On March 3rd, the Port Townsend High School Sailing team competed in a season “kick off” regatta hosted by the Seattle Yacht Club. Sixteen races were sailed in shifty and gusty winds ranging from 5-18 knots. Port Townsend finished towards the back of the fleet in the first few races. Rather [...]]]>

On March 3^rd, the Port Townsend High School Sailing team competed in a season “kick off” regatta hosted by the Seattle Yacht Club. Sixteen races were sailed in shifty and gusty winds ranging from 5-18 knots. Port Townsend finished towards the back of the fleet in the first few races. Rather than allowing this to foretell their position in the regatta, team members chose to learn quickly and apply the lessons to the next race. Maintaining this philosophy of foreword thinking and constant learning, the team quickly positioned themselves towards the front of the fleet where consistency and calm nerves then paid off.

Only during the car ride home did sailors learn the combined score and results.

Cody Kowalski and Serena Vilage took home the gold winning 1^st overall in the “A” fleet. Eliza Dawson and McKenzie Ginther took home silver with a 2^nd overall in the same fleet. Darby Flanagan and Chloe Dawson took home silver winning 2^nd overall in the “B” fleet. Team members Shawn Huston, Miguel Salguero, Jack Pokorny, and Olivia Gibbons, eager to race against the toughest competition, opted to trade off racing in the varsity rather than junior varsity fleet. All sailed well, finishing every race in conditions where many boats capsized. Olivia Gibbons, skippering her first away regatta, impressed many with several top five finishes.

In High School fleet racing, scores from the “A” and “B” fleet boats determine the winning school. Combined “A” and “B” fleet finishes when added together, placed Port Townsend High a comfortable 14 points ahead of the nearest competition, out of a fleet of 17, winning the regatta with one team and take 6^th place with the other.

Coach Barnett said, “It was a very well sailed regatta. We all face challenging moments when it would have been easy to doubt ourselves and stop trying, fortunately everyone trusted in their abilities and focused on sailing.  It paid off. This win belongs to everyone on the PTHS team; including the few sailors who couldn’t join us this weekend.”

Practice for the team started mid February, and despite cold temperatures, high winds and downpours of rain, the team can be seen sailing three afternoons a week off the Boat Haven Marina. Support for the team comes from the Northwest Maritime Center, Port Townsend High School, Port Townsend Sailing Association and the much-appreciated volunteer coaches.

The race was held on Sunday, after gale warnings and lumpy seas prevented the usual Saturday start. Sunday was a glorious day to be racing on Port Townsend Bay, and the fleet of almost 20 [...]]]>

Leland Gibson's MORNING FLIGHT flying past Pt. Hudson on the way to the red buoy. Photo Ace Spragg

The race was held on Sunday, after gale warnings and lumpy seas prevented the usual Saturday start. Sunday was a glorious day to be racing on Port Townsend Bay, and the fleet of almost 20 boats looked fabulous!

Thanks to our sponsors: The Northwest Maritime Center and Cafe whose support for sailing on the Bay is always appreciated, Sunrise Coffee, PT Brewing Company, SEA Marine and The Port of Port Townsend. Thanks as always to Myron and Dave of the Port Townsend Sailing Association Race Committee for running the race.

More photos after the jump by Ace Spragg of the NWMC who was in the Martha J, and Elizabeth Becker who was on Union Wharf.

Results:

A Class (Racing)

1. Wizard                        Dan Gintner
2. Coco Solo                   John Carey
3. Thatuna                      John Lynes

B Class (Cruising)

1. Ramble                        Jon Kaplan
2. Step’n Annie              Satch Yarbrough
3. Suva                             Lloyd Baldwin

Some other notable awards:

Taku Award – for the best start: Thatuna
Peg Leg & Bronze Belaying Pin – for the first to finish: Wizard
Van Hope Award – for the youngest crew: Suva
Shanghai Award – for the most “pickup” crew: Sjovind

more photos after the jump Photos by Ace Spragg from the MARTHA J and Elizabeth Becker from Union Wharf

From Ballard Sailor’s report on the 2012 Duamish Head Race on Pressure Drop.

