The Center for Wooden Boats in Seattle has always had the mission of getting people on the water. Again this year , next Saturday, it is providing free boating on Lake Union. See below for details. Kudos to the CWB. KH
You are invited to The Center for Wooden Boats on Sunday April 28th from 10-4PM to where we will be holding our third annual Free Boating Day! At last year’s Free Boating Day we were able to provide 580 people with free boating experiences.
What To Expect:
Free Boat Rentals: Enjoy complimentary 1-hour rentals of all human-powered boats, including peapods, rowboats, and canoes.
Free Sailboat Checkouts: Sailors who have their sailing check out cards with us will take advantage of our free sailboat checkouts
Public Sail: Free Boating Day will be our first Public Sail of the year! We will provide skippered boat rides on historic wooden boats. Sign up is on a first-come, first-served basis, so be sure to head outside of the Wagner Education Center early to secure your spot. Public Sail happens the last Sunday of every month from April-October.
Youth and Family Activities: Keep the little ones entertained with a variety of free activities, including toy boat building, knot tying, woodshop demonstrations, and the chance to try a tool. Plus, Pond Boat demonstrations courtesy of the Pacific Northwest Model Yacht Club!
Museum Access: Explore the rich maritime history of the Pacific Northwest with free access to our museum, featuring our new BIPOC art showcase exhibit, Marine Mosaic!
It should be a pretty good weekend for racing with the usual caveat that that will depend upon where you’re sailing. The other big news is that in addition to a very active hurricane season in the Atlantic with some spillover to the Pacific, we had a spectacular volcanic eruption in Indonesia which was captured on satellite, and the State of Washington has finally declared a drought emergency for the State because of our meager snowpack and lack of spring rains. For April we’ve only had .4” of an inch of rain compared to an average on this date of 2.07”. For the year we’ve had 12.91” compared to an average of 15.78”. Combining this with the forecast of a hotter and drier than normal summer, and an increasing possibility of a La Niña event, this could make for a not-so-much fun season. This would go for not only the usual areas in the Cascades and Eastern Washington but also around the Olympic Mountains.
At least this weekend should be relatively pleasant with the best day being Saturday with a high near 70˚F and the rain holding off until around sunset. Sunday will be 12˚ to 15˚ degrees cooler with cloudy conditions.
What does this mean for wind? As I said, it will depend on where you’re sailing. The reason is apparent from the Sat Pics and the Surface Analysis and Forecast charts. We are having a beautiful day today however not far off the coast is the next frontal system. Typically, as these fronts approach the coast they tend to weaken and fall apart as they interact with the coastal buffer zone. This will happen this weekend however on Saturday there will be a tightening of the pressure gradient as the front comes onshore. Most areas will start with light air except in the Eastern Strait of JdF where on Saturday morning we’ll have a prefrontal SE breeze 15-25 knots.
April 19 Sat PicApril 19 PNW Sat Pic
In the Central Sound, we’ll have light air of 5 knots or less from the SSW until about 1300 hrs when the breeze will build to 5-8 knots from the SSW. By 1400 to 1500hrs the breeze will build to about 10 knots. By 1600 to 1700hrs the breeze will build to SW of 15 knots. By 1800 hrs it could be 15-20 knots of SW.
In the South Sound, you can expect about the same progression but with about 5 knots less breeze.
By 1800 hours in the Eastern Strait of JdF, a solid onshore flow will develop bringing gale warnings to the area for westerlies of 25-35 knots. Those conditions will start to ease by 2100-2200hrs. Don’t take that as a trend as there will continue to be pulses of strong westerlies coming down the Strait through the day on Sunday.
In the Central and South Sound conditions for Sunday will remain in the 5-10 knots of southerly at least until around noon when the westerly in the Straits will begin to try and fill down the Sound. Expect a northerly in the Central Sound of 10-15 knots by around 1400 hours. This will ease through the rest of the afternoon.
Enjoy the weekend just don’t expect the warm temps to last as the jet stream is staying south and becoming more zonal. This will keep the temps on the cool side for at least the next 10 days with very little measurable precip.
