Swiftsure Race

The Dream of Winning Swiftsure – The Le reve story

Kurt Hoehne Racing 0 Comment
The Dream of Winning Swiftsure – The <em>Le reve</em> story

The following story by Ron Rosenberg originally ran on Scuttlebutt last week. Very thoughtfully, he and Scuttlebutt’s Craig Leweck suggested it could run on sailish.com. While it’s a great story on its own, I dug a little deeper on some of the facets of the race and the boat to provide a little additional framework. Le reve translates to “The Dream” in French, because “I am living in a dream when I’m on the water,” according to owner Michael Breivik.

All photos by Jan Anderson.

The Owner: Le reve’s owner, Michael Breivik, came into sailing very recently. He grew up in the Seattle area he cruising and fishing with his family aboard powerboats, though sailing was always on his mind. In 2014 his new girlfriend Ingrid Velsvik started getting interested in sailing, and in the next two years they chartered in Thailand and the Caribbean. Breivik bought the Beneteau Oceanis 45 in 2017 primarily for cruising. Alas, he admits to “getting bitten” by the racing bug. He sailed Swiftsure last year on a J/35, and thought “why not with my boat.” Why not indeed. He steered virtually the entire beat and, according to Rosenberg, “just got better and better as current changed and the waves got bigger.”

It’s important to note that the boat will spend the summer between Seattle and Roche Harbor, getting plenty of cruising and enjoyed by son Tor and daughter Lilliana. Tor’s been on a couple of races and is really interested in how this game all works.

The Crew: While Rosenberg may have been a Swiftsure “rookie,” his sailing resume is impressive with more than 5 World Championships and 50 national titles to his credit, though by profession he’s a marketing guy for McLube. He’s also a part time coach and has “coached others to many more meaningful wins than I’ve had myself.” One of those he coached was another crew member, Derek Vranizan, who’s been at or near the top of the US Laser field for more than a decade. Ken Monaghan of Signature Yachts, who sold the boat, has been a fixture with top crews around the Northwest and elsewhere for decades and brought an abundance of big-boat knowhow. The final member of the crew was Matt Darbous, whose enthusiasm was key. As the team prepped for Swiftsure, “he was out there all the time.” So, while Le reve didn’t have an entire team of hard-core Swiftsure veterans, Mike had plenty of support.

All photos by Jan Anderson. Click to enlarge.

The Sails: Le reve has a 3-sail inventory. Yes, you read that right. Jack Christiansen of North Sails Seattle made a few tweaks in the sail design to get the most area out of the in-mast furling main and the furling genoa, which were made of a fairly standard kevlar scrim/dacron combination for cruiser-racers. He managed to design in a little positive roach with vertical battens. The spinnaker was basically an A-2 runner made of Airex 70 sailcloth. It was on a short (1-2′) sprit that required outside gybes.

Rosenberg was involved in an important part of the sail inventory via McLube. “I helped develop the new Sailkote PLUS Water-Based Coating that Jack/North Sails Seattle applied to Le reve’s roller furling Main and jib…this product really helped our sail handling performance and reefing/furling on the go, and I think this will become the go-to product for all furling sails,” Ron explained. I understand one area in which this comes in handy is the in-mast furling main, with the lubricant allowing the main to have a tighter furl.

The Boat: The Oceanis is a luxurious cruiser and now we know it sails in a stiff breeze very well, both upwind and downwind. At first I took a double-take at the rating, 75 for a 45-footer with all that waterline? No wonder it won…. But when I checked, its rating was accurate, in fact in it’s 93 in New England. After sailing the boat several times, including light air, Rosenberg felt a rating in the 80s would be fair. I believe that in less than 12 knots of wind (not that we ever get that in the PNW) Le reve and her big transom would get a little sticky pretty fast.

The Race: A couple of things here – the crew called a great race and crossed to the American side of the Straits quickly. (Read sailish’s wrap on the race for some fascinating tactical reviews). On the return leg they played it smart as well. They sheeted that all-purpose headsail to the rail, heading bow-down and fast. The conditions for the race were perfect for this boat and sailplan. They didn’t have to furl the headsail, but it was enough power for the beat. And the Oceanis is just about all waterline and this was pretty much a waterline race.

My Impressions: I’m happy for Michael, Ron, Ken, Derek and Matt. They sailed a great race, and obviously the boat sails very well even with all the furniture! I hope that non-racing owners of other modern cruiser-racers take note. Breivik is one happy guy and yes, it’s fun winning, but he made a point of saying, “even if we hadn’t won we would have enjoyed it. It was a great experience.” He suggests, “as long as your boat is seaworthy, go with the boat you have!” I second that motion. If I close my eyes for a few seconds, I can happily imagine several full classes of cruising boats with electric winches and solid dodgers plus several full classes of racers with eight sets of legs dangling over the side.

Swiftsure winner Le reve.

 

Published on Sailing Scuttlebutt on May 30th, 2018

The Swiftsure International Yacht Race is the premier long distance sailing race in the Pacific Northwest and British Columbia area. Starting and ending in Victoria, BC, Canada, the 75th edition on May 26 attracted one design expert but distance racing rookie Ron Rosenberg.

Here Ron tells the story of how this unlikely team succeeded on the race course, but more so, gained an appreciation of what has even greater importance:

My Rookie Swiftsure ExperienceI knew my teammates onboard Mike Breivik’s Beneteau Oceanis 45, Le Reve, felt my nap time was over when they tacked without telling me and I reverse somersaulted across my plush mattress to the new low side and crashed into the far leeward side of the hull, face pressed against the hull window, looking down into the deep blue 400’ water outside… kind of a fish-finder meets Finding Nemo aquarium feeling.

Nap over, time to get back on deck. Which is also pretty comfy as we opted to keep the enclosed hard top dodger up and in place for the race once we saw that more than 25 knots were forecast. That turned out to be a smart move on three key fronts:

1. We never got wet, not even sprayed. It felt more like you were in an iMAX theatre watching the race as if you were really there, but never actually feeling a drop of water as the huge dodger windshield provides a wonderful, unobstructed view of the race. We pretty much dressed up in our foul weather gear just to play the part of a racing team. Fake it until you make it.

2. I think our nice big dodger had a bit of a staysail effect under the boom any time we were sailing off the wind. At times we were going so fast downwind I think the bow thruster even came out of the water… I figured this was the case because that barely detectable low gurgling noise in the bow would sometimes go silent when we were surfing down a wave at more than 10 knots.

Everyone who docks a boat this size should definitely have a bow thruster. You dock like a Rock Star. Too bad we’re not able to use it during racing as it could have come in handy as we were trying to lay the pin end and would definitely have helped our pointing upwind if you could just tap that leeward bow button now and again.

3. None of our 60 in-class competitors seemed to take us even remotely seriously when we went to take the pin at the start. One competitor even waved us right on by with about a minute to go as if we were mistakenly in his racing area and the parking area for RVs was the next lot over.

Prior to the start our hard top dodger seemed to attract a lot of attention at the dock and as folks on the docks would ask if it was going to be removed prior to racing, other nearby sailors would say, “Of course they’ll take that down-those aren’t for racing…” Newsflash: these hard top dodgers are awesome for racing!
————–

Our stock Beneteau Oceanis 45 must have been a true design challenge. Imagine the design brief: 3 luxurious staterooms, 2 with private bathrooms and showers, a well-appointed kitchen with all the appliances, spacious salon, all to be driven upwind (well, almost close-hauled) at more than 7 knots by a roller furling mainsail (maybe 20% smaller with no roach?) and roller furling jib.

