Bellingham Sailing – sailish.com

Laser Pacific Coast Championships

Mike Powell 505 Dinghy, Laser Sailing September 27, 2019September 27, 2019Bellingham Sailing 0 Comment

Bellingham Bay saw 23 Laser standards and 41 Laser Radials from mostly BC, WA and OR plus one brave soul from CA line up to race on a weekend that proved to have most wind ranges to contend with.

Saturday morning started sunny with 10-12kts out of the south dying as the day went on to finish in about 3-5kts, the Standards got 4 races off and the Radials 3 as they had to re-start several times due to general recalls. Races were championship length running around 50-60 minutes which favored the fit when the wind was up.

Standard rig start.
Working the Bellingham breeze.
Sammy Farkas, working hard and loving it.
The Radial podium with Hanne Weaver, Maura Dewey and Al Clark.
The requesite 505 planing under spinnaker photo.
505 action.
Radials rule.

Sunday started with a weak easterly, never a good thing in Bellingham Bay but as competitors arrived the expected sporty southeasterly kicked in and we had 18-24kts with quite bumpy sea states for most of the day until the last Radial race where it eased to around 10kts. Standards raced another four for a total of eight races and Radials four for a total of seven.

In the standards the Canadians swept the podium with Ian Elliott from RVYC dominating the fleet with six bullets a 2^nd and a 4^th place throw out for eight points, Mathew Stranaghan, WVYC, 2nd (Also first youth) with 22 points and Tony Martin, JSCA, in 3^rd with 29.

In the larger Radial fleet, which was also packed with the region’s strong youth contingent, Maura Dewey, RVYC, Al Clark, RVYC and Hanne Weaver, SYC/RVYC could be seen swapping leads and racing bow to bow around the marks both days. The final points showed how close the competition was as they finished with 12,14 and 15 points in total. Cameron Holland, RVYC came in 4^th overall and also the first youth racer.

The BYC operated two full race courses over the weekend as we also had the annual Dale Jepson One Design regatta happening with a fleet of 15 505’s and 6 FJ’s. With over 30 volunteers and 10 support vessels on the water it was a large undertaking for our club, which was handled well. PROs Mick Corcoran (DJOD) and Blaine Pedlow (PCC’s) managed both race courses.

A big thank you to our event sponsors; Samson Ropes, The Port of Bellingham, Stones Throw Brewery, West Coast Sailing, West Marine and the host Bellingham Yacht Club.

Mike Powell & Mike Poulos, Regatta Chairs

Results here; http://www.regattanetwork.com/event/19445#_newsroom

Ed. Note: For permission to use this text or photos, please contact Mike Powell at mike@mikepowellphoto.com.

Laser Pacific Coast Championships in Bellingham September 21-22

Kurt Hoehne Dinghy Racing, Laser Sailing, Youth Sailing September 6, 2019September 6, 2019Bellingham Sailing 0 Comment

Every year Bellingham Yacht Club puts the great Dale Jepson One Design Regatta (DJOD), and this year it will be really special for Lasers. The 2019 Laser Pacific Coast Championships will be held as part of the event but on a separate course.

Laser Standard, Radial and 4.2 classes will be run on a championship trapezoidal course overseen by PRO Blaine Pedlow. A separate course will run on the bay for other dinghies racing in the annual DJOD which sees and large 505 fleet. The organizers would love to see the Aeros show up too!

Dinner and a party Saturday night at the BYC plus a cool regatta T-shirt are included. Register early so they can prepare; http://www.regattanetwork.com/event/19445#_home. You can also get information directly from the organizer, Mike Powell: mike@mikepowellphoto.com.

With the ongoing interest in the Lasers as an Olympic class, and the burgeoning 4.7 class, this should be a great regatta. Bellingham can deliver some great September sailing, and BYC is a hugely welcoming club.

Kurt Hoehne

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.

Bellingham Youth Regatta

Kurt Hoehne Youth Sailing August 6, 2019August 6, 2019Bellingham Sailing 0 Comment

The good folk at Bellingham, and especially Mike Powell, put together a tremendously successful youth regatta this past weekend. Hopefully we can get some first-hand accounts from what went on on the water. Winners included Mira Anders/Cedric Kenniep in the 29ers, Peter “Alden” McGonagle/ Ella Barnard in the FJ class, Isabelle McNabb in the Laser 4.7 class, Max Doane in the Laser Radials and Dieter Creitz in the Optis.