Wind from the north, temps in the 60’s, flowers starting to bloom, all good signs. This weekend should be great. Then there’s Monday where the high temp will be almost 15˚F lower than Sunday. Still no real rain on the horizon and as of today, we are almost an inch behind for the month.
Today’s surface analysis chart and sat pic provide a beautiful picture of what is going on in the Salish Sea. We’ve had the passage of a weak cold front this morning and behind this, a ridge of high pressure will start building over the area. This can already be seen by the strong northerly flow down the Strait of Georgia, through the San Juan Islands, and into Puget Sound. As with this classic situation, the best day for breeze is immediately after frontal passage. The best part is that while there may be some easing in the breeze tomorrow, there will be plenty to race with, just about everywhere. The only exception being Olympia which will remain light.
Today’s sat pic shows the clearing starting to develop over the area as well as that big low-pressure system off the coast of Oregon. It is also interesting to note on the 500MB charts that this low intrudes into the upper levels of the atmosphere. The jet stream remains to the south of this low and will drag this weakening low into California by Sunday/Monday. This is why we’ll have such a nice weekend.
The north wind course for the Blakely Rock Benefit Race can be challenging because of the proximity of the weather mark (Meadow Point) to the starting line. Particularly if there’s a flood tide. With the slower boats starting first sometimes there can be congestion at the mark. Luckily tides should not be much of an issue as a max ebb of less than half a knot will be around 1000 hrs, with the slack at around 1230 hrs. With a persistent northerly of 10-15 knots blowing overnight and then building to 15-20 knots by the time the race starts, the flood may start early by 15-25 minutes. Just watch the classes ahead to see if congestion develops at the mark.
On the run from Meadow Point to Blakely Rock the problem will be keeping your air clear as well as finding a passing lane to get around the slower boats. There may tend to be more breeze on the west side of the Sound.
Blakely Rock will be the place where most of the fleet will compress and finding clear air will be a problem. The challenge will be to stay in clear air and not having to tack too much. The overall goal will be to hold port tack and get across the Sound to Magnolia. There will be some flood at West Point so try to stay out of the current without running aground between Four Mile Rock and the West Point Lighthouse. On this leg expect the breeze to be in the 10-15 knot range from the north.
After West Point don’t tack to port immediately at the Point, instead hold starboard until you can just lay the entrance to the Ship Canal. This will allow you to avoid the flood current that accelerates along the north side of West Point. It will also allow to better judge your approach to the finish line.
The current projections for breeze have this being a fairly speedy race with the TP-52’s around in 1hr 50min, the SC-52 around in 2 hr 05 min, the J-105’s around in 2hr 27 min, the J-35’s around in 2hr 28 min, the Cal 40 around in 2 hr 42 min and the J-30 around in 2 hr and 58 min.
Have a great race, stay safe and have a good time.
Many of you will remember that time in COVID when races were being cancelled and others trying to take root as alternatives? One of them, the Salish 200, has taken root with Corinthian Yacht Club of Seattle. The press release below explains the event. A couple of things to note – if you want to do half the course, sure thing! Also, double-handed boats will be scored in their own class in addition to overall. Sounds like fun to me. Watch for further information in an upcoming issue of 48 North.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The Corinthian Yacht Club of Seattle (CYC) is excited to announce that it is adding a signature distance race to its 2024 racing calendar. CYC has agreed to become the Organizing Authority for the Salish 200, a 204-mile distance sailboat race starting in Port Townsend.
The Salish 200 began in 2020, during the height of the COVID pandemic when sailing as we knew it was put on hold. Local sailors Shawn Dougherty and Jason Andrews, of the J/125Hamachi, cooked up the idea to host a low-key, fun, local adventure race. The idea was simple, two-100-mile courses around the Salish Sea that create a figure eight around the San Juan Islands and Vashon Island, do one or do both! But this wasn’t a “sanctioned event” – it was a seat-of-your-pants-affair where the racers were the race organizers and start committee, and everyone self-reported their finish time.
This race quickly gained popularity amongst the top Seattle-area teams and has now outgrown its roots as a “pick-up game of sailboat racing.” Now CYC is excited to bring the Salish 200 race to their calendar, where it will use its expertise and resources to host the race as an official event and hopefully as a new namesake in the Pacific Northwest racing scene.
