Blakely Rock Race

Blakely Rock Kicks off Center Sound with Great Conditions and a Fleet MOB Response

Kurt Hoehne Racing , 2 Comments

CYC’s Blakely Rock Race is the unofficial start to the year’s racing season. Sure, there are frostbites the South Sound Series, but those seem to be winter. As such, if you’re looking for an omen for the year to come, it’s going to be an interesting one, and a good one. After all, it’s not every race you have to restart and a (successful) man overboard recovery, but such was the case last Saturday in Puget Sound.

The day started out as Bruce predicted, bright and breezy. PRO Charley Rathkopf set the weather mark to the north and started sending off the classes. He soon was informed the mark was headed for Spring Beach and made the decision to restart and use a shorter course.

All photos by Jan Anderson. Click here to see and buy them. Click on any image to enlarge.

  • J/105 start
  • PHRF 3
  • Crossfire
  • The J/40 Semper Quaerens
  • J/80s
  • The new-to-NW Sonic
  • Bat Out Of Hell going just like that
  • Jonathan McKee’s Dark Star

The reverse (small boats first) start made for a compacted fleet as they headed downwind. The planing boats planed and the cruiser racers just went fast, giving everybody a memorable start to the season.

Rescue by Committee

The biggest event of the race wasn’t the winner’s circle, it was the rescue of Anarchy crew Lindsey Lind. I haven’t yet been able to talk to the Anarchy crew or the crew of the TBird Selchie, the boat that ultimately picked Lind out of the drink. But here’s what I do know.

On the downwind leg, relatively close to the Blakely Rock, Lind fell overboard from the FT 10 Anarchy. Somewhere in there Anarchy broached. There were some chaotic radio transmissions from Anarchy to the Coast Guard, and then several boats in the fleet responded. Marek Omilian, the skipper of a the new-to-town TP 52 Sonic, saw Lind in the water about 500 yards ahead but wasn’t sure it was a person until they were 100-150 yards from her. By then the crew was already preparing the M.O.M. module and deployed it close enough that Lindsey was able to grab it. It turns out Omilian is a veteran of the Clipper Around the World Race and his crew was well prepared for a man overboard situation.

In the meantime Charlie Macaulay’s Absolutely also saw what was going on, dropped their chute and motored toward the victim. Macaulay recalled, “When we  still about 10 boatlengths away, Selchie executed a perfect kite douse and circled the MOB, turning up to leeward of her. They quickly pulled her onboard as we approached within a couple of boatlengths.” Absolutely was awarded 4 minutes redress for standing by.

Not everything was quite as seamless aboard Selchie as it appeared from the outside. Crew member Gail Tsai reported on Facebook: “The kite came down before I could release it from the pole; our green line went under and hooked to the keel while the halyard got caught with spin halfway up. It fell into water, got wet, and started pulling me off the boat. It had wrapped itself around my right leg. I was just clinging to everything for dear life trying not to cause another rescue. Never been so close to falling in the drink before.’

All’s well that ends well, and this one ended well. Lind was warm, dry and in good health in the CYC clubhouse after the race.

There has already been some discussion about the incident, and what lessons are to be learned. It seems to me that the racers can take pride in the rescue. The fleet responded immediately and skillfully. I understand there was a J/105 that also stood by in addition to the boats already mentioned. It’s interesting that one of the fastest rated boats (Sonic) and the slowest rated boat (Selchie) were both instrumental in the rescue. This might be a good argument for having a reverse start - keeping the fleet together longer on the racecourse.

New to Town with a bit of Irony

You might wonder how this TP 52 Sonic came to be here in the PNW, on Blakely Rock, and with a crew ready to play a vital role in the rescue. After all, it’s not as if the owner Marek Omilian is isn’t a household Seattle racing name like John Buchan (Glory), Steve Travis (Smoke) and Steve Johnson (Mist). I was wondering.

It turns out Marek Omilian may not be a household name yet, but it would be difficult to imagine a more prepared offshore racer owner. He recently completed the Clipper Round the World race on Visit Seattle, sailing all the legs. In fact, five people onboard Sonic on Saturday have done part or all of that race or are going to do it. Part of the Clipper preparations is “safety procedures ad nauseum.” So much of the crew was ready when they saw the person in the water.

