Poulsbo Invitational-WSSA #4 or How Ugly Can a Boat Be Raced?

Saturday was the fourth race of the seven race West Sound Sailing Association (WSSA) series. This race is sponsored by Poulsbo Yacht Club. It is a bit strange in that "A" course starts at Battle Pt, has a short beat to University Point, a long run to the #6 dolphin in Agate Pass, a shorter beat around Point Bolin and then a long reach and run into Liberty Bay to the finish at Poulsbo Yacht Club. The total distance for the "A" course is 9.6 NM, but with all the reaching and running, it should be perfect for the smaller higher rated boats.

The forecast was for SW winds of 15-25 knots with higher gusts. We were not disappointed. Before the start we saw 18-20 knots pretty consistently. We put up the main and were flying around the starting area. So now comes the ugly part. We started raising the #3 and a gust blew it over the side into the water. The extra load on the sail pulled the luff out of the prefeeder and then broke the feeder off the bottom of the foil. We recovered the sail, but with the feeder broke off the foil, we could not hoist a jib. I thought that we could at least start and if we then quit we would have a better placing then if we did not start at all.

So, we got a great start and for a few minutes we were in the lead. A J35 does sail to weather well with main only, so we continued. For some reason, Tantrum II (Shock 35) also sailed with a main only. Halfway up the beat, Tantalus (Express 37) finally passed us and near the first mark at University Point, the wind let up some and Tantrum put up a jib and passed us. Carpe Diem(Carter 33T) who started in the second class five minute behind us, also passed us just before we rounded the mark.

After rounding the mark, we raised the #3 free flying on a spinnaker halyard. Although the combination looked ugly, it was effective and we hits speeds up to 9.6 knots on the run. The wind was a solid 25knots most of the run. We had to take the #3 down before we rounded the leeward mark and then beat around Point Bolin. We gained some on Tantrum by staying close to shore. When we started the reach into Liberty Bay, the wind came far enough aft that we were able to set the #3 again. The wind was a bit shifty getting into Liberty Bay and we closed with Tantrum some more, but could not close enough to catch them. We were fourth in our class out of five boats(hey, we beat one!) and I am sure that several class 2 boats corrected on us. We needed a throwout anyway!

So, as ugly of a race as this was for us, it was still fun and I don't think any of us on the boat felt like giving up. The only thing that we should have done in our crippled condition would have been to put a spinnaker up on the final run. We probably could have caught Tantrum and maybe Tantalus too. But the winds were strong and the sun was out all day. It was a great day to be on the water.

Thanks to the crew of Jim, Walter and Megan for all the help and not giving up.

So on Sunday afternoon, I set out to repair the foil. I first cut three inches from the bottom to get rid of the damaged portion. I then reshaped the bottom to fit the feeder and reinstalled it. When I replaced the foil a few months ago, I made it slightly longer than the old foil. Now the new foil is the same length as the old foil was. Still useable.

This is the course for the race. We started into a SW wind and sailed course "A".

The broken bottom of the foil.

The feeder and parts of the foil that was ripped off the foil.

The broken parts of the foil cut off of the foil.

Really ugly! The #3 free flying and Great White still hauling the mail at over nine knots. Now why doesn't someone release the check stay? The main looks ugly!

This is a rare, historic photo. Taken by Steve N on Tantrum II, it is one of the few times that Great White has been seen at this angle by the crew of Tantrum(and hopefully the last time).