The designers of this new breed of performance cruisers deserve big credit; they knocked it out of the park. This boat had me the moment I laid eyes on the Harken electric powered self-tailing winches. No kidding, you tack, push a button and off you go! Now, THAT is some phenomenal engineering right there. Add that to the same wish list as bow thrusters. We really need to change these sailing rules to make it easier for more people to try racing… Man, our tacks were SO MUCH BETTER in practice than in the actual race.

Like many of you, I’m a day racer. I prefer one design racing and I enjoy being on the water competing and improving, with and against friends during the day, then returning ashore for a hot shower, sharing a few laughs, have a nice meal, and then sleeping in a warm, dry bed.

If I can occasionally have a day or two like that, I’m energized for weeks. Surprisingly, my first experience in the Swiftsure International Yacht Race was really not so different than some of my very best one design racing days. In some ways, it was even better!

Imagine getting to go racing with about 150 other boats sailed by people who are similarly passionate about the sport you love, and it all takes place in this beautiful natural setting with magnificent, untouched rocky coastline and evergreen trees surrounded by breathtaking mountain ranges completely covered in snow. Throw in clear blue skies, lots of sun, and a nice 10-25 knot fresh breeze and that’s what we enjoyed for nearly our entire 17 hour race.

There was also a pretty nice sunset around 9 pm and by that time we were surfing downwind at more than 10 knots of boat speed enjoying a hot meal of cannelloni, garlic bread, and salad too. I found nothing to complain about with my entire rookie Swiftsure experience. Part of me is left asking, “Is it possible all 74 previous Swiftsure Races have been like this?” I’ve only done this one so far, so I don’t know for sure if the veterans are pulling my leg or not.

Our Overall Approach To Swiftsure
We approached the 75th Swiftsure just as we would a one design world championship: we prepared ourselves the best we possibly could given our respective constraints, we learned and improved significantly at every opportunity, we asked literally hundreds of questions to our more experienced friends in the local Seattle sailing community, then we listened and learned and we kept things as simple and as enjoyable as possible.

There were some surprises along the way, but the biggest surprises for us were how much non-stop fun and laughter we had together on this extraordinary adventure race. Later, after we finished in the middle of the night, we awoke dockside to the morning sun to learn that we had won our division and we won overall also. Yes, I know… surprise! 😉

This is the story of our rookie Swiftsure experience onboard Le Reve, sharing what we learned along the way and how we managed to pull this off, and have so much fun together every step of the way.

Our story began just about four months ago in January at the Seattle Boat Show when a friend of mine asked me to meet with a friend of his who had recently purchased a beautiful new Beneteau Oceanis 45 cruising boat… ahem… sorry, I mean Performance Cruising boat.

In the Pacific Northwest Mike Breivik, is well known as a smart, successful, goal oriented Seattle businessman. We met for breakfast and he told me about how he enjoys cruising with his family and friends. He told me he was interested in learning to race and that he had a rather near term goal in mind.

So far so good, I liked the way this all sounded and we all know that we always need more new, fresh sailors to enjoy our racing scene. I was pretty sure he was about to tell me that he wanted to experience the vibrant evening/after work casual racing scene we have here in Seattle. Well, I was wrong.

Surprise
My coffee nearly shot out my nose when he looked me in the eye and said the words, “My goal is to do the Swiftsure Race this May… You know, Cape Flattery, The 101 mile course from Victoria out to Neah Bay-the mouth to the Pacific Ocean and return.”

I managed to swallow my coffee, tried to compose myself, took a slow, deep calming breath and casually looked at my watch just to check the date. As I suspected it was late January and we were already late for the start on May 26. Okay Mike, please tell me a bit more about yourself and your sailing experience, the team you have in mind, and the boat.

Turns out that while Mike is relatively new to sailing, he’s racked up far more recent ocean miles than any of the rest of us. He actually had a pretty good idea of what he was getting into all along. He was clear in his goals and together we began to chart a course to achieve that goal and discuss the initial steps toward the steep learning curve of how to best prepare ourselves for this specific adventure on this specific boat.

Early progress proved sporadic as lengthy interruptions caused by the fact that sailing comes secondary to work, family, and life for all of us and Mike’s work-related travel made finding on-the-water-practice time challenging. All in all, I think we may have sailed only about five times together prior to departing for the Swiftsure Race.

Our Strategy for Success: Work With Our Local Sailing Community
As it became clear that we weren’t going to be able to spend much time on the water practicing together and gearing up the way I had hoped, and we didn’t have time to re-invent that wheel ourselves, we agreed on a plan to work smarter, learn-it-all, and make good decisions together.

In other words, we didn’t possess all the right kinds of knowledge and experience we wanted, so we spoke with those local experts that did. That meant reaching out to those among our community with more experience that would be able to help guide us along this journey. Here is a short list of each of those key people, and what we gleaned from each of them as they generously and freely shared their wisdom and experience to help us, just for the asking.

All Mike and I did was prepare a list of questions for each of them and then listen closely to their sound advice, and try not to waste their time. It became clear that each of them are great role models and so completely willing to give back to the sport and build the sailing community, help fellow sailors improve and pay it forward… through us.

I wish to openly share the names of these high value individuals, commend them for their willingness to help us, and offer each of them a well-deserved, heartfelt thank you. We all can think of a few key individuals in our respective sailing communities, these are the ones that we came up with:

• Jonathan McKee kindly allowed me to join him for his own Swiftsure pre-race homework/strategy planning session, and patiently answered all of my questions. Jonathan is not only a great and extraordinarily accomplished sailor, but he is a truly gifted coach and communicator.

He easily provided me with the prioritized knowledge and perspective necessary to understanding each critical chapter of the Swiftsure Race, including many nuances that only a very good sailor would have picked up from years of experience on a specific race course. I love working with great coaches as they help speed up my learning curve and always seem motivated to help others enjoy the game of sailing.

• Jack Christiansen of North Sails Seattle began helping us right there at the Seattle Boat Show by talking us through his own Swiftsure experiences and through a series of follow up conversations he helped us understand early on that this is not typically a reaching race, but more of a windward-leeward race except that the beat is 51 miles long. Jack helped us come up with a great furling main design that once coated with a new McLube Water Based Sailkote PLUS slippery coating, proved remarkably versatile.

We could adjust the size of our mainsail reef by 1 foot increments along the boom without even letting the sail flap once. Jack McLube’d our furling main and jib so not only did we build heavier cloth/more durable sails with bigger battens (a McLube’d sail rolls 30% tighter than normal so it fits in the same mast tube space), but it’s now protected from mold, mildew, dirt, salt and grime.

Oh yes, Jack is wealth of information and he was more than happy to come sailing with us and help us to learn the best ways to deal with each of our onboard sail handling systems. Ultimately we determined that all we really needed were three sails for Swiftsure. Furling main, furling jib and an A2 spinnaker…and that’s all we used the entire race.

• Nigel Barron and Greg Barckert at CSR Marine were so knowledgeable across so many topics related to our boat and Swiftsure, they helped us with everything from rig tuning (how do you keep an in-mast furling mast from pumping so much in chop?), to rigging and special needs such as attaching a mast track to the front of our mast (remember there are wires, halyards, and a mainsail furled up inside there!) for our combo whisker/spinnaker pole. These guys would make the time to help us think through any questions or good ideas we could come up with, right up to the day before the race!

• Lisa Vizzini of Port Townsend Rigging is a wonderful problem solver to work with and she was the only pole supplier that could promise an on-time delivery of our whisker/spinnaker pole given our short timeframe. She even had our pole delivered directly to the start of the Swiftsure thanks to Jonathan Cruse and his Freya Team.