  • The tossing of the tulips in honor of the never forgotten Kelly O’Neil
  • Freja around the Rock.
  • A great day for a big crew. Tahlequah.
  • Wind Dancer
  • Madame Pele et.al. after rounding the Rock
  • Sachem
  • Cherokee
  • The lone tri Freda Mae
  • Bravo Zulu after rounding

Omilian, originally from Poland, says he’s developing an onboard culture based on safety, respect, teamwork and commitment. He’s also pursuing an interesting facet to the Sonic campaign; he’s looking to use the boat as a fundraising tool for good causes. Omilian has identified potential groups such as the Ocean Foundation and is approaching local corporations to see if a sponsorship program can be developed.

Now for the irony. Man overboard (or crew overboard - COB - as I’ve just learned I’m supposed to say) safety issues are much on the mind of racers these days. A thorough report was just released on the death of Jon Santorelli who drowned after falling off the TP 52 Imedi shortly after the Chicago-Mac start last year. Sonic is Imedi, and so it seems fitting that the boat, with a safety-focused crew and skipper, helped in this successful rescue.

The Racing

As far as the racing goes, the consistent breeze emphasized boatspeed and boat handling. There were nine classes, including a 1-boat multihull class. Results here.

Brad Butler’s very well-sailed Sierra 26 Dos planed to another victory, correcting easily on her class and by over a minute overall. The six second ding to her rating, pronounced in the January PHRF meeting, wasn’t nearly enough for Saturday’s conditions. When the Sierra gets on a plane, the boat is pretty much a gun in a knife fight.

Winning the Boats with Cabins division was Bill Buchan’s Sachem demonstrating how it’s done. The Peterson 43 charged along in the heavy upwind conditions and held her own downwind, correcting by nearly eight minutes ahead of the rest of her class and only a 1:24 behind Dos.

Within the classes, there were a few interesting results. The 9-boat J/105 class was won by Racers formally known as Here & Now. The J/29 Boat of the Year bunch have apparently moved on to One Design. Also, the level 72 (PHRF rating) class has made a reappearance, and it was won by the C&C 115 Elusive with the J/35 Tahlequah second and the Schock 35 Darkside third. It will be interesting to see if this class can stay together as a group and, hopefully, build.

Perhaps the most competitive of the classes was class 8. Burzicki/Shorett’s Farr 395 Ace corrected to first, with Absolutely second and Andy Mack’s J/122 Grace third. The three finished within 11 seconds on corrected time and finished fourth, fifth and sixth overall. In the proverbial race-within-a-race, the J/122 Grace and the Farr 395 Ace, had a few close crosses before Ace ultimately finished overlapped.

Mike Johnson, crew aboard Ace, recounted: “We had a good day sparring with Grace, a boat with many good sailors and friends. They had a great start and first beat to begin the run with a 100-yd lead. We were able to reel them in after a few big puffs filled in from the north and rounded Blakely Rock just ahead. Upwind, we stayed on port while they took a tack toward Wing Point and then held a higher port tack lane across the Sound.  There was a slight left shift, but not enough for them to pass. From the tack at Discovery Park we were always close and ended up overlapped at the finish. One advantage of having another equally rated and well-sailed boat is the opportunity to learn new things, which is what keeps us coming back.

Don’t you just love rivalries? All rivalries will resume in the next two Center Sound races. Bruce Hedrick will be providing his weather magic the day before each race, so check in then.

Center Sound So Far, from Different Drummer

Kurt Hoehne Racing , , 3 Comments

Few Puget Sound boats have been sailed so consistently well over the past few seasons as Different Drummer. The nearly 17K pound Wauquiez C40S is pretty much the prototypical modern cruiser-racer. Comfortable, solidly built and well behaved, she sails to her 81 PHRF rating and is one of the few boats in that rating band to regularly give fits to the 1000 lb. Sierra 26s Uno and Dos. Race post-mortems are a great idea, and skipper Charles Hill has allowed us to reprint his review of the first two races of Center Sound, in which they’re now tied with Uno going into the last race.

