I was invited aboard a J105 named "Dulcinea" owned by Matthew. This boat is from my yacht club and is one of my primary competitors in the West Sound. My WIRW started on Sunday. The boat was already in Oak Harbor and I made my way there for a day of practice and to set up my camp in "tent city". We sailed out into Penn Cove and sailed through some maneuvers. I was a bit unfamiliar with the J105 so this was a good time to learn the timing needed for jibes and tacks. My job was mainsail trimming.
The first day of racing was Monday with the first warning to occur at 1200. The committee boat anchored near the entrance of Penn Cove instead of the normal position inside Penn Cove. Winds were up with velocity in the 10-16 knot range. The race committee(RC) managed to get off three races. The wind was oscillating wildly along the courses. We struggled some and had placings of 4, 5 and 4th. Not a great showing, but not last either. The weather was great with the sun out and the day warm.
Tuesday we had a guest aboard. Dan Kaesler from the Seattle Quantum loft came with us. He provided some input into how we trimmed the sails, but more important he helped the skipper with tactics at the start and up the course. The RC moved the start line up into the normal position in Penn Cove. The winds were lighter this day at 8-12 knots. We raced two races and placed 2nd and 3rd. These were great placings and we were very happy. Of course the other J105's said "sure, you had the sailmaker onboard".
Wednesday had some unsettled weather. The wind was blowing out of the south and the sky was overcast. The RC moved the line out into Saratoga pass where it was blowing 14-18 knots with lumpy seas. The sailmaker was not onboard, so we needed to show what we had. We had good starts, but our upwind speed seemed to suffer some. Even though, all six J105's usually rounded the weather mark nose to tail with little distance between them. Our downwind speed was great and we seemed to be able to soak lower than some of the other boats and gain on them. Our crew work was great and our bow people, Melissa and Tessa pulled off flawless jibes. We gave them a bit of a workout when we overcooked a leeward mark rounding and ended up going to weather with the spinnaker plastered in the rigging and over the bow. One race had a very exciting finish where we caught "Allegro Vivace" and nearly finishing ahead of them for third. The official results said that we were five seconds behind them, but it seemed to be more like five inches! And the second place boat "Last Tango" finished only 19 seconds ahead. After two races, the wind shifted suddenly to the west and the RC called it a day. Our showing for the day was a 4th and a 5th which still left us in a tie for 3rd overall.
Thursday we were back in Penn Cove. The winds were down some and we saw 8-12 knots through the day. The RC managed to get off three races during a longer day of racing. This day we dispelled the "sailmaker on board" rumor. We showed great starts, speed and tactics and several times found ourselves ahead of the eventual winner "Delerium". Racing was extremely close with only a few seconds between us and other boats at the finish. Our placings for the day was 2nd, 2nd and 3rd. We were "over the moon" with excitement and proved that as a team we could make the boat perform well. These results put us in a solid position for 3rd overall for the week.
Friday was the last day. Again, we were in Penn Cove. The wind was back up to 12 to 16 knots and had a bit of a right hand shift as we beat up the cove. The RC intended to run two races so that boats could pack up and head home early. We had good starts and squeezed "Last Tango" over the line early in one start. The current was pushing boats toward the line making the starts critical to not being early. Our pace was a bit off going to weather, but we showed good tactics and were usually in the hunt at the weather mark. Again, our downwind speed was good and we could soak down nicely in the puffs and pass boats. Our final placings for the day were two 4th's and we placed ahead of "Allegro Vivace" to firmly secure our 3rd place overall.
Results can be found here: WIRW 2013 Results
WIRW was a lot of fun for me. The racing was some of the most intense racing I have ever done. We seemed to do better in the lighter winds and not quite as good when the wind was stronger. Our foredeck crew of Tessa and Melissa were awesome. The cockpit crew of Mike and I did everything we needed to do to keep up with the Matthew. The shoreside activities were interesting and just like the expression "what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas", some things are best left in Oak Harbor. Matthew runs a great program and arranged good logistics. Mike had his cruising boat moored alongside "Dulcinea" and made us breakfast each day and provided a place for evening meals. My camp in "tent city" was a comfortable and free place to stay. Maybe I will go back next year....
Resting on they way to the starting area on Monday.
Tessa trimming the spinnaker.
Spinnakers in Saratoga Passage.
After the winds shifted to the west in Saratoga Passage. No more spinnakers.
Chasing down "Last Tango". I don't know how Jim can sail while looking back at us.
Tent city.
"Dulcinea" renamed "Awesome".
Boats moored at Oak Harbor.
The crew of "Dulcinea".
"Usawi".
Inside the part area after the days races.
"Dulcinea" hot on the tail of "Delirium".
"Dulcinea" hot on the tail of "Delirium".
One of Wednesdays races where we finished overlapped with "Allegro Vivace"(ITA 89). Not in the picture was "Last Tango" who was in second and only 19 seconds ahead.
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