Jim DePue Memorial Race 2-27-10, WSSA #1

Saturday we raced in the Jim De Pue Memorial sailboat race at Port Madison. This is the first race of the year for the West Sound Sailing Association(WSSA) Series. This race runs from Pt Monroe to the red nun buoy off Eagle Harbor, around the West Point buoy, the Port Madison Yacht Club buoy off Pt Jefferson and finish at Pt Monroe. Total distance is 16.5 nautical miles.

We got underway at 0800 from Brownsville and motored to Pt Monroe in Port Madison where the race was started at 1000. The wind was around 7 knots from the SW when we started and rain was predicted. We got a mediocre start near the pin end of the line, but shortly after the start, we were able to out point smaller boats ahead and clear our air. We took a couple of short tacks back toward Bainbridge Island to get around what appeared to be a hole ahead of the fleet. After getting around the hole, we went toward the middle of Puget Sound looking for better current. The small fast boats "Uno" and "Dos"(twin Sierra 26's) stayed close to us in the very smooth waters. The wind lifted some and the boats closer to the Bainbridge shore made some gains, but we still stayed ahead of the fleet. The wind increased to 12knots and more in the gusts near the windward mark.

At the mark, we first overstood a little and then we had a strong gust and before I could depower the main, we rounded up and grazed the buoy. So, we had to go around it again! After rounding the mark, we set the 3/4 oz spinnaker and ran toward the west point buoy. We jibed around West Point and the course became a beam reach to the next mark. The wind increased to around 15 knots and "Uno" and "Dos" planed by us going at least 1-1/2 times our speed. We rounded the mark and started closing up on the two Sierra 26's finishing within a couple of minutes of them when we finished at 1303.

We owe time to one of the Sierra's and the other is modified and may owe us time, so he may or may not have corrected on us. "Carmanah"(a well sailed C&C43) had a great race in the steady winds and may have corrected on us even though they finished behind us as we owe them a lot of time. Other boats similar to us("Tantalus"(Express 37), "Tantrum II"(Shock 35) and "Dulcinea"(J105)) all finished far enough behind us for us to save our time on them. Our final placing should be between 3rd and 5th. Results when they are posted can be found at: http://www.wscyc.net/new%20site/WSSA/thisyear/raceresults.pdf

It was a great day for a race in Puget Sound. It misted some, but I never felt like I needed to put on a jacket. The winds were steady and strong enough to complete the race rapidly. The big heavy boats like "Carmanah" did well as well as the little, light boats. Drat those Sierra 26's! I should refuse to race in the same class as them.....! Wait! Now I sound just like some of my competitors! The Sierra's are sailed by some of the best sailors in Puget Sound and I respect their abilities for making those boats go as fast as they do. That is the way of any handicap racing system, every boat has it's perfect conditions, but skill and determination still plays a big part in making the boat perform. Now if the seas would have been a little rougher on the first beat........

Thanks to my crew of : Walter, Jim, Ron and Cindy for a great day of racing.

And for Matthew, here is how far we traveled for the day: 35.2 nm.

Our track for the day. The track looks strange around the nun buoy at Eagle Harbor where we had to reround.