In Seattle sailing circles, the name Buchan conjures an image of infinite sailing expertise that seems, in some ways, other-worldly. Across generations, the Buchan lineage seems to sail smart and fast nearly all the time. Actually, the Buchans are very human, and Bill Buchan’s autobiography Star Fever (written with Maureen Lander) explains a lot.
Star Fever chronicles how Bill Buchan’s father, also a William, applied his Scottish work ethic to the world of sailing. And how that do-it-yourself and do-it-right attitude filtered through the family. Early on, the father Bill home-built Heather, from lofting her on butcher paper to steaming the oak ribs himself. Heather was fast and a good cruiser.
Bill took it all to to the next level, immersing himself in sailboat racing. The father and son team won the Mallory Cup in Lightnings, among many victories. But the pinnacle of sailboat racing was (and some of us think still is) in Starboats. Bill and his father started creating (designing and building) and refining Stars, taking advantage of the loose tolerances allowed at the time and coming up with light, fast boats. Along the way Bill met his wife Karen, who despite spending some of their first date bailing out a Star, enjoyed Bill and sailing!
Fast forward through several Stars, innumerable regattas and three children. Along the way, Buchan won the Soling Worlds and his Star designs based on his various Frolics were being adopted around the world. Locally, he built the Peterson 44 racer cruiser Sachem from a bare hull to compete in the Pacific Northwest. Disappointment at the Olympic boycott in 1980 turned to Star triumph at the 1984 Olympic Games. That was followed by another Star Worlds victory in 1985 with Steve Erickson as crew.
While Star Fever is well worth the read simply to get insight into Bill and the whole Buchan sailing tradition, I think it’s worth a read from a sailing cultural standpoint as well. Bill and his father designed and built boats, refining and improving them with each iteration. They weren’t the only ones. All this time there was a family to raise and a business to develop. These days, racers often can’t get away for a casual Wednesday evening race.
Proceeds for this book go to the University of Washington Sailing team. It can be purchased here at Fisheries Supply.
Sure enough, after the 5th of July, summer has finally made an appearance in the Pacific NW. We will definitely take our weather compared to the rest of the country with its sweltering temperatures and wild thunderstorms.
The Pacific High is still weak (1030MB) and well south and well to the west of what should be its normal position. This is resulting in very slow Vic-Maui and Pacific Cup Races. If this instability continues it will be difficult for some of the Vic-Maui fleet to make the time limit. The Pacific Cup is also off to a very slow start but starting further south does have its advantages. The other interesting feature on today’s surface analysis chart is the second named storm (Bonnie) of the eastern Pacific hurricane season is now almost to the latitude of the Big Island of Hawaii but only at 120W. The water is still too cool to sustain development so it shouldn’t affect any of the races heading to the Islands. We will continue to watch this storm. See the 8 July Sat Pic.
Overall, today’s surface chart is a real mish mash of pressure systems with a weak 1018Mb low almost directly in the path of the racers with a secondary high-pressure system (1021MB) just to the SE of the low and another weak low (1017MB) at 40N and 133W. Off of our coast is a weak high-pressure system (1020MB) with a weak low-pressure system in the Gulf of Alaska with an attached frontal system that will dissipate off our coast on Saturday night and into Sunday morning. With a weak high offshore and lower pressure in eastern Washington, we will have weak onshore flow with the strongest breeze in the Strait of JdF with some breeze filling down the Sound late Saturday afternoon and into Saturday night. Conditions will ease overnight as the front passes over the Salish Sea. Sunday will see light conditions over most waters until late Sunday afternoon when onshore flow will bring 15-20 knots of westerly down the Straits.
The other interesting chart is the 10 July 500MB which shows not one but two cut-off upper-level lows which will continue to impact our weather by keeping the jet stream well to the north.
Soon after the rumblings of a new, better (than the Laser) singlehanded hitting the water, Seattle sailors took notice of the RS Aero. Soon the stalwart Laser sailors were trading in their Lasers for RS Aeros. Let by Todd Willsie, soon virtually the remaining singlehanded sailors made the switch. More important, the burgeoning fleet drew some of the area’s best singlehanded sailors out of the woodwork and attracted new sailors to the sport.