By Charles Hill (borrowed with permission from the Different Drummer Facebook page)

I have been meaning to write up a race report for Blakely Rocks but never found the time, and now I have two race reports to write up and still not much time, so I’ll make this quick. After two of the three races in the Center Sound Series we are tied for first in our class (out of 12) with Dos (a not unfamiliar position). We are also standing 8th overall (out of 70 something boats). How did we get there?

Different Drummer shortly after the Blakely Rocks start, with her bigger cousin Red Sky ahead to leeward. Photos by the Awesome Jan Anderson.

Blakely Rock: We started really well in a decent north breeze. We were first around the upwind mark, closely followed by Dos, Elusive and Red Sky (a Wauquiez C45s, which is basically a scaled-up version of Drummer). After setting the spinnaker, we sailed toward the center of the Sound. Most of our class, and indeed most of the fleet, gybed and headed towards the eastern side of the Sound. I’m not sure why they did that, because we could see building breeze coming up behind us and it certainly seemed softer off to the left. It soon became clear that we were in better pressure and it sure looked as if we were opening up a lead over our class. For reference, we had Firefly in front of us, and Sachem behind us. For the first 2/3rds of the run to the Rocks it seemed that we would round well ahead of our class, then we made the mistake of drifting too far to the right and found ourselves in softer pressure. We should have gybed early, but we were pinned by one of the smaller boats we were passing, and we made the mistake of trying to tough it out and get ahead of them to leeward, which took way too long. In the event, this allowed Dos, Elusive and Red Sky to haul us in as they crossed over the Sound into better breeze. Dos must have been on the plane in what was now a solid 15 knots of breeze, because they rounded the rocks some distance ahead of us. Elusive and Red Sky rounded with us.

On the beat back to West Point Elusive pulled slowly ahead of us, Red Sky fell back a little, and we were hauling Dos in, but not fast enough. Once we past West Point we tacked in towards the breakwater. Elusive did not, and they fell back. I was really surprised at how quickly we opened a significant lead over them on the water. Interesting how the right tactical call can make such a big difference. In the end we passed Dos, but not by enough to save our time and they won, we were second, Red Sky third, and Elusive dropped to fourth.

Focus on Different Drummer in the Scatchet Head Race. Click to enlarge.

Scatchet Head: With soft breeze in the forecast, the race committee elected to run two laps on a 12 mile windward/leeward course. We had to pass through the finish line at the end of the first lap so that they could shorten the race if the wind dropped as per the forecast. The wind didn’t drop. Instead we had two laps in a solid 8-12 knots of breeze with beautiful sunshine and stunning views of snowclad peaks. This was a way more interesting and fun race than the annual slog up to Scatchet Head and back. Note to the race committee: please throw one of these into the mix every year.

The only mistake we made on this race was the start, where I was a little too slow and let Helios and Red Sky get to windward and blanket Drummer with dirty air. They actually had an excellent start, we did not. We tacked onto port as soon as we could to get clear air, and after that it was off to the races. I think we had clear air for the rest of the race. After the first lap my guess is that we were in third place, close behind Dos and Elusive. The rest of our class had already dropped back. However, we had an excellent remainder of the race, driving the boat as fast as we ever have in those conditions. We slowly hauled Elusive in, while putting distance between ourselves and Dos. I suspect that Dos was very close to us on corrected time at the last turn mark, but we stretch-out our lead on the final beat to the finish and crossed 55 seconds ahead on corrected time. Elusive was third some 1 min and 25 seconds behind Dos on corrected time. We were also 6th overall, which was the 2nd highest fleet position we have achieved in a Center Sound Series race. Good times.

Blakely Rock Race 2018 - A Beautiful Start to the Season and a Revised Podium

Kurt Hoehne Racing , 0 Comment

The Blakely Rock Race is almost always something. It’s seems to be either a wake-up gear-buster or a very chilly reminder that we get to race when a lot of the continent doesn’t, as long as we can bear the cold. And it usually points out pretty clearly who has a jump on the fleet - the perpetual winners or someone new on the scene. While the results on Saturday indicated that Firefly had won overall, it turns it was sailing with the wrong rating, and it has retired from the race. See below. This makes Ballistic the overall winner and Sachem the class 7 winner. And Crossfire, which led on the water the whole way around the course, also retired. Again, see below.

