The Northwest Maritime Center’s new Seventy48 Race was a big hit. Over 100 boats competed! The first finisher paddled the course in less than 10 hours, finishing at around 3 Tuesday morning. Most of the coverage is on the Seventy48 Facebook page including lots of videos. Here’s one video I stole that just has to make everyone smile. The team is 8Oars. Congratulations to all who competed.
Don’t forget, R2AK starts tomorrow at around dawn and the famous Pre-Race Ruckus is tonight in Port Townsend. And if you missed it before, see the R2AK promo video here. It’s beyond funny.
With the impending (June 14) start of the R2AK Race to Alaska, it’s time to start celebrating this amazing event. Here’s a video that popped up on Facebook, and it’s worth a giggle or three.
The current Olympic Classes controversy appears to have ruled the Finn out of the 2024 Olympics. That’s a big shame. The Olympics are all about athleticism, and this class embodies athleticism. There are enough Finn sailors around the class will be fine (like the Star) but it’s a shame big guys can’t aspire to the Olympics in this amazing boat.
We’re a little tardy getting this out. The NWISA Team Racing Championships were held the weekend before last, and Burke Thomas reports that “there was lots of good 3 on 3 team racing.” It sure looks like it from these pictures borrowed from The Dome Studio’s Facebook Page. Where was this kind of racing when I was a kid? I’d highly recommend looking at these photos if you want to get excited about the next generation. The Orcas High School Vikings were the big winners in the Team Race Championship and the Gig Harbor High School Tides were the JV Team Race Districts.
Click to enlarge any picture.
Team Race Championship
Saturday, May 5:
Sailors were greeted with clear skies, northerly breeze, and flat water. Racing got underway about 20 minutes late, but then four flights of varsity sailors cranked through the qualifying round by mid-afternoon. The top four teams met in the first final round, and the remaining seven teams sailed a number of races in the consolation round before wrapping up around 7pm.
Sunday, May 6:
Warm sunny weather prevailed for the day, but the winds were light. After an initial postponement ashore, racing continued in an attempt to complete another final round. Unfortunately there was not enough breeze to finish those races before the time limit.
Pat Mitchell and his crew from the Bainbridge Island program ran 55 races on a sunny day with northerly breeze. Three flights of FJs and a flight of V15s kept the silver fleet busy rotating all day.
Sunday, May 6:
Sunny warm conditions unfortunately did not also provide very much wind. Just a few races were completed before the time limit at 3pm.
Rankings
Note: Preliminary results; teams ranked by winning percentage.
Allan Johnson steering Andy Mack’s J/122 Grace before the start of the Smith Island Race.
“What does everybody think? Are we a dying breed?” It was in the 22nd hour of the Smith Island Race, which had been a drifty, damp and cold affair. We were leading the remaining fleet and spirits were actually pretty high, if a little drained.
Dan Falk posed the question in a way only Dan can, in his resonant, confident tone. Even though the conversation didn’t go into the philosophical direction it could have, it certainly got everybody thinking. Well, it got me thinking.
Keelboat racing has certainly faded in North America in recent years, in some places like the Pacific Northwest more than others. The many reasons have been discussed ad nauseam; expense, a time-pressed culture that doesn’t allow for this time-consuming sport, handicapping issues, et. al.
But I don’t think Dan’s question was about keelboat racing in general. I think it was about the whole overnight/long distance question. The “fleet” we were leading consisted of seven boats. It was only a fleet of 21 to start with, a far cry from the dozens (hundreds) that used to do this race back in the 80s. The short and cruising courses had another 25 starters but with the time limits they were assured of at least being home for a late dinner.
No, the question was, was the breed of sailor who’d stay out all night in the cold, hanging on in a race for up to 30 hours, dying. On the face of it, the answer would seem yes. The skippers and crews of the two TP52s and R/P 55 pulled the plug on the race in the afternoon, though even with a few breaths of air the time limit would not be a problem for them. There are tough, skilled and very competitive crews on all those boats, but they made the understandable choice to head home.
