Round the County from Longboard

Ed.Note: Once again we lean on Peter Salusbury, skipper and owner of ORC-winning Longboard, for an RTC report. Congratulations to Peter and to all who managed to get away for a wonderful weekend.

The annual running of Round the Country sponsored by Orcas Island Yacht Club is in the books and it was a beauty.  Very pleasant conditions for the long deliveries from Seattle and Vancouver in both directions and it had to be the driest RTC weekend ever!

The downwind start of Lydia Shoals on Saturday morning was picturesque as 120+ boats powered downwind in a nice northerly with the course this year going clockwise around San Juan County. It was a fast run for us all down to Davidson Rock where we turned west into a faltering breeze.  For the most part on Saturday, investing in the south shore of Lopez Island paid off big and if you ventured too far offshore, it made for a challenging day.  The wind got very light as we crawled across the short course line of Iceberg Point and then the wind started to build just a little out of the NW to get us moving along the south shore of San Juan Island. 

Photo gallery below by Jan Anderson. See the rest of them here.

The passing lanes were frequent and decisive for those of us in the lead pack of ORC, Div 0 and 1 boats – one minute you were a ‘hero’ and the next a ‘zero’ as we played snakes and ladders up the coast line.  Eventually a steady 10 knot NW filled in and we all beat up the coast to the finish line off Mosquito Pass in pretty idyllic November afternoon conditions – nice and sunny, not too cold.

Dawn on Sunday morning featured a steady northerly and after the first two starts got away clean, the ORC, Div M and 0 boats had to live through a general recall before finally getting underway for the day.  As always, the currents off Turn Point were tricky and the kelp beds were plentiful requiring more than a few of us to do complete back-downs to clear our rudders and keels. 

Photos below by Sean Trew

From Turn Point to Patos Island was a long light upwind beat with lots of lead changes, tidal currents, and wind shifts and eventually Bruce’s forecasted NW lifted us all up to Alden Point.  You had to be careful not to hoist the kite too quickly as the south flowing current was running hard.  From Patos to Peapod Rocks, we all enjoyed a beautiful and fast NW downwind ride with the sun shining and Mount Baker as a scenic backdrop.  There’s something about seeing 120 boats with spinnakers all lined up down the shores of Patos, Sucia and Matia islands which really makes this race special. 

The finish line off Lydia Shoals was as tricky as it always is with one last opportunity for lots of lead changes!  The wind died off to nothing for the last 200 yards to the finish line and the boats that stayed further to the east on the great circle route faired better than the boats inshore.  The other key was to figure out the set of the favorable flowing current so you got swept across the finish line, not around the ends (which happened to a few boats!).

The overall results can be found here but the division winners were:

• Division M – Aliikai (who was the only full course finisher on Saturday)
• Division ORC – Longboard (after two days of battling the well sailed Hamachi)
• Division 0 – Annapurna (by four minutes over Tachyon and 10 minutes over Zulu Warrior)
• Division 1 – Hooligan (J/111’s took top 3 finishes with 65 Red Roses in 2^nd and Raku in 3^rd)
• Division 2 – Legacy (Canadian J/109 beating the US J/109 Spyhop)
• Division 3 – Tc (Hobie 33 beating out fellow Hobie 33 Pip)
• Division 4 – Free Bowl of Soup (taking the J/105 division)
• Division 5 – Kodiak (with Pangaea in 2^nd place)
• Division 6 – Wilder (beating out Cowbell by just 2 minutes)

Photos below by Frederick Savoye.

Huge shout-out to Betsy Wareham, Race Director and the Orcas Island YC volunteers who once again organized a great event – it’s always a lot of fun in the Roche Harbor party tent to get caught up with old friends on both sides of the border.   This event is definitely the one ‘must attend’ race event for all of us who race in the Pacific NW and it was great to see so many great race boats with the NW’s top sailing talent battling it out on such a scenic and challenging race course.