Some of the things the Seattle sailors retained was their experience sailing in (Columbia River) Gorge conditions and an attitude of cooperation to develop faster as a fleet and not just individually.
All of this came to fore in the just-concluded RS Worlds sailed out of Cascade Locks, Oregon, expertly put on by the Columbia Gorge Racing Association.
Photos by Bill Symes
The racing conditions weren’t typical “Gorge” conditions at first. A strong easterly sent the fleet to the shore where more than a couple boats hit rocks staying out of current. After the strong easterly for the practice race, a number of competitors switch down a sail said, leaving only 6 boats in the “9” class, but bolstering the “7” and “5” classes.
At the awards, from left: Paul Gloster (Donor of the Declan Gloster Memorial Trophy), Dan Falk, Dalton Bergan and Dieter Creitz.
The normal 20 knot westerly made its appearance on Monday of the regatta, and it became clear that the fast course upwind was to get to the biggest positive current in the washing machine of wind against current on the Washington shore. And that was pretty much the way the rest of the regatta went, with Thursday and Friday not as breezy but epic Gorge conditions on the penultimate race day Saturday. It was windy enough that even many of the top boats chicken-gybed.
This regatta featured a “long distance” race midway through. While probably not viable at many venues, it was certainly a highlight for many at this year’s Worlds. A standard windward-leeward course was followed by a 6-mile downwind course of reaches, ending in one of the windier spots in the vicinity. The fleet then had the long beat back aided by the current. The day culminated in a post race pub crawl, followed by a layday the following day.
The results board was dominated by Seattle sailors who made the short trip to Oregon, which many had done several times in preparation for the regatta. Dan Falk dominated the “9” fleet. After the two throwouts, his score line was all firsts except for one second. In the “5” fleet, Dieter Creitz had the same score.
The “7” fleet was controlled by Dalton Bergan, who didn’t have to sail the last race to win and might well not have had to sail at all the last day. At less than 170 pounds, he was competitive upwind. Downwind, his speed was uncanny, playing the all-important jibe angles to the best advantage with consistent speed. Results here. Peter Barton’s Race Report here.
Daily debriefs were a staple, which was much appreciated by those in the middle and back of the fleet. Impressive performances were also put in by Jay Renehan, Peter Barton, Keith Hammer, Mike Johnson, Ryan Zehnder and Yannick Gloster. As with the Laser class decades ago, RS Aero techniques promise to improve year by year. As Joe Burcar says, “There’s more to get out of the boat. For me, the training group was great fun and the regatta was the icing on the cake.”
And now for the most impressive crew in this year’s Race to Alaska (R2AK). Mustang Survival Team Rite of Passage is the youngest team ever to complete the race, which they did yesterday finishing 9th in the wee hours of the morning. The brilliant writers in R2AK headquarters wrote up a wonderful team profile, which should be read. (As all the profiles should be! They’re that irreverent, er, entertaining.) Congratulations to Nadia Khalil, Francesca Dougherty, Sebastian Dougherty and Enzo Dougherty. You guys rock. Make sure other young people hear your story – We’d love to run anything you have to say here in sailish. Without further ado, here’s their story from the R2AK race boss:
Mustang Survival Team Rite of Passage
In hopes of avoiding another “kids these days” conversation, I’ll put it right out there: Mustang Survival’s Team Rite of Passage has an average age of 16.75. They now hold the record for the youngest team to ever complete R2AK, as well as the youngest racer: Francesca Dougherty, 15. It does take a minute to let the ‘wow’ of it all settle down, because right when we think we’ve wrapped our heads around how incredible this is, they go and reflect that the difficulties of R2AK include high school (high school!). “We couldn’t have done this without our mentors. Finishing the school year and prepping for R2AK at the same time was a lot. Our mentors helped us to the start line and we took it from there.”
Okay, forget it. There is no way to talk about this team without bringing age into it. It’s like telling a joke with half the punchline, it’ll never land the same—but whatever tired stereotypes about this generation just don’t seem to apply.
Meet the teenage incredible behind that tracker blip you’ve been rooting for: Nadia Khalil, Francesca Dougherty, Sebastian Dougherty, Enzo Dougherty and a Santa Cruz 27: Mustang Survival’s Team Rite of Passage.