I’m sure they slept better than we did and got a whole lot more chores than we did as well. But there wasn’t one among Grace‘s crew that regretted staying out there. We all traded emails affirming that the next day. Even one crew who couldn’t make it chimed in on the thread wishing he’d been there. We were first to finish, and third overall on corrected time. While it would have been great to win on corrected time, the competition wasn’t at issue.
It’s something other than competition that kept us going and made us happy looking back. Sure, it’s the camaraderie, the use and honing of skills, the being out there in nature. Yada yada. But for me there’s something more to it than that, and it came clear to me because it’s been a while since I’ve raced overnight. For me it was the chance to do a mini restart. Life ashore is full of routines, challenges and expectations. Life at sea, especially with relative strangers, is full of changing and challenging conditions (without anybody but Neptune to blame), new conversations, physicality - even if it is an oppressive cold like the other night.
You come out of it reset. Tired, cold, sore, probably behind on the to-do list, but reset to face life ashore with a new set of eyes. Chances are there are some new jokes rolling around your head, even if you can’t tell some of them ashore.
This region used to be a mecca of overnight racing. It was at a time when the navigation, boatspeed and even attire weren’t nearly as good as they are today. I never got to enjoy the Around the Sounds and Great Equalizers, but they sound like they were lots of fun. There were hundreds of boats out there, even in humble little 25-footers that were of dubious construction with crews with minimal experience. Have we changed that much?
I submit we have not. I think sailors have just forgotten about the joys and challenges of overnight racing. I believe they’ve been told too often about the discomforts and not enough about the camaraderie. I believe the racing culture has taken a temporary course toward competition and comfort rather than adventure and camaraderie.
There are plenty of long distance races that are not only thriving, but are bursting at the seams. The Mackinac races in the Midwest, ARC on the Atlantic, Fastnet, Sydney Hobart and many others are hitting the limits. In Europe there’s an abundance of overnight racing. In our area, Swiftsure has been losing ground but it’s still strong, and it could flare up at any time to the fleet sizes of the 1980s. Then there’s the R2AK, set to start in about a month. Now, that’s discomfort that dwarfs a Smith Island Race on 40-footer, but now in it’s fourth year it’s come to full maturity with no signs of slowing down.
So, if you shake your head at those of us who stumble in, cold and really really hungry some morning, think again. The best part of racing might not be the competition, or getting home to a warm bed. The best part might be eating lasagna on deck in a drizzle while listening to that joke that would never be told on shore. You return to the dock as a person reset - which is just as important now as it ever was.
No, we’re not a dying breed. I’m pretty sure we’re just in hibernation.
March may have been drier than normal, however, April will more than make up for that! At about the ½ way point in the month, we are only about an inch above the norm compared to last year at this time when we were 8� above normal. That will change over the weekend. Just take a look at the Water Vapor Imagery from this morning which really does look like a firehose aimed right at the Northwest.
The most breeze will certainly be today as the strong warm front shown in the charts moves inland. The winds will ease late tonight as the cold front shown behind the warm front slowly moves into the Pacific NW. This cold front will eventually stall over Western Washington on Saturday before it begins to dissipate. This will result in a light northerly flow on Sunday as a weak cold front shift east into Oregon. By Sunday evening we can expect weak onshore flow as this system moves inland. All the while accompanied by rain. Welcome to Spring in the Pacific Northwest.
Click any image to enlarge.
April 13 Surface Analysis
April 14 500MB
April 15 Surface Forecast
April 16 500MB
April 14 Surface Forecast
April 17 Surface Forecast
This will keep sailors on their toes both Saturday and Sunday. Saturday morning expect 8-12 from the south until around noon when it will start to drop off. Another southerly pulse of breeze will probably show up from the SSE by mid-afternoon this could be as high as 20 knots. This will ease just after sunset as flow starts down the Straits and into the Sound. Sunday will just be light northerlies becoming spotty by midday. At least it will still be raining but not nearly as much as we are expecting tomorrow. This upcoming week will be interesting as you look at the surface chart for Tuesday which shows a vigorous low-pressure system on the International Dateline with a very long frontal system attached and moving our way, possibly by next weekend.