And this year, it was something really nice. Bright sunshine, plenty (but not too much) wind and an excellent gauge on boatspeed and crew work. Non sailors texted me, “There were a lot of boats out there. Looked great. What was going on? Was it a race?” I love it when non-sailors feel they’re missing out.

The perpetuals were still atop their classes. Glory won the ORC fleet. Cherokee, Here & Now, Last Tango, Dos, Sachem, Selchie and Freda Mae won their respective classes. Brad Cole’s Ballistic had an impressive showing winning Class 7 and overall. The growing (now 4-boat) casual class was won by the Beneteau Oceanis 45 Le Reve. Results.

Following are four tales from nearly every part of the fleet, from the very front to the very back. It’s a little different than the “usual” race report, and I think a much fuller look at the race. Thanks to all who contributed. If anyone wants to chime in for other CS or other races, please do!

First a word from photographer Jan Anderson, who pays tribute to Kelly O’Neil, friend to many of us and one who captured many a Blakely Rock Race before digital cameras! Tossing daffodils while rounding the Rock is a ritual that should never end. Jan took all the photos except for the one of Firefly.

Jan Anderson - Celebrating Kelly

At long last, it was a GORGEOUS day for sailing, and the action on the water reflected that. But great weather alone doesn’t come close to describing what this sport is really about … it’s more about the people with whom we share our experiences, and the relationships we’ll cherish for all time. Each year, this day, this race, this moment rounding Blakely Rock, is about celebrating the life of Kelly O’Neil, the photographer that impacted all of PNW sailing, forever. Neither I nor my Boat Boy Skip had ever met Kelly, but fate would have it that Skip and I met the same year she passed. To this day, literally this day, Skip and I are both deeply moved with the fleet’s expression of love for Kelly, by casting daffodils into the water. Above all others, this is a day where everyone wins. From the bottoms of our hearts, we thank you, Kelly.

Melissa Davies, Miss Mayhem - Third to the Bar

Miss Mayhem

This is the viewpoint from the smallest/slowest/least experienced skipper in the fleet. Miss Mayhem is a San Juan 24 and is starting her sophomore year in racing. I have been sailing/racing for a little over 18 months - having jumped in with both feet. (Ed. Note - she’s also the event coordinator for CYC)

I was relieved to arrive at the club to find the weatherI ordered had arrived as requested. (Sometimes being the weather witch doesn’t always get you great sailing weather). Sunny skies and 6-12 knots of wind from the north, forecasting to increase throughout the day.

We started the race with our #1 and after watching all the other boats (we had the very last start) we decided not to fly our spinnaker due to being short crew. There were 4 boats in our class (casual) ranging from a Beneteau 45 to us. The start was favored at the pin and we were in the right place at the perfect time to cross the line first and get away from the class into good wind. Headed west to keep the wind and utilize the current (70% of the fleet did the same thing). We had a couple of tacks to get better air but mostly were able to point right at the mark. As we rounded the N mark we headed back west (again about 60% of the fleet did the same thing) in 2nd place in our class. We hit 8.1 knots on the way back to West Point with just our #1 and main, unfortunately, that didn’t work as well for us as we hoped the other two boats in our class took a more inside track and caught up to us (might have also been they had 12 feet of water line on us). We rounded the mark just as the BIG BIG Boats were coming in from Blakely rock (Glory, Crossfire, etc) - it was a straight beat back to the finish line. although we did have some wind shadow challenges, that caused us to take the boat end of the finish line (good news is they were able to get to great picture of us). Miss Mayhem corrected out in 2nd place in our class and was the 3rd boat back at the bar.

The highlight of the race was being in the back seeing all spinnakers flying and heading to Blakely Rock. Sometimes its good to be the smallest/slowest boat. The second best part was getting to cross the finish line with/before boats like Ballistic, Bravo Zulu, the other Top 25 race boats.