This is a team with boating pedigree. Siblings Enzo and Francesca are 2nd generation R2AK’ers, Nadia a varsity sailing team racer, and Sebastian—can we stop a minute to say how irritating and confusing it is that he has the same last name as Enzo and Francesca, but no family relationship?—spends his days on a family boat that happens to be the neo-legendary Hamachi, a J/125 and winner of the 2019 Transpac.
Up and coming sailors all, the team had long considered the Race to Alaska a life goal, dream board material that would have been out of reach for most 15-18 year olds. Yes, because of their pedigree, but being in their presence you immediately pickup that behind their affable exterior there’s something unnervingly competent about them.
Enzo, the engineer and rigger of the group, built out the pedal drive they were going to be spending days on, and supplied the Santa Cruz with enough gear to rerig it if necessary, including a legacy tool box. “We brought 100 feet of Dyneema and my dad gave us the same tool box he used in 2015.” Heirloom redefined. Like all teams, each experienced different trials; separate and distinct moments of wavering. For Nadia the challenge was never the sailing. “Headspace was so hard. Being in a good mood and being motivated was way harder than moving the boat.” Cape Caution was a universal high/low. A psychotic point of land with such a swing of behavior that one team can pass it calmly and without notice, while the next day its exposure, lee shore, and steep, confused seas create a ride of terror. For Rite of Passage, it was the best and worst. “We were going around Cape Caution in the middle of the night.” Sebastian recalled, “Ginormous waves and hitting 12 knots (of boat speed)! It was the fastest we went on the trip. We were surfing waves!” But they all realized that if one of them went overboard at that time, they would never be able to get them back. “If we would have lost someone overboard, we’d have lost them.”
Woah. A virtual hug for their parents who were watching the tracker like the rest of us, and read that for the first time right now, too. Kudos to your offspring, and to you for believing in them.
The race has always had a knack for exploiting a team’s weakness: sleep deprivation, worn gear, failing bodies, questioning judgment. It’s always about making it to Ketchikan before something breaks or the doubts take over the mind. Nadia and Fancesca’s knees were failing them from endless hours on the bikes, sleep had become a rare and sea-pitched commodity, but even then, Nadia found a highpoint. “Francesca and I were on watch and pedaling for four hours. We hadn’t slept for a long time and were having a conversation about something and then I realized, we were talking to each other, but having completely different conversations! I was hearing Francesca’s response in my head and responding to that, not what she was saying. It was hilarious!”
Yeah, Nadia, on land we call that auditory hallucinations.
Kids these days and their shenanigans.
Like many teams landing in Ketchikan, these four didn’t have a plan for “What next?” But it doesn’t much matter. Adventurers find adventure and how to descend from Race to Alaska’s summit doesn’t need to be discovered for these four today. Today it’s fish and chips, hugs with loved ones who flew in to bask in their achievement and reflect heartfelt admiration, and sleeping in a bed that doesn’t rise and fall with every wave.
If you’re over the age of 20 it’s hard to impossible to look at this achievement and not reflect back on what youth meant for yourself. If you’re like me it was more like petty vandalism and skylarking than heroism. Are they heroes? We guess it’s how you define it, but if you spend your days being better than you were the day before, why be anything else?
If you’re under the age of 20, hell even if you’re older, whoever you are, it’s my sincere hope that their heroics inspire you as much as they’ve inspired me. Mustang Survival’s Team Rite of Passage, you didn’t just race to Alaska, you fulfilled a long held dream. You proved to yourselves and the entire internet what you are capable of, what the rest of us could be. You showed us an alternative narrative to the blanket dismissal of a generation, helicopter parenting, and some vague belief that without forced march interventions the explorations of anyone born after 2000 will be limited to Mine Craft’s square and pixelated geography. You self-motivated IRL. You achieved, you inspired, and you’re just getting started.
Welcome back to land, Mustang Survival’s Team Rite of Passage. It’s been an honor.
In a world where kids are sometimes scared to go to school and are often conditioned to be afraid of everything, these young adults showed they’re more than capable of doing the extraordinary. For more on the team’s efforts, check out the Instagram page @teamriteofpassage.
–KH
(An earlier version of this post implied the team was affiliated with the Rite of Passage community organization. It is not.)