Nearly 100 boats were signed up for the Blakely Rock Benefit Race on Saturday, but a large number of skippers were scared away by the dire wind forecasts. A really healthy fleet still made the trip from Seattle to the Rock and back and while it blew hard, it wasn’t on the “really scary” side of windy. As Doug Frazer from OxoMoxo said, “We had one knock down, but the salt is good for the teak. I was a little disappointed we didn’t need to put in a reef.” The sailish.com weather guru Bruce called it correctly, however (and my apologies) theBriefdidn’t get out until 1932 on Friday. For those who didn’t see the Brief, sorry I didn’t get it out sooner. No word yet on how much money was raised for The Sailing Foundation, but every bit of it will be well used. Results.
Jan and Skip and Mocha Anderson were out and once again caught the mood of the day. Here’s a sampling, click on any image to enlarge. To see the rest of them, check out the full gallery. Jan credits the ferry captain for what I’d call not just considerate, but highly seamanlike, decision to go south of the Rock to avoid conflict with the fleet. If any of you know that captain, buy him a beer.
Here’s Jan’s thoughts: “There was certainly plenty of action at The Rock this weekend, with gusty conditions and rain squalls. The good news is that the potentially-race-canceling-gear-busting conditions forecasted for Saturday never arrived … hooray! That means we were left with a real race that challenged competitors, not a survival exercise that challenged logic. Well done, Mother Nature, and many thanks to Bruce for an accurate forecast that surely encouraged more boats to come out and play anyway. All in all, a win-win-win day! Enjoy the photos!” She added, “The ferry skipper was an absolute gentleman, that dissolved a potentially huge challenge in its interaction with the sailing fleet. Had he not done what he did, the result would have been an absolute mess. Bravo Zulu!!”
Airloom
Fixing…
Apparently fixed, hooray!
Lady Too
Grayling
More Grayling.
The wise captain’s course/
Blue Fin, winner of Class 2, non flying sails.
Tahlequah at the Rock
Jolly Green and Corvo 105
Kiwi Express, winner of Class 7 and overall.
Ben Braden and the happy More Uff Da crew
Bruce Hedrick’s Race Report from onboard Tahlequah
Once again, a great event. Too bad so many people got freaked out by the advertising-driven doom and gloom forecasters. I have to say that we pretty well nailed it and we had a great time. We agreed beforehand if that it was blowing 25+, we weren’t going. The riggers got down to the boat at 0930 and it was 8-10 with a puff to 14 from 147°M. By 1030 it was 5-8 from 190°M and we were putting on sunblock and sunglasses.
We left the dock at 1115 with the pole rigged and the #1 genoa on deck but with the caveat that we reserved the right to change our mind. The foredeck was shocked! By 1135 we were seeing puffs to 16 and signs that it was going to increase, ie the lower clouds were moving faster from the SW. So we decided to go to the #3. This was the right call. The baro had quit rising and when that happened the wind went back to ESE. So two starts in front of us boats were able to port tack start. The start in front of us no one figured that out so we decided the boat end, on port, was a winner. It was and we won the start and sailed easily into the lead holding off the Schock 35 and pinning them in our dirty air.
Wind speed vs Air Pressure at West Point
As usual, our main competition was the C&C115 Elusive who got a horrible start and ended up sailing low and slow off the line. We were able to hold port tack almost all the way to Bainbridge where we started to run into traffic from the slower starts ahead of us. We weren’t able to sail as far as we wanted into the Bainbridge shore so we tacked to starboard to stay in clear air and stay ahead of Elusive. In doing so we let the J-109 get ahead of us.