Doug Frazer, Oxomoxo - Man Down

Oxomoxo

I can report from the DFL position. We had a blast with a short handed crew, four souls on board and my son Bob sleeping down below in the master’s cabin under a down comforter. After a slow start in about 11 kts, just rounding the committee boat we had a great ride up to the windward mark using our 135 and full main, at this pace we were able to maintain our position in the fleet. After a successful rounding somewhere in the middle of our fleet we started to successfully take up our usual position at the back of the fleet with our trademark pink and gray spinnaker full and proud. What a great spinnaker run to Blakely Rock with three perfectly timed gybes and only one spin sheet temporarily stuck under the boat. Bob woke up in time to be the squirrel down below for the douse which we orchestrated using our newbie (Amy, former professional water polo player from Spain). By the time we turned at Blakely Rock the wind had piped up to the low teens and we realized we were doomed to be overpowered and unable to make much forward motion upwind. Making our way to West Point we were on our ear the whole time. By this time Bob had moved from the down comforter in the master’s cabin to the warm cozy folds of the pink and gray spin in the main cabin. To keep from sliding off the bunk when we were tacking, he moved to the floor and wedged himself between the dinette and the base of the settee. It was difficult to make it across the finish line as the wind direction required us to finish right at the committee boat and the resulting lay line was nearly parallel to the direction of the port tack. When we tied up at the slip, Bob woke up and we made a cameo at the yacht club and then headed home where an exhausted Bob had a big dinner and headed off to bed early.

Ed. Note: Hopefully Bob’s on deck for Scatchet Head!

Nigel Barron, Crossfire - Hatch Down, Retired

Crossfire

First, kudos to Bruce Hedrick. Nailed the forecast. What a lovely day of sailing! On Crossfire, we started on a J2, and a had a great sail to the weather mark. We favored the middle/left side of the course, and that seemed to work for us. Smoke and Mist went inside, while Glory mostly stayed outside with us. The fun part of the reverse start is seeing your friends as you sail through the fleet on the fast boats. The timing worked out nicely for us, as we had a relatively clean weather mark rounding with not a lot of traffic. It was a fantastic sail down to Blakely Rock. Glory and Smoke were right behind most of the way down. We, along with Glory favored the middle most of the way, while Smoke went across to the west shore. We had changed headsails to the J3 on the sail down, as it looked like more pressure for the trip to the finish. Unfortunately, while sailing back towards 4 mile rock, the jib inhauler got under the sliding companionway. As we went to point mode, with the clew being cut higher on the J3, it popped the hatch off. We of course had to go back and get it; it made a nice MOB drill. Hatch was retrieved and we set off to the finish and continued racing.

As we were approaching the finish it became apparent that the Race Committee hadn’t reconciled the Notice of Race and the Sailing Instructions, as finish pin was on the wrong side of the boat according to the NOR!

Regardless, a beautiful day on the water.

Ed. Note: The race committee queried Crossfire by phone if they were going to retire - it seems that in the process of retrieving the hatchcover the engine was started - in reverse - and ran for a few seconds that way. It didn’t occur to anybody onboard that it would indicate retirement, as it represented no forward progress on the course. But skipper Lou Bianco decided it best to withdraw regardless, hence a RET (retired) in the results. As Paul Evlstrom said, “You haven’t won the race, if in winning the race you have lost the respect of your competitors.”

Nigel Barron is the Sales and Marketing Manager at CSR Marine.

 

Brad Baker: Firefly - Wolf in a Sheep’s Rating

Firefly

(Note: Firefly has retired from the race when Baker realized a completely unintentional gross error in the PHRF rating. The proper rating would have put them in another class entirely. It does not, however, take away from the story of a well-sailed race.)

Firefly is a Chuck Paine designed Morris 45 performance cruiser. It is lighter than your typical Morris and has a carbon rig.

I signed on with owner Bob Strong to do this year’s Vic-Maui Race. The boat is currently definitely in full preparation mode with that final goal in mind. Bob has done quite a lot already including a new inventory of North 3DI upwind sails and a suite of downwind sails in preparation for the race. We have been out on three practices with Andrew Kerr who is a world class sailor and sailing coach. The practice sessions definitely showed in our performance.

