Round Whidbey Race

Apr 5, 2009
2,774
Catalina '88 C30 tr/bs Oak Harbor, WA
John,
This looks like a challenging race.....I think I'd like to do it next year. Glad to see on the results on the club page you finished. Congrats! Put up a post in advance of the race for next year (I'm assuming it's open to non club members). Maybe other SBO folks in the PNW area will join in.
It is open to all comer's. We even had a cruiser that had not raced before and had no PHRF who just happened to tie up at Cornett Bay on Friday night join us. We invited him to dinner and after some good food and beverage, he designed to join in the fun and take the long way to Oak Harbor instead of the short route. It is a great race with lots of challenges. It is more about the decisions made than the sailing ability.
 
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Likes: nightowle
Oct 22, 2014
20,995
CAL 35 Cruiser #21 moored EVERETT WA
We had a great time. I’m heading home. Another 140 miles to go.


The anchor idea was on our mind, a lot. Jackdaw was right on. Water depths were 390 to 490 plus feet. That’s within 100 yards of the shore. Try as we might we could not get shallow enough to drop the hook and the 300 feet of road.

I’ll put a wrap up tomorrow. Thanks guys.
 
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Likes: Hayden Watson
Nov 8, 2010
11,386
Beneteau First 36.7 & 260 Minneapolis MN & Bayfield WI
And on this race, the tides run up to 4+ knots. Most of us that do this race on a regular basis count any finish as a victory. given that I am one of the highest PHRF's in the fleet, I count that as double. Last year I was 3rd in the Whidbey Sprint, which is the half-way race. I 2008 and 2013 I was end in class in the Round Whidbey. Not bad for a cruiser.
When people ask me what a 'race boat' is, I tell them its a boat that sails close to its rating in the widest range of wind speeds/directions, sailing angle, course, and seastate.

For a ton of reasons, 'cruiser' boats don't do that nearly as well. You get a slight bump in your overall number for that general limitation, but on average not enough to balance out longer term. That's how handicaps work. But once in a while, it pays off... typically on a beam reach course in say 12 knots, cruisers will move to near the top of the pack, as they will sail better that their rating.
 
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Likes: jon hansen
Apr 5, 2009
2,774
Catalina '88 C30 tr/bs Oak Harbor, WA
When people ask me what a 'race boat' is, I tell them its a boat that sails close to its rating in the widest range of wind speeds/directions, sailing angle, course, and seastate.

For a ton of reasons, 'cruiser' boats don't do that nearly as well. You get a slight bump in your overall number for that general limitation, but on average not enough to balance out longer term. That's how handicaps work. But once in a while, it pays off... typically on a beam reach course in say 12 knots, cruisers will move to near the top of the pack, as they will sail better that their rating.
And sometimes a "cruiser" is just sailed by someone who has the heavy old slow boat setup well to perform to its max and can sail it well enough to sail at or above their rating. Given that I have 3 trophies in the RWR in the out of the 10 times I have raced and a wall full series trophies for JAM and flying speaks well for my 30 year old cruiser with full dodger, 35lb anchor on the bow and full interior. We were able to stay with or ahead of a Valiant 42 / PHRF 144 and a Bene 30 / PHRF 171 on a 20 mile-long beat in 15+ knots of wind with our 201 rating. And this "race boat" is really comfortable for those weeks long cruises in all weather covering many hundreds of miles. I call that a win/win.
Does that mean that I don't enjoy occasionally crewing for a friend on his J90 with its 50 rating. NO WAY!. It is a blast, I just wouldn't want to own it.
You do not need to have a dedicated go-fast boat to have fun and compete in racing.
 
Nov 8, 2010
11,386
Beneteau First 36.7 & 260 Minneapolis MN & Bayfield WI
And sometimes a "cruiser" is just sailed by someone who has the heavy old slow boat setup well to perform to its max and can sail it well enough to sail at or above their rating. Given that I have 3 trophies in the RWR in the out of the 10 times I have raced and a wall full series trophies for JAM and flying speaks well for my 30 year old cruiser with full dodger, 35lb anchor on the bow and full interior. We were able to stay with or ahead of a Valiant 42 / PHRF 144 and a Bene 30 / PHRF 171 on a 20 mile-long beat in 15+ knots of wind with our 201 rating. And this "race boat" is really comfortable for those weeks long cruises in all weather covering many hundreds of miles. I call that a win/win.
Does that mean that I don't enjoy occasionally crewing for a friend on his J90 with its 50 rating. NO WAY!. It is a blast, I just wouldn't want to own it.
You do not need to have a dedicated go-fast boat to have fun and compete in racing.
While some boats (yours probably!) will exceed their rating on a reach, if you are keeping up with faster (lower PHRF) boats on a beat then you are sailing to your rating, and they are not. Good job! PHRF ratings are based on a boat windward performance.