Jason Andrews from Team Hamachi said: “We are super excited by this development and for what it will bring for PNW racing. Further, by being sanctioned, it will now count as a qualifying race towards larger offshore events such as Transpac or the PacCup.”
The Salish 200 race is scheduled for June 21st – 23rd. Boats start at 7pm on Friday June 21st in Port Townsend and can either go North around San Juan County or South around Vashon as they make their figure eight for the 200-mile race. Boats finish in Port Townsend by 7pm time limit on Sunday June 23rd.
Registration for the Salish 200 race will open May 1st and is open to monohull and multihull boats with an ORC or PHRF rating.
A new CYC perpetual trophy that pays homage to the Coast Salish People of which the waters sailed and the event itself is named after, will be introduced for this race.
Visit www.salish200.com for more information about the race and for the links to register.
We have a fairly strong Pacific High (1042MB) in the mid-Pacific with a weak trough of low pressure along the west coast. This will keep a persistent SW flow over the Salish Sea with some rain. It will also be on the cool side. Take a look at the upper level/500MB charts and you’ll notice the jet stream currently comes ashore in Mexico which is why the temps are relatively cool. Notice also that over the week, the jet stream will become more zonal and by Tuesday/Wednesday it will be coming ashore near Westport which will facilitate some warming. That means upper temps finally getting back into the 60s by Tuesday/Wednesday and holding into next weekend.
For the South Sound tomorrow it looks like a SW breeze of 6-10 knots over the race course until about 1530-1630hrs when from Johnson Point to Big Tykle Cove(BTC) the breeze will ease to 2-4 knots. South of BTC the breeze will remain at 4-6 knots to the finish with the puffs clocking from the SW to WSW and W.
April 5April 5 PNW
For the Central Sound, the breeze will start at 15-20 knots from the SW and gradually ease through the day and back to the SSW. For Sunday expect a SW breeze of 8-14 knots which will ease slightly over the day. The models are not in agreement after about mid-afternoon as a weak onshore flow will develop and one model has a weak NW breeze coming down the Sound by 1500-1600hrs. Just one more thing to watch for on Sunday afternoon.
Tonight, drink a toast to Scott Rohrer, one of the greatest sailors I ever had the privilege to sail with, for, or against.
By Peter Salusbury (Skipper – Longboard and Regatta Chair)
The 2024 Southern Straits Race is in the books and was a beauty. The 58 boats racing across four courses started Good Friday morning in a light easterly that built to about 10 knots as the fleet sailed into the Strait of Georgia. As predicted the easterly died off in the early afternoon and a light NW started to build across the eastern and northerns sections of the Strait, creating compression between the Long and Medium Course fleets.
On the Long and Medium courses, the fleet beat up the southern shore of Lasqueti, most tacking inside Sangster Island where there was much more favorable current. As the NW died further up the Lasqueti shore, it was evident the north flowing current and light to no wind conditions was going to make coming south after rounding Sister’s Islets challenging. More than a few boats reporting getting swept past Sister’s only to fight hard to make their way south to Sangster Island.
The other interesting observation was the apparent wind shear between Sisters and Sangster Islands – it was evidenced by the huge gains the longer waterline boats with taller rigs made versus their smaller competitors – gains that weren’t there all day when sailing downwind in light air. It became obvious there was more wind aloft than at sea level and the taller rigged boats generally did well in this stretch of the second leg to White Islets.
Once south of Sangster, the NNW wind settled in nicely and we all enjoyed a nice downwind sail to White Islets with a gorgeous moon rise over the city. The race hasn’t visited White islets in decades and it was fun to revisit the sea lion colony who were hilariously barking all night long – and that stench when you got downwind! On the Long Course, we then had one long starboard tack beat/fetch all the way to Ballenas that featured a beautiful dawn and sunrise.
From there the Long Course boats that did the best stayed on starboard gybe all the way down to almost Nanaimo Harbor before gybing to port for the long ‘great circle’ route back to the finish line off Point Atkinson. This last leg was relatively fast and fun with true wind speeds hovering in the low to mid teens for the faster boats.