We rounded Blakely Rock in second place and knew that we could never hold the C&C 115 off going downwind: longer waterline, more sail area, etc etc. We held the port pole until we were about halfway to Winslow and then gybed to end up being aimed perfectly at West Point. The J-109 gybed and crossed ahead of us while Elusive gybed early and sailed about even with us until about ½ way to West Point when the breeze built and they just took off.
We knew the wind would go forward at West Point so we had everything rigged for the final run to Meadow Point. Elusive had to gybe and come out to us but they crossed us and went too far to the West. The other C&C 115 Fortuna was just sailing up our tail pipe but when the wind went forward at West Pt we were able to handle that better and just sailed directly to Meadow Point. In the meanwhile, Elusive who had gone too far to the West had to drop their kite and go to their headsail to make Meadow Point. So we were inside with the kite up, making the mark and you would think that would be an advantage. No such luck, bigger boats with more waterline and more sail area are simply faster.
We rounded Meadow Point in clear air with plenty of congestion behind us and when we could tack and get back into the beach we did. Elusive beat us, as they should, but we still had a great time.
Peak true wind speed as recorded on the Garmin was 22 knots, minimum wind speed was 12 knots. Peak boat speed was a very brief surf to 9.1 knots.
Those who believed the sailish.com forecast had a great time and anytime you can sail in those conditions, you learn something.
Carol Pearl and a Look Behind the scenes
Sloop Tavern Yacht Club Commodore Shannon Renner oversaw this great event and shared her thoughts.
The Race Committee
I had a lot of requests from skippers to cancel this race based on the warnings. It was tough as some folks were coming from other areas and had to get crew together. Because it was a benefit regatta (beginners and experienced both racing) some crews (and skippers) had a lot of angst about participating. Due to the fickle weather here there was no way I could make that call until the day of race. Turned out to be a great day. An amazing day!
In the end, we had 100 boats register and 60 race. The committee boat was s/v Copacetic with Mike DeMan was the skipper. Mike Cain (STYC Vice Commodore) and I headed up the committee boat with a crew of 10. There were some pretty tight and competitive starts with a few near misses, but in the end we only had 1 over early. The finish was just as exciting and there were a lot of cheers from folks. Everyone was off the water in record time really. Even the vessel traffic was making way for the fleet as they rounded the rock and headed back north.
We held the trophy awards and huge raffle event (all proceeds donated to The Sailing Foundation) at the Sloop Tavern after the race. The tavern was packed, as always, and lots of stories swapped for sure. I do not yet have the total amount raised as it usually takes us about a week to get all those numbers in, but I will let you know once we get them.
The Sloop Tavern (business) sponsored our breakfast as usual this year (they always do) and CYC provided the venue this year for both breakfast and the skipper meeting. This was a change for us this year as breakfast is usually held at the Sloop Tavern but CYC wanted to help The Sailing Foundation and offered the breakfast venue this year.
Carol Pearl is who we named the Blakely Rock Benefit after this year. Carol was our club historian and had been a past commodore of STYC in the early 90’s. She truly embodied the STYC spirit. We had all of our board meetings at her home. She passed away on 2/14/2018. Carol is who usually managed the BRBR race each year. It was harder for her the last couple of years due to her health but she still had her organizational lists, etc to make sure all details were handled.
Update: I just spoke to Dieter’s dad Nate and he reports it’s Dieter’s 11th Birthday and his finishes were 3,1,1. Go the Dieter. Go the Conrad.
Dieter and Conrad
Dieter, now 11
Well, no surprise here, but Seattle’s Dieter Creitz leads off this promo video for the RS Feva Worlds, which are going on this week. And it seems (from the Facebook livecasts that I briefly glanced) that he won Race 2 and 3 - on his birthday no less! Yep, he’s got an energy about him that doesn’t waver, win or lose. Creitz and Conrad Miller are sailing in the event with sponsorship from West Coast Sailing. RS Sailing is doing a great job with this video of creating the fun atmosphere kids are looking for in a boat that looks to be a lot of fun.