By 2pm the mid raters were crossing the finish line en masse, but amongst them was a little 26 foot boat sailed by one of those old Des Moines Sea Scouts – [...]]]>

NIMBUS formerly known as IMPULSE of the PTSA

From Ballard Sailor’s report on the 2012 Duamish Head Race on Pressure Drop.

By 2pm the mid raters were crossing the finish line en masse, but amongst them was a little 26 foot boat sailed by one of those old Des Moines Sea Scouts – Mark Harang on his new Evelyn 26 NIMBUS (formerly IMPULSE). Now Harang is no stranger to this race, having won the South Sound Series overall in the Thunderbird 26 Rev back in 2000. But in his first race on his new boat Mark, with Kathryn Burnette and Brad Baker as crew, pushed this little boat hard. Crossing the finish line just in front of a much faster rated J105 and almost 25 minutes in front of the next boat in the large class I, NIMBUS not only won its’ class but corrected over all 79 boats that made it out racing on the Duamish Head to take Overall corrected honors by over 6 minutes over the next boat! “Those Sea Scouts of the South Sound learned a thing or two back in the day,” smiles Stephanie Schwenk, “and old age and treachery have only made them more wily. So, the South Sound heroes are back again and on their very first race ever on the boat they took the overall. They squeaked out a start, from out of nowhere. If it was anyone else, I wouldn’t have believed it. Littlest and leeward boat of the fleet, blanketed by a crowd with an ebb that should push them over the line and into the pin, they jam it through and spin to port, hoist and take off… leaving the rest of us in the dust. Be on the lookout for the Evelyn 26 NIMBUS. Unassuming name, but looks like trouble!”

You can read the entire story here.

10 boats came out for Race 3 and all “finished” though Kolus’s finish could not be counted [...]]]> The Night Cap Series has gotten off to a rough start.  In Race 1 the winds diminished enough that no boats finished.  Race 2 was abandoned due to a Gale Warning and winds gusting to near 40.

10 boats came out for Race 3 and all “finished” though Kolus’s finish could not be counted as they finished in the wrong direction and did not re-cross the line in the right direction.  No Name and Second Wind did the same, but then crossed in the right direction.

The RC made a mistake in signing the tower for a port rounding which could have caused traffic problems, and then made an error in changing the rounding direction during the race.

The Wizard was the first boat to round the tower and seeing that they were taking it to starboard, Sirocco called the RC and asked if it wasn’t supposed to be a port rounding.  I was in error to tell Sirocco on VHF that they should follow The Wizard in rounding to starboard as that was a safer direction.  The correct response would have been “sail the course as posted.”  Because the race committee course board set the course to round mark T to port  (any letter without an underline means round to port), any boat rounding to starboard should have been DSQ. Due to my error, no boat will be disqualified for rounding in either direction.  We will try not to repeat this mistake and urge participants to pay close attention to the course board.

At this time, the race 3 results are also the overall results.

Night Cap Series – Race night cap 3

Night Cap Series

Race night cap 3

Information is provisional and subject to modification
Regatta results saved: Sunday, October 2,

2011 3:39:39 PM PDT

(Entries=15) Cruisers | PHRF | Thunderbirds | PTSA fleet

Division: Cruisers (5 boats) (top)

Notes

Division: PHRF (6 boats) (top)

Notes

Division: Thunderbirds (4 boats) (top)

Notes

Fleet: PTSA fleet (15 boats) (top)

Information is provisional and subject to modification

Version 5.6.03: Regatta scoring by JavaScore, an Open Source project available at

http://www.gromurph.org/javascore

Not everyone one was discouraged [...]]]> Sunday afternoon’s race was blown off the Bay with the first serious wind storm of the fall. At 11:15 Myron put out the racing canceled flag on the picnic table by the yard office in Boat Haven after first checking the ferry wind which was showing 28 to 30.

