Dan's Blog: Triple Sound Sailing Championship 9-11-2011

Today was the Triple Sound Sailing Championship(TSSC) in Seattle. This the final race of a three race shorthanded racing series. The first two races were the Race To The Straits(first weekend in May) and the Down The Sound Race(first race in August). The TSSC differs from the other two races in that it is a 13.89NM buoy race instead of a two day pursuit race like the other two were. All three of the races are sponsored by Sloop Tavern Yacht Club.

This race starts at Shilshole Marina, heads north to a club buoy at Spring Beach, south to the West Point nnavigation buoy, north again to the Meadow Point navigation buoy, south again to a mooring buoy south of Shilshole and return to the start/finish line.

The wind was great at about 12 knots. I made a great start in front of the rest of the boats in my class. The beat was fast. Unfortunately, the local boats knew these waters better and tacked early for the first mark. I overstood the mark some. The rounding of the mark was crowded. I headed south and set the spinnaker. It was not a great effort.

The run was pretty uneventful until I got to the leeward mark. By now, the current was flooding and I waited too long before taking the spinnaker down and was swept past the mark. At least I was not the only one!

For the next beat, I worked along the Shilshole breakwater to avoid the current. I rounded the Meadow Point buoy and tried to set the spinnaker again. This time it was twisted and took some effort to get squared away. But as I neared the next leeward mark, I performed a smooth takedown and did not get swept past the mark. It was a short beat to the finish.

I probably placed in the middle of my 7 boat class today, but with a good showing in the previous two races, I should have won the singlehanded division.