They’re livecasting some of the action from Clearwater. A little patchy at times.
Dieter Creitz at the Sunshine State Optimist Championships
There are a lot of reasons to highlight 10-year-old (soon to be 11) Dieter Creitz. Sure, he’s a really talented sailor. And he shares his love of the sport with other kids. As a parent, I can only imagine how cool it is to have him an enthusiastic and integral part of his family’s Olson 25 Three Ring Circus. He hasn’t let all his success go to his head, and loves to do other sports as well.
But most of all, he exudes happiness around the water. It’s great to be around. If we could just bottle that….
Right now Creitz is in the middle of a very busy racing season. He just won the White division of the Sunshine State Optimist Championship sailed from the US Sailing Center in Martin County. For all of you who thumb your nose at the boxy, underpowered and overpriced Opti, consider this - over 200 kids from all over the U.S. came to this event, many trying to qualify to go to the upcoming International Events including the Optimist Meeting on Lake Garda which will have 1000-1200 competitors.
Creitz, in fact, was getting a little bored with the Opti, but the Sunshine State Champs appears to have cured that. He’s excited to be going back to Florida for the United States Optimist Dinghy Association (USODA) for the US Team Trials in April. According to his dad Nate, Creitz is up against “professional” sailors. With program budgets exceeding $100K and multiple coaches for some kids, professional is a pretty apt description. This goes way beyond Mommy Boats, which can be bad enough.
But before the team trials, Creitz is headed to Florida with crew Conrad Miller to sail in the RS Feva World Championships. With sponsorship from West Coast Sailing, this team will be waving the PNW and West Coast Sailing flags for this up and coming youth class. The kids are even blogging about it here. Creitz loves going fast, and the RS Feva delivers, as you can see in this short video.
The Sunshine State Optimist Regatta
Creitz is no stranger to big regattas, and it’s a good thing because the logistics of them weren’t easy at this regatta. With over 200 boats, there were four fleets. There was a round-robin between the fleets, so everyone got to sail against everyone else at least some of the time. There were three races per day. There was no gold/silver fleet, the scores are simply tabulated. But within the entire fleet results, kids are scored in their respective age group fleets: White for 10 and under, Blue for 11-12 and Red for 13-14 year olds. Creitz handily won the white division (and was 51st overall) by 29 points over the second place boats.
Nate was just about giddy to watch as his son Dieter applied so many skills to the fleet racing that he’d been learning over the years. “Getting off the line in an Opti race is everything. It was so cool to see him open up the tool bag and use these tools to get off the line. It was the best regatta he’s ever sailed.” Dieter found the fleet a lot more challenging than he’s used to around here. And a key to his success in Florida - hiking harder!
But of course there’s more to the story than just starting and the results. Creitz and his dad arrived in Florida early for two days of practice with the Canadian team before the two-day regatta. And it blew 25 knots every day. Several of the “pro” kids could look forward to unending weeks of training following the regatta.
But our Dieter Creitz needed to make it back to the Pacific Northwest. For skiing. After all, he’s a member of the NW Freeride freeskiing team. Yes, Creitz does jumps and stunts with skis. He’s got the 360 down and is working on the 540. It’s no surprise that a Northwest kid both skis and sails, but to do both so well is a real accomplishment. Asked if he likes skiing or sailing, he says skiing. “I guess I like it better because I only get to do it part of the year. You can sail all year long.”
It all started….
Dieter grew up sailing with his dad and mom Wanda. Dad Nate is a very active sailor and was in his youth, having sailed the US Youth Champs several times and finishing as high as fourth.
One big key to Dieter’s sailing was the “big boat,” the Creitz Olson 25 Three Ring Circus. Anyone racing around Seattle has seen Dieter’s bright smile aboard Three Ring Circus for the last decade. Lately Nate has pared the crew to just the family, having his son drive (seems logical to me!) while he trims and Wanda does bow.