Knowing this would be a long windward-leeward course, this pole allowed us to bring the tack of our A2 spinnaker back to square up our spinnaker and allow us to sail deep on the 6-7 hour run toward the finish. This pole was also our back up plan whisker pole in case it got too windy for the kite we could use it to go wing and wing with the jib.

• Ken Monaghan is the local Beneteau Dealer at Signature Yachts here in Seattle. Ken not only sold the boat to Mike, but he also offered to step up and sail with us as our most experienced Swiftsure veteran. Ken is a great lifelong sailor in his own right. Ken was great about making sure the boat was always in excellent working order and he does a great job of keeping his clients all very happy.

Local Current And Our Upwind Speed Testing Program
48 hours prior to the start, Mike, Derick and I slipped Le Reve’s dock lines in Seattle at 5 am in a cold, light drizzle to make the roughly 10 hour delivery up to Victoria, BC, Canada. We dressed appropriately, with foul weather gear and lifejackets and all safety gear in place. We began motoring as we were joined by about a dozen other boats along the way in what turned out to be a virtual convoy of racing boats coming together from different parts of Puget Sound and converging toward Victoria.

As we began our delivery we talked about something we had discussed more than a month prior and that was the fact that the first chapter of our Swiftsure Race would have this same adverse current just starting to ramp up against us right at the start of the race, and we could expect to have that same strong adverse current for the first few hours of the race at least. We also knew the same applied to our delivery as we turned and headed north just as the tide began to flood and flow against us.

It was sobering to see, feel and experience the raw force of about 3 knots of water pushing against you while you’re trying to work your way against it. Trying to sail against a 3 knot treadmill of water can be daunting when there is really no good place to hide or seek relief.

Five hours later and nearly halfway there, we entered the famed Strait of Juan de Fuca, the large channel if you will that separates the Northwestern US border with that of Canada’s Vancouver Island as you head west toward the Pacific Ocean. If you live in the Pac NW and you spend any time on the water, you’ll have heard how hard and strong the wind can consistently pipe through there. It only rarely makes it as far inland as Seattle, but the Strait can be a windy, unrelenting kind of place.

As quickly as the rain stopped, and the skies cleared, the cool westerly breeze was ushered in and we unfurled both our only main and our only jib. That’s right. One in-mast furling main and one furling jib. Makes sailing fun and super easy. That’s our entire upwind sail inventory. That’s all we have to take us 51 miles upwind regardless of the wind strength. The upside is that makes proper sail selection pretty straightforward. I must say, there is something empowering in knowing you’re always using the right jib in every condition.

We Have To Be Creative In Finding Solutions
We’re underpowered in anything under 7 knots, and we’re overpowered in anything over 18 knots. Once the wind gets to a solid 18, we had better have a good depower plan. We worked on this new system on the delivery to Victoria. There is only one jib track on these boats, and no toe rail you can attach turning blocks to, so we simply lashed turning blocks to the top of our amidships dock cleats and use those as our outboard jib sheets.

We had talked about that, but over the five times we had sailed the boat together (we referred to that as practice), we had never seen more than 16 knots and had never tried it. This was our critical testing opportunity to see if they were going to work. Now, if you’re a Grand Prix sailor you’ll know that the newest TP 52s in Europe can point quite high upwind with their jib cars as far inboard as 1.9 degrees… that’s right, that translates to sheeting your jib LESS THAN 2 FEET from the leeward side of the mast!

Yet, as we became more overpowered it made sense to move our lead outboard and aft closer to the cleat on the rail of the boat in order to flatten, reduce drag and open up the slot… I was afraid to actually measure the precise distance, but my guess is that’s more than 7 feet off our centerline! This allowed us to use the same all-purpose furling jib well up into the high 20s, but of course we would have to sacrifice pointing in order to do so.

This is okay for VMG as long as we’re going faster while we’re going lower. Believe it or not, during the Swiftsure race in 20+ knots, we had Le Reve going more than 7 knots through the water at times on our upwind leg. Albeit our pointing was not very good… our entire fleet of monohulls and most of the trimarans were outpointing us, but we did have a good low and fast mode!

At the windiest part of the race we rolled up the main so the foot was about 4 feet shorter on the foot. That translates to a pretty deep reef. Then as the wind decreased, we could easily and gradually unfurl the main to the desired size… without ever slowing down. That made for surprisingly efficient gear changing as the conditions were always up and down between 12-22 knots throughout the 51 mile beat.

The Race Itself
The most fun part of all, and the part that flew by was the race itself. It was the perfect windward-leeward course with 51 mile beat and a 51 mile run with incredible scenery and natural beauty. We followed our game plan which was to start left, go left, stay on the lifted tack and sail the shifts. We just hadn’t planned on all the fun and laughs we would enjoy along the way… that seemed to really speed up the clock.

I was reminded how nice it was to just escape out on the water with a great group of people you really enjoy being around and actually relaxing and bonding. Seems like we just don’t do enough of that anymore. Funny, but for a boat full of rookies, I think all of us were a little disappointed when we arrived at the finish line and the ride is over.

Le Reve Team
Our winning team onboard Le Reve was made up of five friends, and three of us had never done anything like the Swiftsure before.

Mike Breivik is the boat owner and our primary driver-I think Mike steered for more than 10 hours of the 17 hour race and clearly loved every moment. Mike is the president of Glacier Fish Company in Seattle and possesses an extraordinary range of management skills which sure came in handy as our time on the water became limited. Mike knows how to build a great team and help everyone perform at their absolute highest potential. He has recently sailed across the Atlantic and it appears that he may have been bitten by the racing bug.

Matt Darbous sailed with his brother and father as a youth and has recently rekindled his interest in sailing through his friendship with boat owner Mike Breivik. Matt has a full time job in international trade and is currently getting his masters degree at the UW here in Seattle.

Ken Monaghan is a lifelong competitive sailor with lots of experience in both inshore one designs and offshore sailing and Ken is also the local Beneteau dealer. Ken served as our primary downwind spinnaker trimmer for the downwind half of the race in addition to historical perspective and strategic input. I think Ken knew most people on every single boat out there.

Derick Vranizan, our fearless young bowman/upwind trimmer/back up driver (I think Derick was the only one to actually venture forward of the cockpit throughout the entire 17 hour adventure!). Derick is well known for his sailing talent and a decade worth of experience with the US Sailing Team racing Lasers at the highest level internationally. He’s also a great young coach. Derick is currently in Law School and is working part time.

I’m in Marketing and I’m a fairly experienced as a sailor and a coach, primarily for Olympic classes, one design keelboats and grand prix boats. I’ve been passionate about sailing since I was about 8 years old. I’ve been lucky enough to have been on the receiving end of some great coaching and mentoring along the way, and thankfully my mentors eventually taught me to be a learn-it-all rather than a know-it-all. Now I’m thoroughly enjoying giving back and paying it forward at every opportunity.

As a kid growing up in SoCal, I had done tons of Catalina Island overnight races with my Dad and our family and friends on our family J/24 and then an Olson 30, but I think the last time I overnighted on a race had to be more than 3 decades ago. Sure, I have lots of one design and Olympic class experience too, but I couldn’t help but wonder how much of that may or may not directly apply to a Swiftsure Race.

The Best Surprise Of All
The entire Swiftsure experience from the great dockside boating scene and the warm welcome you receive from so many volunteers when you first arrive into Victoria Harbor to the hot bowl of delicious soup they hand you immediately upon finishing, the hospitality and overall vibe are remarkable. It’s a great opportunity to catch up with old friends and make some new ones too.

