The race started on time with winds to 8 knots from the SE. We got an excellent start, set the spinnaker and led for a while until "Dulcinea"(J105)reached past us. The wind lightened some as we approached Waterman, when the boats behind brought some new wind and closed up some on us.
As we entered Rich Pass, both "The Boss"(J35) and "Reign Maker"(C&C 37/40 XL) passed us, but they stayed toward the right side of the pass while we stayed more in the middle with better ebb current. At Pt Glover, the wind came ahead, the spinnakers came down and the beat started. The wind was a pleasant 8-10knots and shifting more toward the SW. We passed "Dulcinea", "The Boss" and "Dulcinea" before we exited Rich Pass.
We stayed on one long tack past the west end of Blake Island. There we short tacked close to the South Shore for current relief. We stayed ahead of the other boats in our class. The strategy on "The Boss" seemed to be to stay in our wake as we sailed in formation around Blake Island.
After rounding the SE point of Blake Island we reset a spinnaker and had a short run north along Blake Island and then a nice close reach toward the Bainbridge Reef Buoy "R4". "The Boss" stayed close, but as we approached the buoy we gained some distance on them and kept gaining on them as we entered Rich Passage against the still ebbing current.
We sailed toward the south shore of Rich Passage and then tight around Pt Glover looking for current relief and back eddies. The wind got light near Pt Glover and "The Boss" and "Reign Maker" sailed up to us. "The Boss" sailed to the end of the back eddy, struck out for the Bainbridge Island shore and was swept east. "Reign Maker" stayed close to the shore and would not venture out into the flow until we sailed out towards Bainbridge.
We sailed closehauled toward the Bainbridge Island shore and were swept east until we were about halfway across when the current lightened and we started getting into favorable current along the shore. We short tacked along close to the beach. "Reign Maker" followed our example and the two boats gained on the rest of the fleet. At Pt White, the current relief disappears and you have to muscle your way through the 3 knot current for about 100 yards. Fortunately, by that time the current was under the bow, setting us to the left and away from shore. "Reign Maker" was still in our track and should have been able to overcome the current, but they chose to tack away and headed into the middle and got swept back into Rich Passage.
As we escaped the pass, we took a long tack to the East Bremerton shore. One other boat, "Dulcinea", followed our lead exactly and was the next boat to escape the pass. We short tacked up the shore and had good favorable current. Near Pt Herron, we were looking for a current lift from the current flowing out of Pt Washington Narrows. But the wind also increased to 12-15knots and lifted us 30degrees above the finish line. Unfortunately the lift did not continue and we had to make one short tack to cross the finish line.We gained on "Dulcinea" and the rest of the fleet to win first in class and overall.
This was a great race for the crew of "Great White". The wind blew the whole day, the sun came out and there was no rain. Thanks to the crew of Michel, Walter and Jim. I like the races through Rich Passage and around Blake Island. Current is such a big factor in these races and after racing in this area for 35 years, I have developed a set of "rules" that I follow for sailing in the current. They again worked for this race.
Results are here: http://www.wscyc.net/WSSA/2011/Race3Richpassage.pdf
Our track for the day. 
Steve N. took this picture of us from the bow of "The Boss". He says that the owner of "The Boss" likes bow shots. I would think he would like a picture of us from the stern better.
Good plan, well executed.
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