On the Inshore Course, Rob Mulder’s Melges 24 Ferdinand was the elapsed and corrected time winner in an eight boat fleet.
The Short Course enjoyed solid wind conditions and the elapsed time winner was Bruce Townson’s J/112E Kajofi finishing early around 10:30 in the evening. Nick Conti’s J92 Live Wire took PHRF 5 on corrected time, David George’s J/29 Rhumb Line won PHRF 6 and Vatche Yerevanian CS3- Alatus won PHRF 7.
The Medium Course elapsed time winner was Theo Arsenault’s Solana 44 Rogues just nipping out Jason Saunderson’s Ultraman by 37 seconds and Tolga Cezik’s J/111 Lodos (sailing doublehanded!) by a further 62 seconds! With Charley Macauley’s Farr 39 ML Absolutely finishing a minute later, the Medium Course’s first four boats finished within 3 minutes of each other – close racing!
On corrected time, the timeless Cal 39 Chinook skippered by Noah Walcutt took the overall win in ORC and in ORC 3 with Rogues winning ORC 2. On the Medium Course PHRF 4 division, the J/109 Spyhop skippered by David Schutte took the division win.
On the Long Course, Peter McCarthy’s TP52 The Shadow II took the elapsed time honours but it was Gord Wylie’s XP44 Phoenix prevailing on corrected time for the overall win, making it two years in a row for Gord as overall winner.
Overall, it was another memorable, comfortable, and scenic Southern Straits Race with plenty of sunshine and no rain and great memories for all participants. Thanks to all of the racers for participating and supporting the event and many thanks to all the volunteers, staff, and sponsors at West Vancouver Yacht Club for the race organization.
We had a bit of rain yesterday however at this point it looks like we’ll end up about 1.6” behind for the month and about 1” behind for the year. The snowpack is still a problem with no relief in sight. So no rain this weekend or next, just a light shower on Wednesday.
WVYC is doing some innovative things for Southern Straits, especially with the ORC Scoring based on actual windspeeds. They are also to be saluted for having the stones to correct faulty PHRF-NW ratings. At least someone is doing something to try and help PHRF-NW and they can get it done in a fraction of the time.
Conditions will be relatively mild over the weekend. There will be some strong onshore flow down the Strait of JdF after that pesky low we’ve had off the coast drifts south and joins a slightly stronger system that will bring more valley rain and mountain snow to California.
The upper-level charts still have the jet stream coming ashore south of San Francisco and that will keep temps in the Salish Sea a little cool, which is fine as that will help preserve what snowpack we have.
March 29 PacificMarch 29 PNW
Breezes over the central and south Sound will remain light over the weekend except for some spillover from the Straits that will occur Saturday afternoon and into Sunday morning. The Strait of Georgia will see some NW breeze Saturday afternoon and that will fill into the north part of the San Juan Islands before easing on Sunday.
Especially this time of the year it’s always a good idea to check the actual windspeeds before you head out and keep a log of those so you can spot potential issues before you leave the dock.
As with any transitional weather situation, the models do not agree on when the transition will occur. Today’s surface analysis chart and sat pic give us a nice overview of the current conditions with a weak low-pressure system off the Oregon coast meandering slowly around with a weak frontal system right along the coast. When the front finally passes, a stronger onshore flow will come down the Straits and into the Sound. Models do agree that this will probably occur sometime between late morning and mid-afternoon tomorrow. At least it will be cool with occasional light rain. Luckily, tides will not be much of an issue.
Rain and snowpack continue to be a problem that will probably continue into the late spring and early summer. So far this month we have only had 1.17” which is 1.73” below normal and for the year we are 1.12” below normal. Even with more systems headed our way this week they will be weak and will not do much to increase rainfall totals.
The surface forecast chart for Saturday shows quite a gap in the pressure gradients over the Salish Sea. The weak low off the coast will meander off to the SE allowing a weak ridge of high pressure to develop over the area. This will keep a weak northerly flow over the area through Sunday.
