient one. It seems no matter how many times his boats break, he always keeps coming back and always sailing all out at or near the front of the fleet. When his foil broke he just kept going, and damn near won this thing. He’s already a household name in the U.K. Maybe they’ll knight him or something between video shoots.
There’s a lot more to be said about IMOCA boats, singlehanding, foils and flat out speed and subsequent seamanship questions. I’ll leave that percolating for now.
But I definitely want to talk about the 61-year-old Irishman Enda O’Coineen. He entered without any real chance of winning, but found sponsorship from several quarters and carried the hopes and dreams of the Irish with him on Kilcullen Voyager. He is a successful businessman and, get this, was president of the International Federation of Irish Pubs. And was a creator of a sailing magazine, Afloat . You gotta admire then ambition, if not the judgment, of someone starting a sailing magazine…. In his pictures and videos, he seems like the kind of guy I’d enjoy hearing tell stories. He’s happy and sees the bright side, and isn’t jaded by the Vendee fanfare.
Enda O’Coineen. Copyright Jean-Marie Liot/DPPI/Vendee Globe
O’Coineen will not officially finish this race. He was dismasted January 1 shortly after doing a very seamanlike pitstop to prepare for the Southern Ocean. But to read his words, you sense a real sailor, one who has thought through the implications of the sport and gets the big picture. His post-dismasting words kind of tell it all. Here’s part of what his report to the race organizers:
“You roll the dice. I was caught a little bit unawares. I was in 20-25 kts of breeze and a very vicious 35kt squall came through, and the self-steering malfunctioned just at the wrong moment. I did an involuntary gybe and then a gybe back. The boat was out of control and I was caught without the runner properly on and the mast snapped.
“I have to laugh because if I don’t I will cry.
“Look, you have to be philosophical. This sort of sailing is living on the edge. I have been doing that for 57 days and as the fella says if you are living on the edge you are taking up too much space. I was taking up too much space on the edge.
“Ironically I had just done a little interview with myself for New Year. I celebrated with a small bottle of champagne. My alter personality asked me about my New Year’s Resolution. And my New Year’s resolution was to take less risk with my life. In business, in my life, I have taken a lot of risk. The risk enabled me to make enough money to buy this boat and to pursue the dream, to pursue my adventure. The irony is that only two hours earlier I had recorded a video to pledge to take less risk. And here I am. Risk is a four letter word, like a lot of meaningful four letter words in the English language.
Yet the Vendee Globe is not really over for O’Coineen. He has vowed to sail his boat back to Ireland. He’s lined up borrowed mast and sails to sail the boat from Dunedin on New Zealand’s South Island to Auckland on North Island. He’ll source a new mast, go back for a visit to Ireland, then return to Auckland to refit the boat and finish the circumnavigation. It will apparently make him the first Irishman to singlehand around the world.
Rich Wilson. Copyright Jean-Marie Liot/DPPI/Vendee Globe.
American Rich Wilson, 66, has rounded Cape Horn in Great American IV and is headed up the Atlantic. It looks like he’ll finish in a few days in 14th place. Finish is the key word here. Described as “a brain,” on his Vendee profile, he’s a Harvard graduate, a math whiz and former defense analyst. He’s also a great sailor, having won the Bermuda Race several decades ago, setting several offshore records with the Great American II trimaran. His first attempt at the Vendee was in 2008-9, when he finished in 121 days.
Perhaps the most profound aspect of Wilson is the commitment he has to sharing his experiences and educating kids. On his Sites Alive website teachers could link to an abundance of teaching materials, plus hook into his ship’s log, position etc. His outreach has attracted hundreds of thousands of kids and certainly opened a lot of eyes to the world outside their favorite video game.
Here is a Q and A from today with one of his young followers, Annya. (note that this was done as he’s racing a 60’ racing machine by himself)
Question: How do the stars look at night from your boat?
Answer: Dear Annya: We have not seen many stars on this trip because of the weather, and that is very disappointing. On other voyages, I would spend a lot of time at night looking at the stars, and studying a book called The Star Book by H. A. Rey. It is the best star book I’ve ever seen.
One aspect of the Vendée Globe is that since we go into the Southern Hemisphere, we get to see all the stars that we cannot see from the Northern Hemisphere. And it’s interesting that when we cross the equator going south, Polaris, the North Star, disappears over the horizon behind us as we head south! It will reappear ahead of us going north over the equator.