The big winner for the second-ever Race Week Anacortes was without a doubt Ben Braden’s Moore 24 More Uffda. After throwing out one second place finish, More Uffda had straight firsts. John Hoag’s Shrek was also dominant in PHRF 1. The J/111s Recon and 65 Red Roses traded firsts and seconds all week with Recon coming out on top. Spyhop and JamJam finished one point apart in PHRF 4. The four boats in the cruising class ended up with totals of 10,11, 12 and 13 points, with the Catalina 30 Papillon on top. The breeze took one and a half days off, but the regatta had excellent conditions the rest of the week. .
The other winners were the Anacortes economy (hungry and thirsty crews from 61 boats) and Schelleen Rathkopf, whose efforts keep this event going along.
We don’t have a hands-on report, but to catch up on the week check out the results here. If folks have something to add to this report, please send it my way. Following is Jan Anderson’s thoughts on the race plus some of her photos. Check out the rest of the photos here.
Jan Anderson’s Observations from the Photo Boat
Well, this year’s event sure provided clarity regarding the wide range of application for the weather term “LIGHT AND VARIABLE”! One never knew what each day would present, sometimes even after the day was done! We all got schooled on lighthearted laughter, variable outcomes on the race course, rapid mood shifts when grazing a mark (or a competitor!), a variety of interpretations of which course / which flag / for which class(es) / when, in light of the complexified combination(s) of variable designs assigned to each, current events which kept sailors guessing the optimal side of the course to sail, sail choices for the light, air and tactical decisions trans-windshift! It was terrific all around to see old friends (still getting older), familiar and well loved boats getting ‘er done, and for yet another Race Week to march into history! Enjoy these photos!
West Coast Sailing and its sister Zim Sailing have agreed to sponsor hight school sailing for the coming years. This, combined with their recent sponsorship of college sailing, puts them front and center for dinghy sailing for the foreseeable future. Dinghy sailing has picked up participation, and this type of support helps the many young and enthusiastic sailors take it to new heights moving forward. Needless to say, these companies deserve our support. -KH
Here’s the press release:
Zim Sailing & West Coast Sailing Announce Multi-Year Sponsorship of High School Sailing
The Inter-Scholastic Sailing Association (ISSA) is excited to announce a new five-year sponsorship agreement with Zim Sailing and West Coast Sailing. These are two of North America’s leading suppliers of boats, parts and equipment, both owned and led by active supporters of high school sailing.
As Official Supplier of the Cressy Championship, Zim Sailing and West Coast Sailing will provide ILCA boats and sails for use at the regatta. In addition to providing equipment, both companies have created a unique cash contribution campaign based on the ecommerce platforms of Zim and WCS for contribution directly back to High School Sailing. Furthermore, athletes and teams can continue to enjoy existing discounts as well as a reduced price on branded screen-printed sails. This provides support directly to the member schools and athletes, in addition to generating funds to support the operations of High School Sailing.
“It’s very exciting to welcome Zim Sailing and West Coast Sailing as sponsors,” says Tim Hogan, president of ISSA. “High school sailing is among the fastest-growing segments of the sport, and this sponsorship will help us continue to expand and serve our member schools. In addition to providing boats to our singlehanded championships, the discounts for our teams and sailors allow their funding and focus to be on what they do best; providing amazing opportunities to sail!”
Zim Sailing, founded by Steve Perry in 2008 in Bristol, Rhode Island, provides one-design sailboats, parts, accessories, and services to the North American market. They manufacture popular scholastic dinghies (including the FJ, C420, 420E, and ILCA) while engaging in grassroots youth development of yacht club junior sailing programs, community sailing and youth racing. Zim Sailing is seen at regattas around the country, providing charter boats and onsite support.
West Coast Sailing, founded in 2005 in Portland, Oregon by George Yioulos, is one of North America’s leading marine retailers, focusing on the dinghy racing and small keelboat market with an emphasis on e-commerce fulfillment and industry leading customer service. Yioulos, a former Marin Catholic High School sailor, brought West Coast Sailing and Zim Sailing under common ownership in 2021 – with the goal to expand support for sailing in North America.