Saturday exceeded my wildest expectations. That said, the conditions were perfect for that boat. The wind speed was just in to the #3, and we were able to use waterline. How we managed such a good finish really had to do with, as it often does, luck. We had a front row start and stayed in clear air, we duked it out with the J-120 with Grace and Beneteau 40.7 Bravo Zulu, managed to round just in first place with Bravo Zulu not far behind, we bore away and set the spinnaker on starboard. BZ did a jibe relatively soon after the mark rounding. We waited a bit, but were getting ready for a covering jibe as well when we noticed significant pressure making its way toward us more out in the middle so, instead of jibing, we held. Bottom line is we sailed in more pressure and a header while the majority if not all, of our fleet made a jibe to the east side initially. This turned out to be the reason we did so well. We sailed low and fast pretty much at the mark, caught a lift at about ½ through the run, jibed and again pointed more or less at the mark in very good pressure. Wind speeds stayed in the mid to high teens. It looked to me that the rest of our fleet and many of the entire fleet as a whole, sailed in lighter wind with some extra distance. I’m the first to point out that this was a bit of a flyer, not covering the fleet well, and more often than not flyers don’t work out. Like I said we got a bit lucky, both tactically and having conditions that were very well suited for the boat. The beat home was straightforward. We had clear air and, sailing on port, one tacked it all the way to the bluff. Went to starboard up under West Point then a long port tack to the layline for the finish. We sailed the entire race in clear air. The crew did a great job getting the sails up and down and side to side, the drivers (we changed between 4 of us) did a good job. I’m sure the next race we will have to eat humble pie, but it was nice to get this win, and on such a beautiful/comfortable boat!

Ed. Note: Thanks, Brad. I’d like to point out that Brad’s idea of playing the PHRF game is not to gain an unfair advantage, but have a fair rating. If everyone did that, PHRF would be a different game altogether. Bringing a wolf in sheep’s clothing is fine, as long as you call it a wolf. And sorry, but it’s not luck when you put that kind of effort and practices in, no matter what the rating. Brad is an owner at Swiftsure Yachts.

Bruce’s Briefs: March 2, 3, & 4. CYC Blakely Rock Race

Bruce Hedrick Bruce's Briefs, Racing, Weather , , 0 Comment

It’s the first week of March so it must be time for CYC’s Center Sound Series, one of our favorites. True, it’s not like the days of having 500 boats out there but with around 80 there will still be some great racing. Earlier this week it was looking a bit grim as in Crossfire taking 12 hours to complete the course. As they do in the Pacific Northwest, things change. Now it appears things might not be so bad. Some forecasts are calling for 15-18 from the NNW while others are saying 5-10 from the NNW. We’ll just see who shows up.

One thing we do know is that the tides will for sure be in play however even they won’t be too bad. There will be varying amounts of ebb from 0630 until slack at noon. I’ve included a chart to explain this oddity.

Odd Ebbs

Tidal Current at West Point

0630 Ebb .32 knts

0912 Ebb .10 knts

1054 Ebb .15 knts

1206 Slack

1448 Flood .93 knts

1718 Slack

1900 Ebb .46 the knts

Looking at the charts, you’ll see a 996 MB low off the Oregon coast which will remain nearly stationary as it slowly weakens becoming a 1006MB by tomorrow morning. This low will dissipate late Sunday. Meanwhile, high pressure (1040MB) over British Columbia will drift slowly SSE resulting in weak offshore flow over the area through Saturday. This flow will become nearly flat on Sunday. How fast this moves our way will determine just how much wind we’ll have over the course. The best way to check this is to note barometric pressure at Bellingham(currently 1006.7), Portland(1006.6), and Astoria (1004.4). Then check the gradient tomorrow morning on VHF when you get to the boat and see how much this has changed. Generally speaking, if you take the difference in MB’s and between Bellingham and Portland and multiply times 5 that will give you the windspeed in knots. This is more accurate when the pressure is higher in the south. When it’s higher in the north it is less so.

