Foulweather Bluff Race-Oct 1st.

Saturday, we raced "Great White" in the Foulweather Bluff Race sponsored by Edmonds Corinthian Yacht Club. This race has both short and long courses. We race the long course from Edmonds to the Foulweather Bluff Buoy, to the Schatchet Head buoy and back to the finish north of Edmonds. We race the long course unless the winds are light and the Race Committee sends us on a short course to a temporary buoy off Pilot Point and then to the Schatchet Head buoy and then to the finish. That is what happened this year.

We raced in Class 7, a class made up of ourselves, two other J35's, a C&C115, a C&C37/40, a Dehler 39 and a 40foot Peterson 40. The handicap range was only 3 secs a mile with the J35's, C&C115 and Peterson  rated fastest at 72. The C&C37/40 and Dehler 39 are rated slower at 75, but they are much larger boats and have a higher speed potential. "Reign Maker"the C&C37/40 has a huge rig and is a great light air threat.

We started the race a bit late. We had to luff a couple of boats and got clear air. The first leg was a light air spinnaker reach. I concentrated on sailing to my target speeds. "Elusive"(C&C115) tried to luff us up and would not let us by, so when a faster boat that started behind us came by, I got on their stern and let them do our dirty work and take "Elusive's" air. As we neared the Kitsap shore, we continued sailing to our target speeds downwind and with the favorable current, we soon closed on the Pilot Point buoy.

When we got to the first mark we were just behind "The Boss" (J35). We changed to the No. 1 jib and had a close reach to the Schatchet Head buoy. With the strong, still ebbing current, we had to be aware of our course over ground(COG) to avoid being swept to the left of the buoy. We played that leg well. "Elusive" went way high and lost grond to us. We gained some on "The Boss".

After rounding the Schatchet Head buoy, "The Boss" got stuck in the bad air behind the boats ahead. We made a short hitch to the right to clear our air and gained on "The Boss". "The Boss" pinched to clear their air and fell in about 300 yards behind us.

A couple of miles from the finish, it looked like we would not make the finish line and the boats to weather seemed to have better wind, so I called for a short tack to the right.  No sooner did we tack back toward the finish when the wind lifted. We had overstood the finish and "The Boss" made the finish ahead of us without having to tack. They got first and we were second. I knew better! YOU ALWAYS STAY BETWEEN THE MARK AND THE BOAT BEHIND!

At least we finished well ahead of the rest of the boats behind. We usually struggle against the larger C&C115, but they finished well behind us in third.
It was still a good race and we had great crew work. Thanks to Kathleen, Walter and Jim.

Results here: http://cycedmonds.org/

Our track for the day. The course went in a clockwise direction.