East Sound Spring Regatta – New Regatta Success

East Sound Spring Regatta – New Regatta Success

Kudos to the San Juan Island folk who’ve introduced a the new East Sound Spring Regatta. It’s accessible to a lot of boats, in a beautiful spot and has a feel of community about it. And where else can you see a 49′ Bob Perry designed schooner crossing tacks with a Catalina 27? Bob Brunius (who sailed his Ultimate 20) sent us this report -KH:

East Sound on Orcas Island is a pretty mystical place. It’s long and narrow with little signs of development as you sail it’s length. At the head is the city of Eastsound, WA the largest city on the Island. Since the only marina on the Sound is a small non-commercial one at Rosario Resort halfway up there is no commercial boat traffic on the Sound.

Photos by Ron Montgomery. Click to enlarge.

The winds on East Sound are usually much better than other places in the area so the sailors on Orcas have often thought that it would be a great place for a regatta. So in the mid winter meeting for race planning at the OIYC a voice spoke for moving the club’s spring regatta from West Sound to East this year. Closer access for boats from Bellingham and Anacortes and the Rosario Resort would host.

Great ideas at winter planning meetings never envision the work part. It turned out to be quite a chore for many people to make this happen. In particular FCS Jimmy and Robin Roser took the brunt. And, well the event worked out really well.

Two days of racing with 6 races and 7 hours of sailing for three fleets. We had a bit of rain on Saturday but nevertheless good racing. Sunday’s long leg up to the city of Eastsound was spectacular. I’d sure like to sail that again.

When the scores were totaled, John and Ann Bailey with Sir Isaac took the cruising class, Chris White on his Martin 242 – Crazy Is took the Martin/SC27 fleet and Todd Koetje on the J105 Hravn won the PHRF fleet. And the trophies painted by local OIYC member Beth Gasser and framed by Jimmy Roser were really special.

Results.

New Regatta in the San Juans April 28-29

New Regatta in the San Juans April 28-29

 

One of the things we found in sailish.com’s sailing survey was that sailors want some new courses to try. Here’s one. Jimmy and Robin Roser are putting together a regatta for Orcas Islands’ East Sound April 28-29. You know, that idyllic flat water surrounded by one gorgeous island. I’ve actually wondered what racing would be like there. According to Bob Brunius of Time Bandit fame, it’s a great place to race: “East Sound has a lot of advantages for running regatta. Above average wind that is usually steady and good size body of water with little fetch and little or no power boat traffic. The participants can moor at the Rosario Marina. The crew can stay at the Rosario Resort or camp at Moran State Park. There is a great opportunity for partying Saturday night in the park and/or at the Rosario bar.”

Plans are for there to be PHRF, Martin 242 and a cruisers division with PHRF numbers assigned.

Sounds pretty nice, and a chance to start something different. And, no doubt, it would offer some new challenges. And for some, it may be an excuse to get the boat our for some early season cruising. Just sayin….

For more information:

Event: oiyc.org/essr

Notice of Race: https://oiyc.org/race_book/SpringRegatta/ESSR-NOR.pdf