While the focus is on Le Cléac’h and Thomson, hold a thought for Enda O’Coineen and Rich Wilson. I’ll admire Le Cléac’h and be enthralled by Thompson’s antics. But it’s O’Coineen and Wilson with whom I’d like to share an ale. They get it that sailing is a lot more than a chance to win. It’s easy to shine a spotlight on Le Cléac’h. It may be more important to put a spotlight on the guys who are going to finish weeks and months after.
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.
Last weekend, unknown to many local sailors, a major championship was occurring at Sail Sand Point in Seattle. The US Sailing Junior Women’s Championship (Leiter Cup) was sailed in picture perfect conditions over four days. Twenty-eight young women from all over the country turned up, but it was area sailor Talia Toland that ended up on top.
All photos by Jan Anderson
Traffic
Rounding
Can’t beat this.
Toland at the weather mark.
Toland earned the victory, having sailed several years in Lasers on the growing and very competitive Northwest Youth Circuit. A quick look at her results over the last few years show a steady progression through the ranks. And while second place went to Kiera O’Reardon of Houston Yacht Club, third went to up-and-coming local Abbie Carlson from the Seattle Yacht Club.
The biggest winners were the Pacific Northwest racing community and Sail Sand Point. “US Sailing was skeptical that we could pull this off,” explained SSP Executive Director Mary Anne Ward. “They wanted four separate rooms for videos and a full kitchen and a few other things that we just don’t have.” But in the end, it went off without a hitch, thanks in large part to virtually perfect winds, northerlies first, followed by southerlies and then ending on northerlies. Ten races were completed.
“US Sailing is already talking to us about hosting more events,” Ward said.
The US sailing recap of the event can be read at the end of this post. More of Jan Anderson’s photos can be found here, and results can be found here.
Our Olympian Helena
Of course many of the young women sailing last weekend dream of going to the Olympics. Well, one of “ours” is there right now. Helena Scutt is crew on the 29erfx, a very high performance skiff class for women.
Helena Scutt
She and skipper Paris Henken are in Rio right now. I hope to have some tidbits from Helena to share with you, and will convey them as soon as I can. In the meantime, here is a video interview of Scutt and Henken when they secured the Olympic spot.
Talia Toland Wins U.S. Junior Women’s Singlehandeds
Published on July 31st, 2016
A fleet of 28 Laser Radials competed at the U.S. Junior Women’s Singlehanded Championship, held July 29-31 on Lake Washington in Seattle, WA. In the end, it was Washington native, Talia Toland (Kirkland, Wash.), who ran away with the title in her home state.
Toland enjoyed a three point lead over Kiera O’Reardon (Houston, Texas) through eight races entering Sunday’s final two races. With the Nancy Leiter Clagett Memorial Trophy on the line and two 50-minute races to go, Toland won her third race of the Championship in Race 9 and gained two more points on O’Reardon, who placed third.
In the 10th and final race, Toland ensured O’Reardon did not catch her in the standings by finishing three places ahead of her (14th to 17th) to win the Leiter Trophy.
“This is my third year sailing at the Leiter Trophy and it’s great to finally put it all together in my home venue,” said Toland. “It was kind of cool that we had different wind direction every day of the regatta. I stayed in the pressure and stayed pointing towards the mark and kept a cool head in the shifty conditions, which helped a lot when you patience. I had a chance to work with all the coaches, which is really great. It’s cool to see how I’ve developed from year to year at this event.”
Toland placed third at this Championship last year and sixth in 2014.
The top six boats qualified for early acceptance to the 2017 U.S. Youth Sailing Championships – a qualifier for the 2017 ISAF Youth World Championships in Israel.
This Championship was preceded by two days of clinics featuring a collection the country’s top coaches. The clinics were led by Richard Feeny, US Sailing Junior National Coach.
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.
A fleet of 64 sailboats traveled to the Oak Harbor Marina July 11-15 for the 34th running of Whidbey Island Race Week (WIRW) hosted by the Oak Harbor Yacht Club. The nation’s only true race “week,” WIRW gives sailors from the United States, Canada and Europe the opportunity to test their racing skills on both short and long courses in Penn Cove and Saratoga Passage. The event, which includes nightly awards and live bands, kicked off Sunday night as sailors sized up competition and rekindle friendships at the traditional Sunday meet-and-greet.
Mike Goldfarb’s War Canoe had a stellar 2016 week.
