I got underway at 0604 on Friday morning. The currents were fantastic and were with me almost the entire way. The sky was overcast and the wind nonexistent. I motored all the way. When I got to Friday harbor at 1425, the sun came out and it was a pleasant day. The 8 hour 21 minute time from Brownsville to Friday Harbor is probably the fastest I have ever done. Good planning on the currents helped. It is 63 nautical miles to Friday Harbor.
On Saturday, the race started at 1200. The rules for the race allow competitors to select the direction they want to round Shaw Island. The currents are the biggest factor. Most boats chose to round in a clockwise direction. The race started just outside the harbor entrance but still somewhat in the lee of Browns Island. There was wind in the harbor and wind in San Juan Channel, but not much on the starting line. The yacht club starts all classes together and there were 69 boats on the line for the start! I was racing in PHRF A class. There was 7 other classes for multihulls, cruisers and slower PHRF(Pacific Handicap Racing Fleet) boats. It truly is a race where "you race what you brought".
I got an average start at the north end of the line. My thoughts were that with the current ebbing initially, I could go low, catch the wind in the channel and the current would carry me right. The plan worked well. The wind was about 10 knots. I made good time to Upright Channel and set the spinaker. I stayed close to the Shaw Island Shore for current relief from the still ebbing current and passed a lot of boats. By the time we reached the east end of Shaw Island, the current was starting to flood, but the land was blanketing the wind. I caught up to the leaders, Heart of Gold(Schumacker 50), Grafix(Soveral 33), Tinette(J124) and an Express 37. Spinakers came down and the rest of the course through Harney Channel and Wasp Pass was close reaching. I passed Tinette and Grafix and stayed close to the Express 37. When we sailed out of Wasp Pass and into San Juan Channel, we were fighting the flood current. Myself, Heart of Gold and the Express all short tacked the Shaw Island shore, Grafix went into the middle of the channel. I passed the Express and stayed on the Shaw Island side as did Heart of Gold. The Express went out in the middle with Grafix. When I finally headed across the channel, I was suprised to see that the Express had passed me and Grafix had closed up. The finishing order was: a Hobie catamaran that went clockwise, Heart of Gold, the Express, Graphix and Great White. I finished at 1518 which was considered fast for this race, usually the winds do not cooperate as well. We corrected to 3rd in PHRF A and 13th overall. I was pleased with the result. Total distance sailed was 16.9 miles(nautical not statute).
A few boats went clockwise(mainly against the current) and a couple did well with a Hobie Cat placing first overall and a J80 placing second overall.
The San Juan Island Yacht Club put on a great after race Lasagna dinner and awards presentation. It was a great time to meet up with some of my old sailing friends and to meet some new ones.
Sunday I got underway at 0855. It was slightly foggy in San Juan Channel and got really foggy in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. The radar paid for itself as visibility was less than 1/8 mile. I had numerous targets on the radar to track. I traded horn signals with a whale watching boat before we saw each other. They stopped right in my path. The fog lifted closer to Partridge PT and the sun finally came out. The currents were adverse in the northern half of Admiralty Inlet. The wind came up so I sailed for about 1-1/2 hours, but had to give it up off Kingston when the wind died. I arrived at Brownsville at 1848. Another 63 miles for the day.
Race results can be found on: http://www.sjiyc.com/
Comfortably moored in Friday Harbor on Friday afternoon.
Some of the boats maneuvering before the start.
More pre-start action with the big schooner Barlavento in the foreground. They have a large windshadow and also once moving they can coast for a looong ways! They passed me once during the race with all their sails luffing or aback and I was sailing 5 knots!
Boats behind sailing up Upright Channel.
My track for the race. I went counterclockwise. A "half way" shortened finish line was set up off Blind Bay if we did not finish within the time limit.
Slightly foggy in the Straits!
1 comment:
Congratulations on a good race. Several of the previous races were pretty gruesome as far as available wind. Traveling with the tide is much more enjoyable than against it as your travel times indicate. Have always been able to deal with fog as long as there isn't much traffic.
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