Here is what this can look like from the other side: The First 36.7 is 35 feet long, and rates PHRF 72. We often race vs a cruisy Tartan 40-ish with a cruisy-crew that rates slower, and upwind we crush him. But on a beam jib reach in 14 knots, they walk away, and nothing we can do. PHRF racing.

You do not need to have a dedicated go-fast boat to have fun and compete in racing.
Absolutely correct!!
 
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Likes: jon hansen
Oct 22, 2014
20,995
CAL 35 Cruiser #21 moored EVERETT WA
Round Whidbey... A race.

Darn Spell checker.. added an "M" where it should not be. Perhaps it is the reason we were thrown into the vortex and punished with multiple pointless circles around a non-point.

I was not about to lean over the side and check the spelling. We had only just met and in racing sometimes crew is viewed as ballast that at times should be jettisoned...

While the on course sailing is competitive the pre race meeting, raft up and dock time waiting for the Deception Passage timing/start time is convivial.

Crews arrive on Friday afternoon at the state park docks of Cornet Bay on the eastside of Deception pass. It is a "Who's coming around the bend now?" experience as the 11 boats arrived looking for dock space, competing with the fishing boats and cruisers transiting the area. Once all were rafted or tied to the dock and the greetings were exchanged, we headed ashore to share a BBQ Pork picnic provided by the Oak Harbor Yacht Club (race sponsor). There was the usual banter about prior races, recent retirements, new boats purchased and what's that on your spreader.

The entrants this year were an eclectic mix with speed in a J120, home built "Vertigo", a Bob Perry designed Valiant 42 who's motor had died and needed US BOAT Tow, Hayden Watson's Sleek but comfortable Catalina 30, and a couple of boats that carried a bicycles/kayaks/other windage additions that looked more ready for local cruising than racing. This is an all who show up inviting event. Requirements are proper safety equipment, the understanding that we are all out there together, and cautionary notice 'don't get caught in the Vessel Traffic lanes when the cruise ships or shipping freighters are transiting the sound. They will be doing 20 knots and will not be able to stop if you try to play chicken in their 'highway'.

After the usual jockeying for space on the line, the horn blew. We started about 10 seconds behind the fist boats, in clear air. Right off the bat the boats started to spread out with each captain choosing his route to the first mark. Some went West out into the Juan DFuca hoping to catch the main breeze and the currents around Smith Island. A strategy that pits more miles for the potential of grater speed. Some just went straight down the middle and a couple chose to stay closer to the Whidbey on the rhumb line from the start to Partridge Pt Green Buoy, a distance of 14 nm.

We rounded the first mark pleased with our route. We were within 2 miles of the half the fleet. We had good current, we had a breeze that was moving us along at about 4-5 knots and we were even with our competitors who had chosen to cross Admiralty Inlet and sail on the southern shore about 4 miles from our route.

It was sunny, we broke out the cookies delicious Ginger snaps and Chocolate chips, and jumped from one breeze ripple to the next moving with the tide towards our next mark Possession Point and the Sprint Line that identifies the first half of the race. It is a line 122.026.00 Longitude just west of Possession Point. All boats record their time crossing the line.

All was going well aboard Papillon until we crossed the rip near the Marrowstone Light. We could see another boat about a mile further down the Sound in what looked like calm water. So we tried to edge ourselves further away from the island thinking the tidal current and the little breeze puffs that came and disappeared would keep us moving south. But our luck ran out. The boat ahead passed slowly behind us caught in one of the many gyre that occur on the Sound.

No sooner had we passed him and smiled at our competitive accomplishment, the gyre's tentacles reached out and grabbed our butterfly. We found ourselves facing south east but heading north west along the Marrowstone island shore. Instead of moving closer to Seattle we were moving toward Japan. Nothing to do but sit and hope we could get spun out or a breeze might blow and let us sail forward... What is that saying about a butterfly flapping its wings? Well it was evident that we were going to be here for a bit, so time for a nap. I could hear the crew on deck trying all sorts of stuff. Raising the spinnaker, dropping the spinnaker, wing on wing with a whisker pole..... I awoke about 2 hours later. We had just come out of the gyre. We were sitting in the middle of the south bound lane of the VTS about 1/2 mile south of our previous location, and the crew had observed a NEMO mylar ballon that had floated out of the clear blue sky and landed not 25 yards from the boat. They were seeing if they could get the boat close enough to reach out with the boat hook and snag it. Sitting for 2 hours going in circles can have a strange effect on a boat crew. When I asked what was going on.... Our Captain stated 'Nemo is on our proper course and added an extra incentive to break free of the gyre.'

Nemo is still searching for Dori, for as I got back into the cockpit a puff of breeze appeared and we started to move. About only a 1.5 knots, but we were moving again in the correct direction and with a purpose.

We lunched, watched out for VTS traffic and jumped from puff to puff on our 30 mile crawl towards Possession Point.
 
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