Focused trimming on 65 Red Roses
No explanation necessary. Race Week. 2016
Great action when the wind was up in 2016.
The J/105s had a big fleet and close racing. – 2016
Slick and Here and Now rekindled their rivalry. -2016
Kids in the Camp enjoyed some Opti sailing. 2016
Other kids crewed. 2016
The camp kids had a great time. 2016
Every kid had a string to pull aboard Suma.
Race Week had great entertainment. 2016
Dictated by the tides, this year’s event was held mid-July in cooler than normal temperatures and lighter than average winds. Nonetheless, Race PRO Charley Rathkopf and his committee from Corinthian Yacht Club Seattle finished eight to nine races during the five-day regatta. Nine classes, including three one-design classes, vied for daily honors, class overalls, and the Tesla boat-of-the-week title. Not your usual pickle dishes, daily awards sponsored by Ullman Sails were useful beverage glasses. Class overalls were hand-blown glass trophies commissioned by Seattle artist, Veronica Margarito Lopez.
Short courses on Monday and Tuesday established front runners in all but the 13-boat J/105 class, which saw flip-flopping finishes and the week’s sole DSQ. Wednesday’s Z-course ping-ponged racers around Penn Cove like a pinball-machine, while treating spectators on the Coupeville dock to a colorful spinnaker parade across Penn Cove.
Unconventional courses continued Thursday with a marathon distance race sending most of the fleet off Saratoga’s southern horizon near the island town of Greenbank. The race scored doubled with only half of the day’s total qualifying for a throw-out, either damning some who found themselves on the wrong side of he 180 degree shift or cementing a win for those who landed on the right side of the roulette wheel when it stopped spinning. Dodging holes, boats created a confusing spectacle as they raced side by side, heading in the same direction, with some flying spinnakers while others held jibs. The larger the class, like the 13-boat J/105 class, the bigger the discrepancy of the day’s tally, with the week’s win for the one-design 105s going to David Cohen’s Inconceivable. Just two points separated the next three boats, with Delirium placing second and James Geros’ Last Tango winning the tie-breaker for third over More Jubilee. On Friday, the RC finally called uncle on an overly persistent easterly and set a windward-leeward, only to have it fade, abandoning the week’s final race for five of the nine classes.
Stalwart front runners managed to escape Thursday’s race wrath and held on to class overalls, including John Hoag and his 1D/35, Shrek, in PHRF Class 1, which, after a string of bullets, had to swallow one of their freak double-fifth-place points; Mike Goldfarb, with longtime crew Mark Brink, on War Canoe, in the one-design Farr 30 class; Kevin Welch’s one-design Melges 24, Mikey, helmed by Olympic medalist Jeff Madrigali; and Chris White and crew aboard his Martin 242 , Crazy I’s, which stayed atop PHRF Class 8 with just 7 points and took boat-of-the-week honors thanks to straight bullets.
Tight PHRC racing gave the Left Coast Dart, Ogopogo, a one point lead in Class 3 over Brad Butler’s Sierra 26x, Uno, who landed unusually near the back of the pack on Thursday, forcing them to keep one of the double 4s on their scorecard. Though they horizoned Class 4 during Wednesday’s racing, Stuart Burnell’s J/109, Tantivy, faced some fierce handicaps and fell by just two points for the week to the J/90, Eye Eye. Also missing the week’s overall by just two points, Pat Denney’s J/29, Here & Now, in Class 7 fell to sister-ship, Slick, who was able to throw-out one of the two 4-pointers from Thursday. Keeping with the two-point theme, the Wylie 25, Exodus, won the week in Class 9 with 11 points over the 13 points earned by Ron Ernst’s Martin 29, Ignitor.
Racers took advantage of the light air which tended to arrive later in the day by rafting up to the dock at Coupeville’s Red Barn and stroll the old-timey boardwalks of Whidbey Island’s historic and picturesque Penn Cove town. Racers ducked into establishments such as the newly remodeled Front Street Grill for lunch, or waited willingly in line for ice cream from Kapaw’s Iskreme Worldwide Headquarters, a few step away from the original Stewart brother’s Wet Whiskers ice cream shop which sparked America’s obsession for espresso in 1969.