“High School Sailing changed my life – it set me on a path to College Sailing, and then the last 17 wild years in the sailing industry.” said Yioulos. “The support of the community, the coaches, sailors and volunteers to make High School sailing happen year round – is awe inspiring. Being able to give back to ISSA – is immensely gratifying to us all .”
For sailors, programs and supporters of High School Sailing, this is an opportunity to work with a valued sponsor for all boats, parts, equipment, and apparel needs. Programs can set up accounts for easy online ordering with discounted pricing at these links for Zim Sailing and West Coast Sailing. Individual student athletes can take advantage of 15% off apparel and accessories purchases to get the gear they need to get on the water at a great value. Knowledgeable sailors are on hand to provide support and answer questions. More information can be found online at Zim Sailing and West Coast Sailing.
This is going to be a great weekend with clear skies and warming temperatures. Then get ready for this, there will be plenty of wind on the Central Sound from Pt No Pt to Tacoma. Like 15-25 knots of NNW breeze on Saturday and 15-20 knots of NNW on Sunday. This will be the first time this year we’ll be able to sail in shorts and t’s. Not bad, just remember the Sound is still very cool and if you go in, hypothermia is still a very real possibility. As we say at the Safety at Sea Seminars, “It’s not a question of when you put your life jacket on, it’s a just a question of when you can take it off.”
The reason for this great weather can be seen on today’s surface analysis chart and sat pic. We have a weak high-pressure system(1026MB) off the coast and a weak trough of low pressure on the other side of the Cascades. This will create onshore flow today and nice northerlies to develop over the inland waters. In today’s Sat Pic you can see the leading edge of the next frontal system that’s attached to a weak (1013MB) low-pressure system at 46N 145W. You should also note that this system is attached to weak upper-level cut-off low pressure on the 500MB Charts. Since it is cut off from the jet stream not much is there to push this system around and it will gradually just drift to our coast.
Starting tomorrow a stronger high-pressure system will develop in Eastern Washington and Eastern BC with a thermal trough of low-pressure developing along the coast. This will bring offshore flow to the area and the warmest temperatures of the year. It’s not a heat dome like last year and what is currently over the central US setting a plethora of record high-temperature readings. Instead, by late Monday and early Tuesday, another weak high-pressure system will build in the Pacific and that low mentioned above will drift over us, and behind that onshore flow will bring Mother Nature’s air conditioning to the Salish Sea.
It does remain to see if the high developing at 40N 150W will become our dominating Pacific High and set up to provide a fast ride to Hawaii for the Pacific Cuppers and the Vic-Maui. We will just keep watching.
Have a great weekend, use that sunblock, and stay safe.
With all of the racing that’s happening, including the recently concluded ILCA (aka Laser) Master Worlds and the upcoming RS Aero Worldson the Columbia River, it’s easy to forget there’s lots of ILCA racing to be done. It seems that either the old folk (“Masters”) or young folk (“Youth”) are racing Lasers in the PNW these days. That’s OK, it’s all good racing. District Secretary Mark Ross has ;put together the year’s calendar. See below.
Of particular note is the upcoming Canadian Masters Nationals this weekend at the Jericho Sailing Center in Vancouver.
REMINDER
MASTERS ONLY: Canadian Masters Nationals in Vancouver BC June 24-26.
Get your boat up there!
ILCA REGATTAS 2022 IN THE NORTHWEST (not a comprehensive list)
To few peoples’ surprise, team Pure and Wild (aka Dark Star) finished the R2AK first overall by a long shot this afternoon. Don’t expect another finisher for some time. In a race that has seen several boats drop out because of logs and gear failure, the Bieker 44 skippered by Jonathan McKee pounded up the outside of Vancouver and got some favorable breeze to finish it off. We’ll get more info on the race and the Pure and Wild cause shortly.
Jonathan McKee and team aboard Dark Star (Team Pure and Wild) passed the only checkpoint on the R2AK course, about 100 miles ahead of the next competiors, Elsewhere on the outside of Vancouver Island and Fashionably late on the inside. There’s still a lot of race to go, but Pure and Wild is looking very strong.
In other news, Sailish’s new adopted boatload of teenagers, Team Rite of Passage, is hanging in there in 14th and they’re just about at the west tip of Thurlow Island.