Sure, Mike and the entire team onboard Le Reve sailed a great race tactically and practically, and that alone sure feels good. I’ve been fortunate enough to have enjoyed my share of success in this sport, and I know enough to realize that luck and Mother Nature don’t always play your way and even the best laid plans may not come together. I just try to continue to learn all I can and help others to improve and find as much joy and rewarding satisfaction as possible within their own sailing.

I learned long ago that the real trophies come from lifelong friendships and being part of a thriving sailing community. If my experience in last weekend’s Swiftsure Race is any indication, then this kind of competitive sailing has a lot going for it. Momentum is strong and appears to be building, and I think this bodes well for the future of our sport.

 

A Good Swiftsure from (almost) any Angle

Kurt Hoehne Racing 0 Comment
A Good Swiftsure from (almost) any Angle

Some years those of us who miss Swiftsure say smugly, “I’m sure glad I didn’t go this year!” This was not one of those years. If you missed it like I did, read on and regret.

Due to the amazing response by plenty of sailish.com racers on the course, we have a number of different expert perspectives. Basically, it was the standard issue “good” Swiftsure, with a hard beat into and across the Straits, a modest temporary drop in breeze at sunset, but plenty enough in the Straits to have a good run home. Out by Swiftsure Bank it died overnight. If you happened to be a Sunday daytime finisher, the breeze came up again strong to bring you home. There was a sad casualty when the TP 52 Mist broke the top of her rig off early in the race.

I’ll do a separate post on the whys and wherefores of the great multihull turnout.

Results here.

A word about these stories. There’s a lot here – tactics, strategy, emotion, seamanship, humpbacks, sea lions and boat handling, all straight from the sailors’ mouths. There’s far more here than just a sailing scribe trying fit everything into 2000 words.

Here are those stories, starting with our own Bruce Hedrick aboard Tahlequah, which won her division and was 9th OA in the Flattery PHRF fleet:

 

Bruce Hedrick, Tahlequah, J/35

Our weather guru Bruce Hedrick has been a long-term member of the Tahlequah crew. Email Bruce for private weather routing and consulting. 

This will be the one people talk about and hope that the next race will be like. A strong onshore flow courtesy of a stable high-pressure system offshore created almost perfect conditions at least for all the courses that stayed within the Straits of Juan de Fuca. The long course, which goes a mere 18 miles out into the ocean had great sailing out to Neah Bay, but then it went light as the sun went down. Except for Crossfire, the calm held the fleet overnight offshore until the breeze filled again. Crossfire was 1/2 way down Puget Sound on the delivery back to Seattle before the next boat finished. Congrats to Lou Bianco, Nigel Barron and the rest of the Crossfire team.

The start set up was such that the committee boat end was heavily favored. There was still a bit of ebb in starting area however as you came off the line on starboard. You could see that as boats followed the traditional route by tacking to the west, when they tacked back it was clear they had lost ground by getting into less wind and the start of the flood. The boats that held starboard were treated to better breeze as well as up to 2 knots of ebb tide. This route also took you outside of Race Rocks, which while not the usual way to go, absolutely worked. The breeze also continued to clock around the Northwest which kept us on starboard all the way to west of Clallam Bay. We took one tack to change down to the #3 just past Race Rocks as the breeze got to 18 knots. Then we tacked again to change down to #4 as breeze built to 23-25 knots. We took one more short tack to stay well clear of bulk carrier that was headed out. Other than those tacks we just stayed on starboard which, in addition to the lump and slop, started to take a toll on people’s backsides who simply weren’t used to sitting on a hard,cold, pounding surface for hours at a time. The skipper finally relented and allowed seat cushions to be handed up.

It was on that long tack we suffered our only gear failure. While on the head a crew member got bounced off and tore the seat off the hinges. The engineers have already designed a fix so that won’t happen again.

After Clallam Bay we started banging into the US shore in anticipation of a shift to the WSW. It worked for two or three tacks but as we approached the mark it went back to the WNW, dictating a gybe set at the mark. Some consternation from the foredeck crew but they got it done.

We rounded with a lot of much bigger boats at around 1830 hrs with no sign of our favorite rivals, Elusive and Distant Drummer. We needed to be a long way ahead because those guys are so much faster than we are downwind.

Once we got squared away and headed roughly back towards Race Passage, it was time to get a hot meal (an incredible from scratch lasagne, thank you Sonja) into the crew and check the wind speeds and baro readings in the Straits, so we could develop an approach plan for Race Passage. Sure enough, 25-30 at the Race and 20 at Sheringham so we set the limit at 18 knots for the .6 and talked through a kite change to the 1.5. Right on schedule, just before Sheringham, we did the change and made sure we were where we thought we were. After two easy gybes in 18-20 knots of westerly, we were on final approach to the Race with a plan to hoist the #3 and drop the 1.5 if the wind got up to 25. Luckily that never happened and with an additional boost from the flood tide went through with no drama. The most we saw 23 knots of wind.

After Race Passage the wind stayed in the 15-20 knot range and continued to clock around to WNW. This made it easy to sail the great circle approach to finish. We only had a couple J-120’s and the J-133 around us so it wasn’t a complicated approach. At Albert Head, the wind started to drop so we changed back to the .6, stowed the #3, and tee’d up the #1 just in case. The breeze continued to drop as well as get very shifty but the team did a great job adapting and we sailed through the finish at about 0200 hours Sunday morning. The earliest we’ve ever finished a Cape Flattery Race.

We were welcomed to the inspection dock by the ever gracious RVYC team who made sure everyone had a large bowl of hot broccoli cheddar soup and did we ever need that! It was a bit of a cold race and that hot soup absolutely hit the spot.

Then it became a matter of following doctors orders and rehydrate to avoid scurvy while listening to boats call into the finish. Sure enough while we had been 14.5 minutes ahead of Drummer at the mark, they took 5.5 minutes out of us on the run to easily beat us on corrected. We were an hour ahead of Elusive, they took 16 minutes out of us on the run. You just can’t beat that combination of more waterline and more sail area. We did save our time on Elusive but only because of the big lead we had at the mark. In the post race postmortem we went absolutely the right way, did the right sail changes at the right times, and had no sail handling problems. We ended up winning our class and being 9th overall. We’ll take that and we’ll be back next year.

A big thank you and congratulations to the Tahlequah team for a job very well done in some, at times, very difficult conditions. The team consists of owners Don and George Leighton, Sonja Riveland, Marsha Hedrick, Laurie Turay, Ricky Chodek, and Ryan Stoller. An excellent and fun group of people.

 

Brad Baker, Firefly, Morris 45

Brad Baker, skipper Bob Strong and the crew of Firefly are preparing for Vic-Maui. Brad is an owner of Swiftsure Yachts.

It was a great Swiftsure! The most consist breeze for a Swiftsure we’ve had. I’m sure there are some long course folks or slower Neah Bay racers that would disagree as I believe the conditions faded, but as long as you finished in the early morning you had consistent breeze all the way. With very few exceptions it blew 10-20 for the entire race. Very civilized.  We ended up 3rd, 20 minutes out of first. Rating wise, we sailed a good race, but there was definitely 20 minutes to be gained in tactical decisions alone. I feel pretty darn good about our performance.  And we were the first boat to finish for the entire Flattery monohull group.

We had a great start front row nearer the boat end with good speed. We took a tack to weather which got us inside on the lift.  The first tactical mistake was taking another tack up and getting in a spot where we had to go through race passage.  The boats that went outside the rocks did better. Also there were a couple boats that went through race passage the waited to tack into that area late that did better as well.  Most the rest of the beat went well, but as we neared the turn mark, we got out of sync a bit with the shifts allowing Joy Ride to catch up quite a bit. We were first to round with Joy Ride just minutes behind. Joy Ride wasn’t in our class, but we will be racing against them in Vic-Maui, so obviously we wanted to do well against them. We jibe set. Turns out it would have been better to initially play the right for perhaps ½ hour to hour before heading over to the left. This was mistake #3. We were heading toward the Canadian side, but didn’t hit it all that hard and took a jibe to the right because it looked light to the left. In retrospect it would have been better to continue left and take advantage of the shift. The wind held for those that did go all the way left. This was mistake #4.

