Foulweather Bluff Race

This weekend was the Foulweather Bluff Race sponsored by Edmonds Corinthian Yacht Club. It is a 26 mile race that starts  just north of Edmonds, rounds the bell buoy off Foulweather Bluff, rounds the bell buoy off Scatchet Head and back to the finish north of Edmonds. This year, the weather was forecast to be sunny, temps in the 70's and winds to 10 knots. The forecast was very accurate! Is this really October?

 

I delivered the boat to Edmonds early on Friday and got a choice moorage spot at the visitors dock. I explored uptown and spent time kibitzing with old acquaintances and met a few new ones. Interesting how the sailors from outside my normal sailing area around Bremerton are so friendly.

 

On Saturday, the weather was as predicted with light winds from the north.. We motored to the starting area and lined up for our start. We were assigned to a large class of 11 boats with a large handicap spread of 30 seconds/mile. We were the smallest boat in our class, most of the boats were 40 feet or larger and even though we owe some of them time, they are boat designs noted to be fast in light wind.

 

I had a great start, on time and just below three other boats. I footed off to get clear air. The wind was from the N-NE and if we sailed close hauled, our course would be above the first mark. A couple of boats went very high toward the south end of Whidbey Island and even though it looked good for a while, they soon stalled. So, like most of the boats, we footed off some to get into the more favorable current sooner. It was a good call as the wind filled in more from the NW and increased to about 8-10 knots. We also sailed into the north flowing ebb current that gave us a great boost. As can be seen from the track, we got a nice lift on port tack and with the current paralleled the Kitsap County shore.

 

Near Double Bluff, we tacked toward the Foulweather Buoy. This was mistake No.1, we should have tacked sooner. It soon became apparent that with the current, we would overstand the mark. We were not the only ones, a lot of the boats around us did the same thing. We started falling off early to avoid being swept beyond the buoy. Near the buoy, we sailed nearly dead downwind for a short time to avoid hitting the buoy. Some other boats did not have it so easy and even tried putting up spinnakers to gain distance.

 

We set the spinnaker and started reaching towards Whidbey Island. By now the wind had lightened to about 5 knots. We were now sailing straight into the current. Lots of boats starting congregating around the mark and we could not sail very fast away from it. One well sailed boat jibed in toward Skunk Bay and looked like they were doing well, so Mistake No. 2, we followed them. We soon realized that that was not working, so we joined the parade and reached across Admiralty Inlet.

 

Near Useless Bay, we found good winds and better current. As we sailed toward the Scatchet Head buoy, holes would develop and boats ahead would stall. The fleet would compress and the unlucky boats would find themselves passed. We avoided most of these holes and finally got around the mark just ahead of a bunch of other boats.

 

The remaining course was light reaching into the finish where we finished at about 1738.

 

The yacht club sponsored a post race party with pizza and drinks. Awards were presented. Smack talk by a couple of individuals became tiresome. We did not win anything as we placed 5th.

 

I headed home after the party and had a great night delivery home.

 

Thanks to my crew of: Tim, Kathleen, Walter, Rainer and "Doc". They kept focused and kept working the boat even when I was distracted.

 

NOTE: This blog was written as I remembered it and how I observed the conditions. Others have reported much different conditions and results. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. One smack talker at the post race party, along with trying to pick an argument with me, was indicating that I was "invisible" to him, but he would still use my blog for info. As juvenile as his comment and actions were, I would suggest that if people are not interested in what I say or do, than they should just not read what I write. 



 

 

This year, the race poster and shirts featured a picture of us and the Foulweather Bluff buoy from the 2009 race.

 

Moored in a prime spot at the Edmonds Marina on Friday. Before the night was over, the moorage was filled to overflowing.

 

Our track for the day. Note the great lift along the Kitsap County shore.