Assuming it’s a northerly, the key to success tomorrow will be getting a clean start off the line and then watch your COG and SOG to make sure you are in the strongest ebb. You’ll hold starboard off the line staying in clear air, there should be slightly more wind in the center Sound. You’ll want to tack when you can lay the mark however you may want to tack early as there may be a lift on port as you work up the Sound. Tacking early will also give you time once you tack back to starboard to get the pole and gear setup which ideally you would have done at the dock. It should be a starboard tack set.

You’ll want to hold the starboard tack on the run. As you get over near the Bainbridge shore you’ll watch the true wind speed, when it starts to drop, that’s the time to gybe. You are better off to come into the Rock on starboard, just know where all the rocks are! You’ll have to do the drop and gybe immediately, then get set-up to drop the daffodils for Kelly.

On the beat back to West Point, it will be hold port tack from the Rock to Four Mile Rock under Magnolia. The flood may have started however there may still be some ebb along the shore from Four Mile to West Point, just don’t get into too close. At least in the flood, you shouldn’t be on for long.

From West Point to the finish, you’ll want to hold starboard off of West Point until you can tack and make the entrance buoys. Really pay attention to where the finish line is and don’t tack too many times but really maintain a clear air lane to the finish.

Good luck, be safe and have a great time.

 

Ed. Note: Thanks again, Bruce, for the insights. There are going to be some interesting tales to tell, from this, and all the other, Center Sound races. I’ll be looking for details from every part of the fleet - if you send me your insights I’ll work them into the race wrap. I’ll also be looking for video to include on the Wet Wednesday post. I’m not looking for the crew to drop the halyard to get some footage, but if you have some video, share it with me and I’ll share it with the sailish.com readers (even those not on Facebook….) Have a great time tomorrow!

 

 

 

 

Blakely Rock Race, Wind Shuts Down after the Rock

Kurt Hoehne Racing , 0 Comment

Saturday’s Blakely Rock Race, which kicked off CYC’s Center Sound Series, started off great but ended up with a lot of drifting and a shortened course course for the PHRFers (ORC boats managed the full course). Class winners needed two things, light air skills and persistence, with probably the greater emphasis on the latter.

As Bruce Hedrick predicted here on sailish.com, conditions were OK at the start (in fact better than the models suggested) with winds dropping the remainder of the day. The possibility of snow never materialized and much of the race was sailed in bright sunshine. (If you want to receive notification of this week’s Bruce’s Brief (and future weather posts), click here.

Kelly O’Neil’s former boat reQuest, was loaded with daffodils for the Blakely Rock rounding.

As the fleet rounded the Rock, daffodils were in ample supply as photographer and oh-so-loved sailing figure Kelly O’Neil was honored 13 years after her death.

A large percentage of the boats that started, finished. Class 1 (one cruising boat) Class 2 had no finishers, but every other class had at least three finishers. Results here. The biggest anomalies were Crossfire’s utter destruction of the ORC class (size matters when it comes to rig height on Puget Sound) and the corrected-time tie between Absolutely and Hamachi in Class 8.

The boat with the longest elapsed time for the day, Al Johnson’s Quest 30 Charlotte, is worth a mention. About 15 months ago Johnson brought the boat in from Victoria, where she sailed as Koru. She replaced Johnson’s well loved Soverel 33 Pegasus with an eye toward an easier handled boat (hence safer) for he and his wife Jane. “I just retired and was 63 years old, and the Quest was a boat I could see sailing comfortably for the next 20 years.” In addition to an easier handled rig, the Quest has a more comfortable interior than the Soverel with headroom and a massive aft berth.

Al Johnson’s Quest 30 Charlotte was, like all other Quests, modfied from a twin to single-rudder configuration.

Johnson clearly loves his new boat and his retirement. And the Blakely Rock race was going well up until the Rock. “The Soverel was a light air rocket. Charlotte seems to go well in all condition.” Johnson’s been spending some time around Sail Sand Point helping initiate kids in the the ways of E Scow sailing, among other things, and is much appreciated around there.

Enjoy these photos from Jan Anderson. The rest of them can be seen and purchased here.

 

 

Lead Poisoning and Blakely Rock

Kurt Hoehne Racing 1 Comment

Malcolm MacNeil free-climbed to the first set of spreaders to get this shot, much to the consternation (or at least concern) of skipper Tom Huseby.

