Blake Island Race, WSSA #6-It Does Not Get Much Better Than This!

Last Saturday was the Blake Island Race. It was the sixth race of the seven race WSSA(West Sound Sailing Association series. This race starts near Pt Herron, goes through through Rich Passage, around Blake Island(either direction), leaves Bainbridge Reef Buoy #4 to port and finishes off the Port Orchard marina. This race is sponsored by Bremerton Yacht Club and has a history of at least 40 years.

The weather forecast was really looking good. The temperature was predicted to climb into the upper 70's or low 80's and all the wind models indicated good winds in the low teens. One negative was that the current would be near slack at the start and would be ebbing against us when we sailed back into Rich Passage on the return.

At our 1045 start, the weather predictions were right on. It was sunny with warm temperatures and winds from the north at 10-12 knots. As we lined up for the start, I was a bit early and had to slow the boat. I was a bit slow at getting the boat up to speed, but we owned the pin end. A couple of boats snuck through below us. We sailed to weather of a string of port tack boats and tacked to port above them. We had clear air until one boat pinched up and went real slow. We had good speed, so we sailed under them and into clear air for the rest of the day.

As we beat up toward Rich Passage, we took a different approach than usual when the current is already ebbing strongly. We worked some toward the left side of the pass and then tacked to port when we could clear Pt Glover. When the current is ebbing fast, there is a boat trapping eddy at Pt Glover, but since the current was very light when we got there, the eddy did not exist, so we cut the corner and saved some distance to the next mark.

After Pt Glover we were able to reach up high enough to pass between Orchard Rocks and Bainbridge Island and then jib reached toward Blake Island. A small hole developed south of Beans Pt and we lost a little distance to the boats behind before we got into the good winds again. Fortunately, the boats behind also struggled in the hole.

As we neared Blake Island, we set the spinnaker and had a short run down the east side of Blake Island. At the southeast point we shifted back to the No.1 genoa when the wind came ahead and reached with favorable current along the south shore of Blake Island. After clearing the west end of the island, we were lifted up nicely to buoy No. 4. After rounding buoy No. 4, we had a decision to make. We often reach over to the south shore for current relief when the current is ebbing. But on this day, we entered the pass before the current was maximum. We elected to take the route back between Orchard Rocks and Bainbridge Island. After clearing the rocks, we jib reached to the now fully developed favorable back eddy at Pt Glover where we set the spinnaker. We headed across the current flow toward the Bainbridge Island shore where the wind got very light. A couple of boats caught up to us and tried the south shore and at first it looked like that might work for them. But the wind died for them too and they were soon drifting east. So, we stuck to the plan and stayed on the north shore. The wind died and then came ahead so we set the jib again and sailed slowly closehauled with favorable current. When we got into really shallow water, we had to tack away onto starboard tack and head away from shore. The current was still carrying us toward the outlet of the pass. The wind then filled in from the northwest and we got a huge lift and sailed away from the pass into the open waters of Port Orchard. The other boats were left in the still increasing ebb current with light winds.

With the strange wind direction, we jib reached until we neared the East Bremerton shore. We set the spinnaker, sailed in toward the Bremerton Marina, got a favorable current boost from Port Washington narrows, jibed and sailed direct to the finish at the Port Orchard marina where we finished first at approximately 14:10:30. It was a fast race!

Based on the times the other boats finished, it looked like one Division II boat escaped Rich Passage and finished close enough to us to save their time and win first overall. We could have second overall and first in class. This should move us ahead in points for the series and with one race left in the series, it puts us in a good position to possibly win the series. Results can be found here when they are posted: Blake Island Race Results

It was a fantastic day for a race and even the struggle through Rich Passage was a fun challenge. We had great boatspeed all day. Thanks to my crew of Jim, Walter and Ranier for all the great help at keeping the boat moving fast.

 Looking ahead as we sail along the East Bremerton shore towards the finish.

And looking back from the same place at Rich Passage with the rest of the fleet still stuck.