Here’s Mike Powell from his Facebook Post: : “What an amazing weekend on the bay, I ran my first full regatta this past weekend. 86 boats, 102 sailors all raced hard and sent home wet. The Bellingham Youth Regatta was a great success thanks to the efforts of so many BYC members that made my job easy.”

Powell, a professional photographer, took the featured photos in this post and made an album available here. Full results are here.

Bellingham Yacht Club and all the parents should be commended for getting those kids on the water. Youth sailing is not just alive in the PNW, it’s booming.

Kurt Hoehne

Yanez Repeats at the 2017 Dale Jepsen One Design Regatta in Bellingham

Kurt Hoehne 505 Dinghy, Laser Sailing, Racing, Youth Sailing September 13, 2017Bellingham Sailing, Dale Jepsen regatta, Laser Sailing 0 Comment

It was a small but mighty fleet of Lasers at Bellingham Yacht Club’s Dale Jepsen One Design regatta this year. Jorge Yanez, the winner of the DJOD last year and the winner of the Laser Radial Masters Nationals event in the Gorge this year was there; the winner and runner up from 2015, Sascha Smutny and Doug Honey were there; and Perham Black, fresh off his win at the Bellingham Youth Regatta was there. The top of the 9-boat fleet was so evenly matched that places changed at nearly every mark rounding.

This is a photo from the Laser fleet in a previous Dale Jepsen Regatta.

Mike Johnson lead the regatta after two races with a first and a third for four points, followed closely by Yanex and Black with five points each. Yanez jumped out after that with two firsts in races 3 and 4, establishing a five point lead on Black. Undeterred, Black went hard right on the last beat of the last race, jumping past several boats and winning the race. Yanez finished 4^th to save the regatta win by one point. If he had been 5^th, the tie breaker would have gone to Black.

Third place went to Mike Johnson with only 4 points separating third through sixth places. It is for this kind of tight racing, often overlapped with other boats at every mark rounding and multiple boats arriving at the finish together, that we keep showing up. There were no protests, no starting line abuses, and only a few capsizes. Racers compared their ideas after each race were clearly glad to be lucky enough to be having fun among friends.

Results here.

Regatta chair Mike Poulos, race officer Jonathan Knowles and their terrific volunteers, did a great job under difficult circumstances to choreograph five well-run and fair races. All races occurred on Sunday due to no wind on Saturday. Saturday had been the regatta organizer’s nightmare. Just enough wind to leave shore that went flat at the first warning, and then came back up 10 minutes after all boats got back to the parking lot. So on Sunday, everyone was elated to see a sunny 8 to 12 knot southeasterly materialize from the glassy bay – less than an hour before the first warning. The breeze held nicely right up through the last race and then died.

It is interesting to note that only three participants at the event this year were also at the event last year. Some could say we lost the others but the positive perspective says we gained several new people. Let’s build on that momentum and have some great events this fall. We could have a start at Corinthian’s PSSC (October 7-8) and Turkey Bowl (November 18-19). Would it be crazy to imagine 15 Laser’s on the starting line?

–Jay Leon

Ed. Note: I’d love to post something on the FJ and 505 fleets, so if anyone wants to share some words or photos, send them along and I’ll get them in. Also, thanks to Jay for the Laser report. No, indeed, 15 Lasers is not too many to expect for for PSSC and Turkey Bowl, especially if the great young sailors show up. Maybe both full rig and Radial fleets? Note this video from the Junior Olympic Regatta.

Kurt Hoehne

Dale Jepsen One Design Regatta – Bellingham Bay Sends Dinghies Scurrying Home Saturday, Delivers Perfect Conditions Sunday

Kurt Hoehne Racing, Seamanship, Weather September 20, 2016September 20, 2016Bellingham Sailing 0 Comment

Flying Junior dinghy found. Skipper and crew nowhere to be found. Where are the kids?

That scenario has got to be a race organizer’s worst nightmare. But that’s what the race organizers at Bellingham YC’s Dale Jepsen One Design Regatta faced for a few moments on Saturday.