Though the local breeze was less ample than desired, one indigenous delicacy was in abundant supply—Dungeness crab. Boats setting traps on the run out to the day’s course were rewarded after the day’s racings with overflowing traps stuffed with one of the Pacific Northwest’s favorite bounties. For the second year in a row, the Crab Cake Cook-Off, judged by Oak Harbor Yacht Club Vice Commodore, Avis Berney, Oak Harbor Mayor Bob Severns, among others, was won by the culinary crew of Rex Dupuis’s J/30, Gadzooks.
Shoreside, the bands Kickin’ Dust, Rabbit Wilde, Jones & Fischer, Gertrude’s Hearse, Maggy’s Fury and Original Jim rounded out this year’s live-music line-up. Princess Bride was the feature for movie night, and the Oak Harbor Yacht Club’s offered famous Penn Cove mussels Monday and Wednesday evening. For those not into the fresh bivalves, the OHYC grill fed hungry sailors all week with mouth-watering burgers and corn on the cob.
While mom and dad raced beyond the breakwater, children spent the week making memories at the Brenda Van Fossen, MD Kids Camp. Morning activities at Kids Camp headquarters on the yacht club lawn included learning knot-tying, how to craft a make-shift safety line, building model boats, and creating marine-themed jigsaw puzzles before heading out for the daily field trip which included exploring the Fidalgo tidepools, climbing the Fort Casey lighthouse, hiking down world-famous Deception Pass, painting pottery and making glass art. After a hearty lunch campers spent the afternoons racing Oak Harbor Youth Sailing’s fleet of Optimists at the entry to the harbor’s marina. A highlight of their summer, every camper from the inaugural year returned for 2016, plus some, and even more have committed to next year’s Kids Camp 2017.
New for 2016 was the presentation of a Sportsmanship Award honoring Phil Wise, WIRW board member and long-time racer in the Puget Sound sailing community who passed away in August 2015. The first recipient of the perpetual award was the alternate RC vessel, Gopher Baroque, who suffered some cosmetic damage while helping to pull Steve Johnson’s White Cloud off Oak Harbor’s mucky sea floor. Rather than accepting compensation for the repair, Gopher Baroque requested the amount instead be donated to Oak Harbor’s youth sailing program. Narrowly missing the callout for exemplary sportsmanship were the young men on Ryan Conner and Hendrick Reidel’s Melges 24 up from Tahoe, Blue Dream, who worked long and tirelessly to put together a junior sailing campaign based on elbow grease and hard work.
Mark your calendars for the 35th anniversary of Whidbey Island Race Week, scheduled for July 10-14, 2017.
Ed. Note: This looked like a great deal of fun. Thanks Liza for the report and Schelleen and Charley for all you do to make this regatta happen. They have really made it appealing for families as well as racers. Schelleen is putting a call out for fleets “who want to use the infrastructure of Race Week to conduct fleet local, regional or national championships.” I can think of several fleets that might use this event as a springboard to light a fire their fleets’ keels.
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.
Houses have their “kids’ rooms,” fitness clubs and some stores their “play areas” and recreational clubs their “bouncy houses.” Boats have, or should have, their “kid’s time down below.” Kids seem to do OK in limited spaces, as long as they get to bounce off things.
Amara had the appropriate wingspan for Slipstream’s interior. Gabe was just just thoroughly happy, and I’m pretty sure he started the jumping thing. Charlotte was flying already. One of the subsequent landings was not so great.
Of course there are the problems of hard edges, breakable items and the motion of boat that can throw off the timing of even the best of jumpers. But, for the most part, you can send the willing little crew members down below where they can take off their life jackets and heavy clothes and get goofy. Mom and dad and their buddies from work can hang out on deck and enjoy a beautiful sail.
Two things to look out for. Kids discover forehatches in a hurry and love climbing in and out. And unless you’re keeping watch, they might end up on the foredeck unbeknownst. A rule about life jackets on deck usually slows that process down enormously.
The second thing is one has to keep an eye on the action down below. Yesterday Becky asked me if I thought the three kids below were were being safe enough. “Sure,” I said, “I think…” (Blood curdling scream here mid sentence) Yes, as I was mumbling how safe they were, little Charlotte jammed a foot on one of those jumps. She survived, and in fact it only took about 10 minutes for her to be back to her bouncy self. I admonished Gabe that jumping across the boat should not be done and it had to stop. I think it even did stop. At least there were no more screams. And I’d guess that all of our little crew members will be a little more careful in the future.
Another beautiful evening on Slipstream with everybody going home happy. I probably won’t tempt fate by saying “Sure, they’re fine” immediately. Maybe a five-second delay would do it.
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.