Not everyone one was discouraged by the breeze as Satch and crew put in a heavy reef, changed down to a #3 or #4 and made it out on the Bay. Piper and Dan were also seen enjoying the white caps and rollers. Our hats off to them out of respect. The southerly breeze died off by mid-afternoon and almost immediately did a 180, roaring back as an equally strong westerly. After the sunny, easy sailing of most of September, it had the feeling of the wind getting back to work and checking that it could still roar in both of it’s favorite directions.

Time to check your dock lines and maybe think about stowing the dodger.

The calm day seemed to be freshening from the NNE at starting time, esp. in Admiralty Inlet, so the (landlocked) RC set a hopeful course–Start–#2 buoy–tower–#2 buoy–finish.  Good start and hopeful progress.  Some good wind lines for those who [...]]]> The first race of the Night Cap Series attracted 7 boats, but alas, no finishers

The calm day seemed to be freshening from the NNE at starting time, esp. in Admiralty Inlet, so the (landlocked) RC set a hopeful course–Start–#2 buoy–tower–#2 buoy–finish.  Good start and hopeful progress.  Some good wind lines for those who could find them, but winds diminished as faster boats went back toward the Buoy before finishing.

Here are some pictures I took of the “Northern Century Race” Mike and I just did.  It’s a 100 mile race from Anacortes to Pt Roberts, then Hein Bank and back to Anacortes.  We tanked it and finally withdrew Saturday night after 23 hours, 18 miles to [...]]]> From Dan Newland …

Here are some pictures I took of the “Northern Century Race” Mike and I just did.  It’s a 100 mile race from Anacortes to Pt Roberts, then Hein Bank and back to Anacortes.  We tanked it and finally withdrew Saturday night after 23 hours, 18 miles to go and facing a building ebb against us with no wind.  We had already sat 4 hours slating in no wind and 3 knots of current going backwards and sideways between the southern part of San Juan Island and Victoria where the current sounded like a running river (this is no B.S., it really made a rushing sound!) and swirling out of control in eddies and whirlpools.  We had waves from the Straits 3 miles away where it was blowing 20-25 kts to make us more miserable. Another few hours without sleep having been awake for 40 hours didn’t sound very good so we bagged it.

It was the most challenging race I have ever done and there was so much local knowledge that we were like babes in a manger.  Not a clue!  But about half of all the racers dropped out. Thinking about it now with a little distance, I’ll probably do it again.  I was pissed not to finish but it was a beautiful sail Friday night.  Warm with beautiful skies and all around, surrounded by the San Juan Islands.  Gorgeous.

The race had trackers on each boat and here is the attachment to look at the tracks. On the “Yachts” tab at the top of the page click on “Show track” and it will come up for the selected yacht.  Very interesting!  In particular, look at Madrona vs. Emma, 2 boats that were 4 seconds apart at the finish with Madrona going through Cattle Pass.  A gutsy move to be sure! Where we apparently went wrong was going between Sinclair and Guemes Island since other than that, we were right along the same path as the winners like Icon and Emma.

So we didn’t finish, but we had a  SPECTACULAR night’s sail.  It was gorgeous and pretty well pegged the meter for stunning. Finally, Anacortes YC did a great job.

From Scuttlebutt

It was Monday (Aug. 15), and the Juan K designed Rambler 100 had but 265 miles remaining in the 608 mile Fastnet Race. They had just rounded the infamous Fastnet Rock, and needed to complete a short 7 [...]]]>

Rambler 100 turtled off Fastnet Rock when the keel failed. Photo from Phaedo

From Scuttlebutt

It was Monday (Aug. 15), and the Juan K designed Rambler 100 had but 265 miles remaining in the 608 mile Fastnet Race. They had just rounded the infamous Fastnet Rock, and needed to complete a short 7 mile beat before they could turn left and enjoy the hayride home. But then, at 5:45pm UK time, the unthinkable happened: the keel bulb broke off.