The reality is we went mostly the right way, just not all the way the right way. We were too conservative I suppose. What is interesting is the plan I had in place would have been perfect! We sailed a pretty good race, but not a great one and finished where we should have from a tactical stand point. It was fabulous sailing in the goldilocks zone!  Not too light, not too windy!  And hey, we finished just before 1am. The crew learned a lot and I learned a lot about the boat. The next race for us is Vic-Maui! I can’t wait.

Alex Fox, Joy Ride, J/122E

Alex Fox is a long time BC sailor and works at Trotac Marine. He sailed this race on John Murkowski’s Joy Ride.

This was one of the best most enjoyable Swiftsures in memory. The beat out to Flattery featured perfect conditions, 10-23 knots of breeze is the range we experienced, with favourable current a large portion of the time. This year the Juan de Fuca boats were sent off first, followed by Flattery then Hein Bank and Swiftsure. We, Joy Ride, had some really great racing with Firefly, 65 Red Roses, Riva, Raven and few others at the front of the Flattery fleet, and it was fun mixing it up with a few multis and bigger boats from other races as well!  

The general strategy of staying on the long, lifted starboard tack to the American shore, all the way to Clallum Bay in some cases, payed dividends and for sure anyone who invested at all in the Canadian shore suffered deeply. Once on the US shore, we generally played the shifts and tried to stay in the pressure while keeping an eye on the competition. Firefly extended on us when the breeze was up but we seemed to be able to claw back when it dropped below 15 or so. 

Coming to the Neah Bay rounding mark we were very happy to be within 10 boat lengths of Firefly, with Jam, a Hein Bank competitor almost overlapped behind us. What a treat to round at 5 o’clock something, setting the A2, off on the homeward leg in good shape saving time, with a bit of a question mark on the J-120 Shearwater, they seemed a little too close. The breeze held at 12-14 knots making for a lovely rhumbline run home, plus we were joined by a humpback whale that startled us, surfacing a mere boat length away, pretty amazing! Just before dusk, the wind dipped below 10 for the first time . Jam had split to the American side earlier and they looked to be in better breeze so both Firefly and ourselves gybed back that way, and it wasn’t long before we were back 12 knots of breeze again. As darkness fell, the two of us were again back on port gybe heading only a few degrees high of Race Rocks. Closer to the Vancouver island side a few miles back and threatening, were Red Roses and Riva. We were very aware of them, while we remained focused on trying to sail fast and staying with Firefly. 

Fifteen miles from Race Passage the breeze began to build a bit to maybe 16 knots and we elected to peel down to our A2+, a full sized but slightly heavier runner. The expectation of building breeze through Race Passage didn’t really materialize for us topping out at 18 knots or so. It was fantastic and rare to come through in positive current with the homeward leg to the finish yet to come. We were conscious of not getting sucked into sailing too high into lighter air as we trailed Firefly, Raven who’d come from behind and damn it, Riva had slipped by sailing DDW with a squared back pole straight down the Vancouver Island shore, Arrghhh! Roses was also within ten boat lengths, so we reset our sites on holding them off. The breeze held at 12-14 knots most of the way in making for a very nice reach and then, you guessed it, began to die and lift us as we approached the breakwater. Of course, this is Swiftsure! We held our nerve as Roses closed up to within five lengths and with one more gybe we were across, just pipping Raven who’d opted for the breakwater end.

A very pleasant, competitive, and yes even though we knew we’d been beaten by Riva, a successful Swiftsure. Turned out that Shearwater also corrected over us for Division win, by 20 seconds. And surprise, surprise, a Beneteau Oceanus 45 La Reve, twin wheels, in-mast furling and a hard dodger won the race overall. Good on them!

This was a very successful 75th Swiftsure, with a great atmosphere on the docks and around town. I know the organizers worked very hard to make it an even ore welcoming event than usual, good times!

 

Nigel Barron, Crossfire, R/P 55

Nigel Barron manages much of the Crossfire program and is the Sales and Marketing Manager at CSR Marine. Crossfire opted for the long course in hope of setting the record. Alas, this year was not the year to do it!

Wow, what an awesome Swiftsure!  We rounded the lightship a bit before 7pm, in lighter breeze than we were hoping for.  It was a nice beat out there.  We started the race on a J2 on our fractional halyard anticipating that we would peal to the J3 near Race Rocks, so that we could peel to a locking halyard. Winds were a steady 15-20kts on the beat out, and as we got past Neah Bay they started to lighten to the 4-6kt range.  We rounded the lightship on our A1.5 and started heading home. While it was light, we never saw zero for wind or boat speed. We never saw more than 12kt of wind until we got to Sheringham, so spent the night peeling between the A1.5 and A2 depending on if we were in the 10-12kt wind or the 6-8kt wind. We finally started seeing better pressure as we approached Race Rocks, but not more than 20kts. We finished right around 5am, so around 19 hours for the long course. Not a record by any stretch (record is 15h), but close enough to make everyone realize we could get a record, and will go back again next year.

Bravo Zulu coming up to Sheringham Point. Photo by Ian Faulks.

Denny Vaughan, Bravo Zulu, Beneteau 40.7

Denny Vaughan is a past commodore of Corinthian YC-Seattle and skipper of the very successful Bravo Zulu program.

The good news is Bravo Zulu was the first boat in the fleet through Race Passage.  The bad news is that we stayed on the Canadian side until after Sheringham. Ed. Note – pretty much says it, doesn’t it? The post-race emails indicate that despite BZ’s Canadian escapade, the crew had a great time.

Brian Huse, Leapfrog, C&C 40

Brian Huse is a serious racer, now with a C&C 40 set up for cruising. He’s also a broker with Fraser Yacht Sales.

We had a really fun time. We bought the C&C 40 last year and use it exclusively for cruising, though the lure of the inshore day race was too much for us so we have done that race the last two years. It is pretty funny sailing with sails from 1980 on a boat from 1980. It is a bit of a time capsule. We sailed with a bunch of friends and family 13 in total. We used a borrowed spinnaker from Ross and Marcia MacDonald’s X 41 which fits really well. 

We actually sailed a pretty good race and came third. I think we benefited from some local knowledge at the end of the race. We did a good job of managing the ridiculous amount of current around Chatham and Discovery Islands.

I think Leapfrog‘s best racing days are behind her but the boat was certainly fun enough last Saturday.

 

Peter Salusbury, Longboard, Bieker Riptide 35 Mk II

Peter Salusbury is a longtime BC sailor. He was integrally involved in the development of the innovative Bieker-designed Longboard. Here’s the story of that design. 

Overall, a very classic Swiftsure – nice medium air beat to Neah Bay, a very light, lumpy slog from Tatoosh to the turning mark, a challenging light, downwind battle to get back into the Strait until the NW built again east of Port Renfrew resulting in a very nice downwind ride down the Strait and through Race Rocks to the finish on Sunday afternoon.  

We had an interesting rounding of the Swiftsure turning mark during the night in 0 to 2 knots of wind and we were no more than a boat length away from the ship in rolling seas.  One minute we are gaining, one minute we are losing.  And then a completely mad sea lion decides to get aggressive between ourselves and the ship by jumping out of the water, barking at us, and at one point we thought he was going to jump in our cockpit through our open transom!  We eventually slid down the length of the Navy ship and the sea lion left us alone!  Never a dull moment on Swiftsure Bank!