For tomorrow, the question will be which course to send us on. If they send us on the long course to TTP the TP-52’s will be around in about 6 hours with a zone of light air lasting about 1 to 3 hours after a start in 6-9 knts of SE. The J-35’s will be around the course in 7.5 hours with the J-30’s around in 8.5 hours.
When the northerly fills down the Sound it will of course be light to start and then build to 10-15 by mid-afternoon, with one model showing 15-20 knts. This will last until about mid-evening before it starts to ease.
If they send us on the shorter/More sensible mrse, the TP-52’s will take about 3.5 hours, the J-35’s and 105’s about 4.5 hours, and the J-30’s about 5.1 hours. Considering that going south means sailing away from the filling northerly and that means more time in the transition zone on a day with cooler temps and rain, I know which course I would choose. Nothing wrong with getting back to the Club early to swap sea stories.
The preliminary view of South Straits Race looks like it won’t be a barn burner with winds probably averaging 10 knots or less. Not all bad!
Have a great weekend and try to stay dry and warm tomorrow.
It’s that feast or famine time of the year for sailboat racing in Putrid Sound. Way too much wind last weekend and not nearly enough this weekend, well at least on Saturday.
The good news is that it is going to be probably the nicest weekend so far this year with the high temp near 70F on both days. The price we’ll pay for this spring break will be light, as in very light, breeze on Saturday with a reasonable southerly filling in on Sunday.
Today’s sat pic, and surface analysis chart show a clear area over the Salish Sea with an impressive low offshore and high pressure inland. This will result in an offshore breeze today however as a ridge builds over the area on Saturday, the pressure gradient will diminish and we’ll be left with light air. This ridge will continue to deflect storms to the north as the jet stream moves way north and comes ashore in BC. We will also have an upper-level high-pressure system centered over the area which will keep temps on the mild side.
We will continue to have a relatively mild week with the next chance of rain occurring towards the end of the week. Even then it won’t amount to much in the old rain gauge.
Let’s just call it 50 knots of breeze. Anecdotally, reports came in of 50 knots of windspeed. Some said 48. On the water it seemed every bit of 50.
The Possession Point Race, the second of CYC’s Center Sound Series, was sailed Saturday in Puget Sound. Nearly half the fleet opted to stay at the dock, many having read Bruce’s forecast. The call was for breeze, but even Bruce couldn’t foresee the 50-knot blast that caused carnage for the later finishers.
The race started predictably enough. Boats were able to set spinnakers and hold them for most, if not all, of the run to Possession Point. The east lane paid off, and it was a fairly orderly rounding as boats turned up into the teeth of the southerly, which by then was steadily blowing in the 20+ knot range. The larger, faster boats charged upwind on a flood current and into some big seas. Many boats played the east shore until they saw those hitting the Bainbridge side gaining.
The following photos were taken at the start by Jan Anderson. See the rest here.
Mystic AceIt was crowded at the boat for PHRF 5.
Crews on the rails could see the squalls coming. It was clear there was going to be a dousing. Indeed it came, along with a bit of hail. There was the expected gusts to start with, but then it became clear something had upset Mother Nature. She packed the squalls with 30, 40 and ultimately 50-knots gusts. By the time the worst of it hit, the fastest of the boats had finished. There was a distinct line of demarcation when the biggest wind hit – boats behind that line were scattered with ripped sails, crews on the foredeck holding downed headsails while hoping it would soon be over. Some boats were trying to motor under bare poles. Some limped the finish after the worst of it passed. And the J/109 Eclipse broke her mast.
These photos were taken by Adam Yurret from the race committee boat at the finish. Thanks, Adam! More here.
Al Hughes skippered the lone J/105 on the course.One Life finished with one sail.Aurora’s rail stacked.Carnage.
There were no reports of serious personal injuries, though just about everybody went home sore and cold and wet. Foul weather gear can only do so much.
Aboard Derek DeCouteau’s 1971 Ranger 33 Aurora, we had an excellent helmsman and afterguard, a new-to-the boat #3 and lots of rail meat. It was a good day.
As always – if you have some stories or photos from the race you’d like to share, send ’em.