The upcoming Race to the Straits will be the first father and son effort. Dieter has done several, of course, starting when he was six months old. But at this point it seems only fair that he be considered a full half of a doublehanded team. And Wanda? “Well, she knew this day was coming,” Nate explains.
Not surprisingly, Dieter finds himself on other boats occasionally, including the TP52s Glory and Smoke. His days of grinding and calling tactics may still be ahead of him, but Dieter still finds things to do. “I help on the bow and with the hoists,” he explains. And of course he finds himself as the “squirrel” on takedowns, helping get the spinnaker down the forehatch.
Through it all, Dieter’s love of sailing continues. His thoughts on sailing to a non-sailing 10 year old: “It’s a good way to open up, be free, get to travel and hang out with friends.”
And the future?
When a kid like Creitz makes his mark so clearly on the race course, the question has to come up “What next? Olympics?” Nate Creitz knows that possibility is out there, but like his son he has his head on straight and feet on the ground. “We’ll see what he wants to do,” he says. Nate’s not pushing, and doesn’t see any $100K “program” for Dieter. (“I’m not in that tax bracket.”) but he’ll do everything possible to enable Dieter’s dreams as they come. It’s safe to say that Nate and Wanda’s supportive, not pushy, approach to Dieter is a big reason why Dieter’s smiling at regattas.
The PNW sailing community has rallied with support for Dieter. Seattle Yacht Club and West Coast Sailing have both teamed up with support for Dieter. The rest of us can and should just root him on.
Here’s one from Malcolm MacNeil aboard Crossfire. A beautiful gybe should always be celebrated. If you haven’t read the race wrap on Blakely Rocks, here it is. Don’t forget to check out Bruce’s weather outlook when we post it Friday.
PHRF-NW had a meeting on February 11, and I’m pleased to share the Chief Handicappers notes from that meeting (without comment!):
PHRF-NW update 2018
The PHRF-NW Annual Handicapper’s Council meeting 2018 was graciously hosted by CYC Seattle on February 11, 2018. Chaired by Chief Handicapper Neil Bennett and Deputy Chief Handicapper Alan Grim, Handicappers from as far South as Portland, OR, North as Juneau, AK, west as Orcas Island and everywhere in between gathered for a morning and afternoon discussion about the state of PHRF sailboat racing in Puget Sound. And, to quote Mark Twain, ‘rumors of our death have been greatly exaggerated’.
Each Handicapper gave an update on their club’s racing programs; without fail, each club handicapper reported increased participation and eager excitement to get back out on the water, racing in PHRF One Design and open keelboat and multihull fleets. We listened and learned from each other, again reinforcing the premise that the ‘whole is greater than the sum of its parts’. So look for some innovation at that next regatta or race.
We also looked at how we stack up against other measurement methods such as ORC and IRC. We compared our PHRF-NW ratings against US Sailing National PHRF ratings and, not surprisingly, we differ from other areas of the country (for obvious reasons, we are unique); however we are consistent in our differences; against the other rating/measurement systems we are rock solidly consistent in how similar the time deltas between yachts are measured.
Of course we are proud that our cost effective, friendly PHRF-NW method stacks up against the ‘bog boys’, and we welcome any and all to join us.
We also reviewed member appeals and made some adjustments. In specific:
Appeals
Gray Wolf, XMART40-1, s/n 401
A motion was made and carried to change the as-sailed rating to 57, and amended to reinstate the T designation.
Occams Razor, ILC40, s/n 1997
A motion was made and carried to change the as-sailed rating to 18, and amended to reinstate the T designation.
Poke and Destroy, EVEL32-2, s/n 69061
A motion was made and carried to change the as-sailed rating to 93. The motion passed.
A motion was made and carried to create a JBOA105-ODR standard with a base/as-sailed rating of 93.