Click to enlarge any photos. All photos by Jan Anderson unless otherwise noted. Check out her Swiftsure gallery.

 

 

 

Swiftsure Update

Kurt Hoehne Racing 0 Comment
Swiftsure Update

Judging by the tracker and the reports I’m getting in (isn’t technology amazing – er – frightening?) they’re all having a great race. Read the following knowing that I’m winging it a little from my computer in the basement, so what I’m understanding might not be the whole truth.

Nigel Barron has been sending me updates from Crossfire, which is sailing the long course and I think they have an eye on the elapsed time record for the long course. they must be going after it, because they’re not mixing it up on the Hein Bank course with the TP 52s. At any rate, the concern aboard Crossfire was that they hoped the race committee would get to the turn before they did. Barron sent the following photos earlier.

As I look at the tracker now (the tracker’s burping a little so I’m not sure) it looks like Crossfire has indeed rounded as is on her way back at 6.5 knots. Way behind are Westerly, Blue and Rage.

On the Flattery course, the Morris 45 Firefly and J/122 Joy Ride are duking it out for the lead on the water. They’re both going a tad less than 5 knots. The J/111 65 Red Roses appears to be gaining on them. I’m sure I’ll be able to get Brad Baker (aboard Firefly) to give us the blow by blow when it’s all done.

Also on the Flattery course is our very own Bruce Hedrick aboard the J/35 Tahlequah. They appear to be having a great race, going toe to toe with faster boats, not that far behind Firefly. Again, we’ll squeeze a report out of Bruce soon after the race.

Those TPs on the Hein Bank are having fun for the most part, with Glory leading followed by Smoke and The Shadow II trailing. Mist appears to have dropped out of the race quite early.

Bat out of Hell is going just like her name in the Juan de Fuca race, and is approaching the finish as I write this.

I’m sure there will be plenty of stories when all is said and done. It looks like it’ll all be over well before breakfast.

 

Bruce’s Brief for Memorial Day and Swiftsure

Bruce Hedrick Bruce's Briefs, Racing , 0 Comment
Bruce’s Brief for Memorial Day and Swiftsure

Due to technical difficulties there was a big delay in getting this posted. We’re sorting out who’s responsible right now, but speaking as a dinghy guy I’m pretty sure it had something to do with the (damned) instruments. Our apologies. 

It is setting up to be a glorious weekend just about anywhere you want to go on the water. As you can see from the surface charts, we’ve got a nice high-pressure system setting up offshore and all it is going to do is get stronger over the next 5-7 days. This is going to provide us with a strong onshore flow which will create gale conditions in the Central and Eastern Straits of Juan de Fuca especially in the afternoon and early evening hours. Currently it’s blowing 35 knots at Race Rocks, 28 at Sheringham, 27 at Hein Bank and 24 at Smith Island. This afternoon and this evening will probably see the strongest breezes over this area. The next strongest breeze will be in the northern part of Admiralty inlet and the Strait of Georgia south of Nanaimo. As always, check the local conditions before you head out. The pressure gradient will ease somewhat over the next three days dropping the peak windspeeds by 5-10 knots per day.

What does this mean for Swiftsure? Should be a great race especially for the big boats that can make it around the mark and get back into the Straits before sunset. This will be true for any of the courses as the breeze will tend to drop after midnight the further out the Straits you are. Then it will be time to start watching the tidal currents.

Tidal Current Race Passage

0905      Slack

1159      Max Flood            3.9 knots

1457      Slack

1825      Max Ebb                 3.2 knots

2109      Slack

2346      Max Flood            3.0

0158      Slack

0627      Max Ebb                 5.1

0939      Slack

1240      Max Flood            4.5

1544      Slack

1919      Max Ebb                 3.5 knots

Luckily, it appears the wind will hold in the central Straits so no reason to do any extreme rock hopping as you fight the tide. With the 0900 start we should be able to make it through the Race before max flood at noon. Once through the Race it will be time to get to the US shore and beat your way out the Straits. For the long course, the breeze will begin to ease around sunset but will stay from the WSW at around 10 knots. The old rule still applies and that is don’t sail below the port tack layline as you approach the mark on the Bank. If you find yourself headed below the layline, tack back on to starboard and get back above the port tack layline. Do the starboard pole set at the mark and then sail back down the center of the Straits until you start to get lifted, usually about ½ way between Neah Bay and Clallam Bay, then gybe to port and sail the short course to Race Passage hopefully riding the flood and getting through before 0200 hrs Sunday morning.

For the Cape Flattery boats, it’s pretty much the same except you may have to take a quick gybe out into the Straits at the mark to get back into the wind. Once back in the wind, gybe back to starboard and work your way down the center of the Straits. If you’re not going to make Race Passage before the big ebb starts, you’ll need to work your way to the Vancouver Island shore to get some tidal relief.

As usual, it should be mandatory life jackets and safety harnesses from the get go. Then monitor the wind reports on the VHF and log the pressure gradient readings at Forks and Bellingham to get a feel for how much wind you’ll have going through the Race. If it’s blowing hard in the Race, set up your approach so you are on port well ahead of where it will be windy. Do your chute change early and get the number three up under the kite to help stabilize things. Talk every maneuver through before you do it and make sure everyone is clipped on.

Above all else, be safe, have fun and have a great weekend.

More Swiftsure: Hamachi, Bat out of Hell, Terremoto

Kurt Hoehne Racing 0 Comment
Swiftsure pic borrowed from Hamachi’s Facebook page.

Following up on yesterday’s Swiftsure report, we have some more to the story. First is from frequent contributor and Hamachi crew Alyosha Strum-Palerm, who seems to be sailing everywhere, all the time, all on successful boats. Also, Bat out of Hell sailed a great race, and Terremoto had an unfortunate encounter with a rock. 

Hamachi

By Alyosha Strum-Palerm – Onboard Hamachi we had a race of highs and lows for sure, from being launched after Race Rocks to watching everyone sail up behind us at the finish, we were left with a mixed bag of emotions. But as always we were grateful to safely and quickly complete another Swiftsure, something that our good friends on Terremoto did not. We can only hope those injured have unexpectedly swift recoveries and the boat lives to fight another day.

On Hamachi we started second to last with the other ORC 40 footers and the big sleds. We misjudged the start and ended up crossing about a minute late in very chopped up air. After working hard for 15 minutes we found a lane and tacked off onto starboard hoping to find the next river of ebb. Several short tacks later, we found ourselves on a lifting starboard board in very favorable current. This lane sailed us around all the boats to weather of us and by the time we got to race rocks we had caught the TP52’s, RP55, SC70’s, and the faster Cape Flattery boats.

This is where we lost our 5-8 knot southeasterly and the transition to the westerly began. Glory, Crossfire, Riva and Terremoto committed to the Canadian shore while Smoke, Neptune’s Car, and we started to cross over to the American shore. We knew this was a gamble with the brutal flood just hours from starting and the risk of getting stuck in the middle of the strait with nowhere to hide being very real. This ended up being the deciding moment of the beat to Neah Bay. Smoke got absolutely launched and we were close behind them as well as Dragonfly and the Car. Longboard paced about a mile and a half behind us.

It took until 4.30PM for Crossfire to finally pass us again in the wispy fog just northwest of Pillar Point. This is where we finally saw Westerly again, which had gone hard to the American shore before Race Rocks. Pretty spooky sight to see a dark blue 70-foot boat appear out of the fog less than 200 yards away.