I got a call from my friend Brad on Thursday. “Want to race Blakely Rock on Saturday?” A quick conversation with my lovely, mostly understanding wife Abby, and I was signed up. But it wasn’t without mixed feelings.

See, I had lead poisoning at an early age. Not the serious kind you might get in Flint, Michigan or die from while seeking the Northwest Passage in the 1800s, but the kind you get from racing keelboats. There is one similarity, however: judgment is one of the first things to go. I understand memory is affected as well.

Tom explaining his concern to Malcolm, and Malcolm politely “listening.”

Nobody, but nobody, can rationalize (and self-deceive) better than a racing sailor. How else can you explain spending hours in a stress position, while cold and wet, and then eagerly come out for more the next time? How else can you explain racing vastly different boats and pretending they’re somehow really equalized by a handicapping system – any handicapping system? As often as I’ve had great races, I’ve walked off the dock wondering if I should spend more time on the mountain trails or with my little Laser.

The key here is that it’s not always like that. Sometimes, like on Saturday, it’s intoxicating. It’s sunny and relatively warm, the breeze is fair and favorable and the snow-covered mountains seem to have been put there for your own private viewing pleasure. And if you’re on a good boat with a good skipper and crew, as I was on Double Take, it’s near perfect. You forget all the other stuff.

By virtue of it being the first “big” race of the season, Blakely Rock is not one to be missed. There might be a new boat or two. Let’s see who’s got a new mainsail or chute. Who is sailing with whom? Now for a few of the diehards, it’s not new at all. They’ve already been out for Duwamish Head Race or maybe some Sloop Tavern buoy races.

Personally, I love to see a big Blakely Rock blow. I love knocking the rust off in one fell swoop and watching others do the same. And this race is always a reminder of Kelly O’Neil’s positive energy that seems to bubble around the Rock along with all the tulips that are tossed in her honor.

Not much rust was knocked off this year. From the start it was a yummy fetch to the Rock, then a quick spinnaker set and gybe. Then it was a long starboard tack reach toward the mark south of Edmonds, that is until the east-south-easterly shut off completely. When the west-north-westerly appeared in the most subtle way possible, everybody got to head straight for that mark (now the finish mark, thanks to an alert and decisive Corinthian YC PRO).

Tom and Brad could stay focused in the light winds because they were assured the freighter was “no problem.” The rumble of its engines gave those of us who couldn’t see some anxious moments before it appeared to leeward.

Yes, Virginia, there weren’t many tactics to speak of. The boats that footed too much on the first leg were faced with a short but painful tack to make the Rock. The crews that weren’t paying attention on the long leg north were a step or two slow in transition. But all in all, it was point and go. Crews got to catch up on rail jokes and if you didn’t get sunscreen on early enough there was a real danger of getting a crispy nose.

On Double Take, we managed to start on the weather hip of Smoke with Glory coming up to full speed on our weather hip, so we got spit out and rolled. Then we lost our chance to go right early, but that served us well as we had a great position for the long fetch.

The rust was apparent just after the spinnaker hoist when a tangled lazy sheet yelled, NO GYBING UNTIL YOU DEAL WITH ME! Since when did something so lazy get so much power anyway?

The lazy spin sheet, seen here pretty clearly, decided to make life difficult for us. Bad Sheet! Very bad sheet. Photo by Jan Anderson. Everyone should go to https://janpix.smugmug.com/Events/Blakely-Rock-2016/. Let’s all support Jan this year for all the good work she and Skip do!

We did deal with it, gybe and get rolling. Everything remained fun as Glory, Smoke and the Car ran away from us while we systematically worked our way over, through and around the smaller boats. The only bummer was Jam. She drove through and by us in what were “our” conditions, not hers. Yuk. Hmmm. Are those new sails on Jam? Whatever it is, we can’t let that happen again. “Again.” See where this is going. . .

Well, in my leaden mind I’m hearing once again,

So, did I punch the right button on this stupid thing?

“big boat racing is great.” For a while, at least, that’s all I can remember.

-Kurt