Quickly, skipper and crew were found on shore, quite healthy and happy and somewhat oblivious to the commotion they’d caused. Regatta chairman Mike Poulos let them know that they’d freaked everybody out and if you leave the course, particularly if you leave your boat there, TELL SOMEBODY.

The good news is that everybody was fine. Even the boat came through unscathed! No doubt lessons were learned all the way around.

But the regatta’s real hero was Carlos Abisambra. When the wind squalls ran through Bellingham Bay just as the dinghies were reaching the starting area for an 11 am start, the Bay was littered with overturned boats. At least eight were over simultaneously. It was quite a sight.

I’d say a couple of gusts were in the low to mid 30 knots, but the Bellingham Buoy never recorded more than 30. However, the private “Viewpoint” station on shore, cited by Sailflow, had a gust of 45 mph (39 knots) and another of 40 mph. Regardless, it was nasty.

Carlos smartly tucked himself and his Laser in some protected waters to wait out the worst of the winds and see how things played out. Sure enough the race committee rather pointedly sent those of us in the starting area home, probably about the time they found the empty FJ. Carlos wondered if he could help, and headed to a different, nearby capsized FJ with two tired and cold girls who were clearly struggling. With the help of the less exhausted of the two girls, Carlos righted the boat and saw them on their way home. In the meantime, he was returned to his drifting Laser and sailed back in.

saturday-save-by-carlos-of-seattle-no-starts-just-wipeouts — Carlos Abisambra in action.

Once in the harbor, he and others including Mike Powell and Miles Johannessen of the 505 fleet heard that an abandoned Laser Radial was just about to run up on the rocks, so the two grabbed a RIB and headed out. Carlos once again took to the water, swam to the Radial, righted it and sailed it home. A video of that rescue by Peter Hallett is here.

Carlos took a well-earned nap that afternoon, but found the energy and courage to sing karaoke that night. And the next day he overcame a rough start to finish third in the Laser fleet.

While Bellingham Bay dished up unsailable conditions Saturday, it came through with flying colors on Sunday. The day started with 12-15, diminishing to <8 for the sixth and final race. The RC did a great job keeping everything moving, and all the classes enjoyed great racing. The 505s were out in force with a fleet of 21 boats, with Paul Von Grey and Kerry Poe winning by a single point over the second and third place finishers who finished tied. The Tasars showed up with five boats, the Lasers had 11 starters and the Radials and FJs has six boats each. Results here.

Kurt Hoehne

“Kids” Win: 505 North Americans in Bellingham

Kurt Hoehne Racing June 9, 2016505 North Americans, Bellingham Sailing, dinghy racing 0 Comment

44894X2 — All photos by Jan Anderson. Check out the rest on her Smugmug site.

I got the chance to see the last race of the 505 North Americans, and wouldn’t you know, it was the worst of the series, or so I’m told. The light wind everyone feared had held off pretty much the first three days, but this last penultimate race was the kind of Bellingham Bay Race that leaves a little to be desired. It was, however, fun to watch. Douglas Hagan got off to a commanding lead after being the starting rabbit and getting all the way out to the favored right side of the course. Carl and Carol Buchan worked from a disastrous start and you could almost hear the drums beating as they moved their way up through the fleet. In the end they came up a bit short and Hagan held onto a well-earned victory.

In the end, young Riley Gibbs and Reeve Dunne edged Howie Hamlin and Jeff Nelson for the top overall spot. Hamlin couldn’t be too disappointed or surprised, as he set up Gibbs with a boat and a great deal of mentoring along the way.

But the bigger aspect of this event was its success as an event. 50 boats (well, 49 on the water but who’s counting) competed, and by all accounts it was one of the best regattas in a long time.

The Bellingham Yacht Club faithful got it all right. They promoted early and got the club and class excited about the event. They lined up sponsorship without sponsorship being the focus of the event. The race committee did a great job. There were plenty of shoreside activities. They set up a spectator boat. Kudos to Mike Poulos, Paul Pihl and I’m sure man others who pulled this off.

For those of you who don’t know, not only is the 505 the sexiest (IMHO) boat around, it’s one of the most cohesive set of sailors around. They love helping each other find new speed, they love promoting the class to other (including new) sailors, and they appreciate the spark plugs in the class that keep it going. Any class that has annual food fights as part of its history has got to be a lot of fun.