At this point, we thought we had all the other boats in our class well put away. As we got closer to Clallum bay we realized our lead wasn’t as untouchable as we previously thought. Longboard was in sight and Absolutely and Dark Star were about a mile behind us. This lead evaporated to several yards as we missed a nice shift and pressure to Dark Star and Absolutely. This is where Glory and Kinetic passed us as well.

The breeze piped up to about 13-15 knots and we made the change to the Heavy 1, this proved to be a good call as we extended back our lead on Absolutely, Longboard and kept pace with Dark Star, rounding just behind the 44-foot Bieker boat.

The downwind leg was a strange one, with boatspeed sitting between 11-13 knots for the first hour and sailing in visibility of <100 yards, it was difficult sailing for sure. We maintained about a mile to two gap behind Dark Star until race rocks, at times during the night we felt pretty out of phase. This is something we’ll aim to improve on before the outside legs of the Van Isle.

I was down below catching an hour of sleep when the DSC VHF alarm went off. It was sobering to hear that Terremoto had hit something at speed in the dark, in the fog, just miles from where we were. Our thoughts go out to them, then and now.

Rounding Hein Bank we felt as if we had a healthy lead on the other boats in our division and even some Div 1 boats. Strait Marine, Longboard and the 1D48 were about 20-25 minutes behind us and White Cloud and Jackrabbit were significantly farther back. Rounding the mark we pointed our bow at Victoria and let it rip on the heavy 1 in about 11-13 knots of breeze. We felt confident that a class and overall victory was within reach, especially seeing that the big boys had parked up on the approach for Victoria (Perhaps naively we thought we would escape this fate).

And park up we did, sitting just a mile from the finish and watching several dark sails get larger and larger behind us was frustrating to say the least. But as always you realize that that’s just the reality of handicap racing and sailboat racing in general. Sometimes you catch a break (like we did at Race Rocks) and sometimes you park up and watch everyone sail around you. We can only imagine the frustration on Smoke, as they had sailed a fantastic beat up to Neah Bay and a strong run back down to Hein Bank before parking up and watching all their competitors sail around them.

Following the race, Hamachi motored up to West Sound where she will stay for two weeks before Van Isle.

Stay tuned for more adventures from team Hamachi at Van Isle. We can only imagine the kind of mischief and fun we will be getting into.

Bat out of Hell

Bat out of Hell. Jan Anderson photo.

Alert reader Jenni pointed out I left out mention of the winner of the Juan de Fuca race. Sorry! I don’t have a report from onboard, but I watched her race in replay on the tracker and it clearly showed a very strong performance, by all appearances having led her class the whole way. Second place Bulletproof scooted up on third place Final Dash in the drift to the finish, which couldn’t have felt good on Dash which had had a strong second going. Congratulations to Lance Staughton and crew aboard Bat out of Hell.

 

Terremoto

Terremoto. Jan Anderson photo.

Terremoto‘s race came to an abrupt end a couple of miles west of Race Rocks. In the moonless fog she found a rock while sailing at about 13 knots under spinnaker. One crew was hurt (ribs) and the boat started leaking, but between the Royal Vic personnel and the Canadian Coast Guard, the situation was soon under control. The injured crew was picked up, and the boat was accompanied to Victoria. Ultimately Terremoto was delivered to Canoe Cove Marina where she was hauled. It’s worth noting that while the impact was huge, the cassette-type keel mounting system remained basically intact. A lesser design may have had much more damage.

One Weird Swiftsure Race

Kurt Hoehne Racing 2 Comments
One Weird Swiftsure Race

What do you call a Swiftsure that is really neither a “Swiftsure” or a “Driftsure?”

Weirdsure? Fogsure? Can’tbelieveyoucamefromthatfarbacksure?

The universal comment after this year’s Swiftsure Race, sailed Saturday-Sunday, was that it was “interesting.” Given the wind predictions, one could easily interpret that to mean it sucked. But suck it did not. It really was interesting. In the end the big winners were White Cloud and Longboard on the Hein Bank ORC course, Rage and New Haven on the Lightship course and Dragonfly, Absolutely, Dominatrix and Last Tango on the Cape Flattery course. Results here.

A tired Bruce Hedrick reported that the J/35 Talequah had a great Cape Flattery race, finishing second. But he admitted his predictions were a bit off. “It was one of the weirdest ones ever,” he said. And since he’s been doing these since the 1960s, that’s saying something. “At 0530 there was no gradient, and the wind was SSE at the start with a westerly at Race Rocks. We caught and passed Glory, which is how weird things got.

Bruce Hedrick gave a presentation at the Strathcona Hotel at 1630 Friday

Eventually the westerly filled. Sort of. “The Strait was like Swiss cheese, full of holes that you couldn’t see on water.”

But the weirdness was just beginning. As boats sailed into a thick fog bank, then turned for home, they were sailing fast through a thick night fog. With a clear sky directly overhead and no moon or light pollution, the night sky stood in stark relief. ” We could even see the space station,” Hedrick said. Even the Northern Lights made an appearance.

Ah but Swiftsure returned to character as the wind died in the morning. “With the ebb starting, we took the great circle route, getting as far to the east as we could,” Hedrick explained. It worked and with some aggressive sail changes and intense trimming Tahlequah managed to nab a few boats fighting the ebb at the finish. “Many boats were parked up. It was very painful for some people.”

Hedrick pointed out that his alma mater’s forecasting models were close. “It proved once again that the University of Washington’s MM5 1 1/3 kilometer model was more accurate that any of the other GFS services.”

Here are a few of Jan Anderson’s photos. Please visit her site and support her work.

Onboard the mighty Crossfire on the Hein Bank course it was the best of times and the worst of times. Her track shows the long tack to the U.S. shore, which paid dividends. Smoke hit it even harder and had a nice lead, but Crossfire was giving chase, leaving Glory (temporarily) behind.

Crossfire‘s navigator Brad Baker explained the chase during the first half of the race, “Smoke, literally, smoked everyone by going hard left, and sailing into the current and a left shift, doing an end around and nearly a horizon job.  It took us the entire leg to Neah bay to reel them back in. We were about a third of a mile behind them by the time we rounded.”

Crossfire’s track courtesy of Rick Donohue.

Smoke stayed with Crossfire gybe for gybe until Hein Bank, when things started to go horribly for her, not good for Crossfire and brilliantly for Dark Star and Glory.

Baker explained, “For the Hein Bank Race the key moment was Hein Bank to the finish. From my perspective timing was everything and if you got there at the wrong time, I don’t know that there was much you could do.  That was the case for us aboard Crossfire. Though we could have managed that last leg better by making a quicker tack to the left, I don’t know that it would have mattered much as far as the overall finish goes. The wind died and we parked, allowing other boats that we’d done a pretty good job of putting away, a chance to catch up.

Baker wraps up, “Overall it was a spectacular race, about as nice a Swiftsure as I can remember. Yes there were some challenging moments with light air and the current certainly was generally not favorable. That all said, oh man it was beautiful out there. We had amazing weather and the spectacle of nature was abundant. We’re talking porpoises and seabirds. We sailed in and out of fog banks on the American side near Pillar point. It was surreal as we crossed tacks in clouds with Hamachi, Westerly, and Neptune’s Car. The sunset at Neah Bay was beautiful. The new moon setting on the horizon, wow.  During the night there was not a cloud in the sky, bringing out the stars and milky way in full force. We watched as the space station crossed overhead. Oh and did I mention the Northern lights?”

And that ferocious little Riptide Mk II Longboard spent some time in third place on the water, mixing it up with those TP 52s and the like. And in the end, she won Hein Bank Division 1 handily but lost to Division 2 boats White Cloud and Jack Rabbit on overall corrected time. The ever humble Longboard skipper Peter Salusbury explained, “We got lucky on the way out favoring the long port gybe in the SE to the US shore along with Hamachi and Smoke and at one point were third in fleet! Very weird sailing in that thick fog bank all the way to Race Rocks – thank goodness for AIS plotters! We had to gybe around a number of commercial ships. And for the Hein Bank fleet the corrected standings were largely influenced by what time you got to the finish line. The big boats on our course got completely shafted, we faired much better, and White Cloud and Jack Rabbit won the lottery by sailing in without ever stopping in a freshening westerly. Guess that is Swiftsure for you!”

It’s worth pointing out that, luck or no luck, the first two boats in Hein Bank Division 1, Longboard and Dark Star, were from the talented screens of Paul Bieker.

There are as many stories as there are boats in Swiftsure, and it’d be great to share some more. Photos too! Send ’em in and I’ll post them. Also check out (and of course “like”) the sailish.com Facebook Page if you’re into that social network. When I come across relevant Facebook posts (there are a lot of worthy videos and photos) I’ll share them there.

 

Bruce’s Weather Brief for May 27-29 and Swiftsure Classic!

Bruce Hedrick Bruce's Briefs, Weather 0 Comment
Bruce’s Weather Brief for May 27-29 and Swiftsure Classic!

What a week it has been in the Straits of Juan de Fuca. Tuesday saw a steady 40 at Race Rocks and Smith Island had a gust to 59. Yikes. That is not fun sailing, that is survival or better yet, just stay at the dock and don’t put yourself or your vessel in harms way. How things can change. Yesterday, for the delivery up to Victoria, it was for the most part a mill pond across the Straits with even a light, warm easterly in places.

As usual, the most predictable part of this weekend will be the tidal currents in Race Passage and they won’t be insignificant.

Tidal Current Race Passage

Saturday

0749    Max Ebb         6.7 knots

1151    Slack

1436    Max Flood       6.1 knots

1818    Slack

2146    Max Ebb         4.9 knots

Sunday

0110    Slack

0253    Max Flood       1.8 knots

0433    Slack

0843    Max Ebb         6.6 knots

1237    Slack

1527    Max Flood       5.9 knots

1912    Slack

2042    Max Ebb         5.0 knots

Kudos to the Race Committee for changing the start order because the JdF and Flattery fleets are going to need all the help they can get to make it to the Race before the flood starts. As you can see from the surface charts there is simply no gradient over the Pacific Northwest, nor will there be until later this coming week. We are caught between two relatively weak high pressure systems and with the jet stream (see 500MB charts) well north of us, there’s nothing to move this situation along.

This is also reflected in the fact that the models used for forecasting are not very much in agreement especially after tomorrow afternoon. This is where being your own weather forecaster will be helpful and that’s going to start by logging the pressure readings, wind direction and wind strength over the race course. This mornings readings showed the pressure at Forks at 1015.1 with the pressure at Bellingham at 1015.5 which tells us a couple of things. 1. The wind will be light in the Straits and from the east, never a very stable situation. And 2, sure enough 2 knots from the East at Race Rocks, 2 knots from WNW at Sheringham, and 4 knots from ESE at the JA Buoy at the mouth of the Straits. As the land masses heat up over the course of the day, this will draw a westerly down the Straits with the most wind (15-20 knots) being in the eastern part of the Straits, Race Rocks to Smith Island. This pattern may repeat itself tomorrow. Generally speaking, the first day of this pattern is the best chance of good breeze. Each day in succession, the breeze will fill later and not be as strong.

Most models show light air over the starting area tomorrow morning which will make getting through the Race before the flood starts at 1130-1200hrs a challenge. The flood starts first on the Vancouver Island side so if you get through the Race with the last of the ebb, get to the US side as fast as you can. If the pattern holds, we’ll start in a drainage or downslope ENE which will probably be less than 5 knots. Clearly with all that ebb tide you will not want to swept over the start line early as getting back might be next to impossible.

The other part about getting to the US side of the Straits is that when the westerly does fill, it comes down the US side first, with Canadian side staying light. Two of the models show the westerly filling between 1500-1800 hrs. This will make this a long race.

How long you might ask? If we run the GFS model for Crossfire, certainly one of the fastest boats out there, it shows them completing the Hein Bank course in 42 hours. Don’t kill the messenger……

Around the rest of the Northwest it will simply be a great weekend to be on the water so load the family, the BBQ, and enjoy yourselves.

Ed. Note: Bruce is giving a weather presentation at 16:30 this afternoon. We’re trying to find the location right now, when we do we’ll update this post. UPDATE: The in-person brief at 16:30 is at the Strathcona Hotel!

 

 

 

 

Bruce’s Brief for Swiftsure 2016

Bruce Hedrick Bruce's Briefs, Racing, Weather , 2 Comments
Bruce’s Brief for Swiftsure 2016

What a challenge this has been for the weather forecasters this week with none of the models coming into agreement about what is going to happen this weekend. The latest problem is that there is a new low pressure system that has formed off of the north end of Vancouver Island. It’s weak and not going to last very long, just long enough to make things interesting on Swiftsure. Its attached frontal system will drag across the NW on Saturday with the post frontal system taking a while to set up.

The good news is that we have an ebb tide for the start and a fairly good southeasterly breeze which will at least get us out of the starting area and through Race Passage at a fairly good clip. By 1100 to 1200 things will start to deteriorate as the front will have passed and the breeze ( what there is left of it) will start to get squirelly. Some models have it evaporating in the mid-Straits and staying that way until after midnight. One model has the wind evaporating at 1200 in the mid-Straits but then filling in from the west at 4-6 knots at around 1700 hours which would at least give you some light air beating out to the mark. Once you round the mark it will be a race to see who can get back down the Straits and into more wind. It won’t build from the west however the wind will increase in velocity the further down the Straits you get.

Then there are those pesky tides.

0750 Slack

1228 Max Ebb                        4.0 knots

1416 Slack

1922 Max Flood          4.5 knots

2248 Slack

0225 Max Ebb                        4.1

0706 Slack

0816 Max Flood          .3 knots

0950 Slack

1337 Max Ebb                        3.5

1715 Slack

2019 Max Flood          4.0

2334 Slack

 

As I said, getting out won’t be a problem. It will be getting back that will be interesting with the combination of light air and LOTS of ebb. As you can see, on Sunday morning you have a very small window 0700 to 1000 hrs to get back before the ebb starts rolling again. The later you are coming down the Straits, the more wind you are likely to have so you can work the beach as you approach the Race and then just fight it out.

The keys to this year’s race will be making the most of the east-southeasterly at the start, then sailing rhumb line towards the mouth of the Straits. As the wind begins to clock in the mid-afternoon, work to the south of the rhumb line to be in a position to pick up the incoming westerly. It’s here that the real separation will occur in the fleet as the boats with the best drivers and the best trimmers will move to the front of the fleet. It won’t be easy but hard work will pay big dividends. Have the barber haulers ready and be prepared to go back and forth between the genoa (or wind seeker) and the kite. Weight to leeward or as we say, “All dogs in the house!” The night fighters will make out as trimming going downwind at night is tough. Navigators will have to keep you on the favored board and be using the 7×50 bino’s to keep you in the breeze.

Naviguessors will also have to be logging wind reports as well as the pressure readings to try and get a feel about just how fast the high pressure will be returning and with it, the westerly. Boats with the Starpath ultra sensitive barometer will benefit.

Be safe, have a great race and with any kind of luck I’ll have a post race summary for you on Tuesday.

Ed. Note: Thanks again Bruce. To our readers, please share the info and get people to visit the site! Thanks.