Here Rambler 100 navigator Peter Isler shares his story from onboard:

In 23 knots of wind, we were headed upwind after rounding Fastnet, and heard the big bang. The boat immediately flipped to 90 degrees, and within 30 seconds it turned turtle. Five people got separated from the boat. They luckily all had life jackets and were able to stay together. The remaining 16 crew were able to stay with the boat, three of which did the dry walk onto the overturned hull. Everyone had their own harrowing story to get up on the hull.
We then waited almost three hours, during which time we saw the Farr 100 Leopard go by maddeningly close and the Volvo 70s pass by at a little greater distance. Then a lifeboat came out, which was responding to one of the two personal EPIRBs that Mick Harvey and I had carried in our pockets. But they came maddeningly close but did not see us. After they did a search pattern for about 45 minutes they found us.

We then notified the rescue team of the five crew that were separated from the boat, which a second rescue boat then located. Everyone was extremely cold, which included owner George David and his partner Wendy Touton, who was hypothermic and was airlifted for treatment.

The remaining twenty of us were then taken to the incredible Baltimore Sailing Club where in very short order the club members had put together a dinner, a stack of dry clothes, and two nice big houses to accommodate us, and the most incredible small town welcome you could ever hope to get.

On determining the problem…

It was immediately apparent what happened. Despite being in the nav station, I could easily tell that the boat was on its side. It couldn’t be anything else but a keel issue. Luckily I had all my gear on, including my lifejacket. I immediately called mayday on the main ship’s radio, but I didn’t get a response, so I picked up the handheld and started calling. The sails and rig had helped to keep the hull on its side, but during this second call the boat turtled.

I am still in the nav station, with a big jump and a swim to go. Luckily, there was an air bubble in the cockpit, so when I exited the hatch I was able to get a final breath before my big swim out from under the boat. I knew I had to get really deep because the boat was going up and down in the waves, and I had to clear the lifelines. I swam for all I was worth, but once I was clear of the lifelines I had ran out of air.

All I had to do now was surface, but I was so weighted down with my gear that the life jacket was not pulling me up too fast. I finally saw two dark shapes, and reached for what turned out to be boots. As I did, a hand reached out and Andrew Taylor pulled me up and I grabbed one of the nicest breaths of air I have ever had.

On the boats that passed you…

Visibility was down to ¾ mile with intermittent rain showers. Leopard passed us at about a 400 meter distance, but they were in the process of reefing and I suspect had their hands full at the time. Nobody noticed we had a problem until the EPIRB signal was picked up. It was about 45 minutes after the EPIRBs were activated when, I believe they are called the Royal Life Saving Society, got the message that we needed help. This is a volunteer organization, and they were luckily out at Fastnet Rock taking pictures of the race. So they were relatively close to us, and the EPIRB brought them to our Lat/Long coordinates.

On the race tracking…

Competitors can track each other through the website tracking like is done by the home viewer. With a good internet connection, we can get an update every 30 minutes. The section of the race we were on was a short non-tactical beat before we turned for the finish, and given the conditions, tracking the fleet wasn’t something we were worrying about. I doubt our competitors were either. We were required to have our AIS on, but we rarely saw Leopard’s AIS signal, so they likely did not see ours either. We are not required, that I know of, to have our AIS antennae at the top of the mast, but that would be a really good idea. We can see cargo ships at a great distance because their antennas are positioned high, but the race boats all have their antennas low for weight, which makes them less effective.

On what saved your crew…

There were a bunch of fortunate things that led to the successful rescue of all 21 crew members. We all had our life jackets on, and those that could stay with the boat did, and those that couldn’t stayed with each other in the water. Being close to Fastnet Rock, the lifesaving boat was not far away. Since we had just rounded the rock and put a reef in, most of the crew was on deck rather than half of them in the bunks.

The crew was manned by some of the strongest and most experienced crew in the world. A lot of the crew had gone through the Volvo Ocean Race required safety training, which has gotten better and better. A whole bevy of decisions were made very quickly and very correctly.

On lessons learned…

Every time you go through something like this you learn things, but no amount of training can completely prepare you for it.

None of this was easy. It was hard to hold onto the boat; it was hard to even get near the boat. Waves were pushing the boat around, and waves were shooting from the boat. Getting out of the water and on the boat was hard. Luckily we had rope, and that both Mick and I had our EPIRBs. Without the EPIRBs, nobody would have known about us for who knows how long.

While everyone had their inflatable lifejackets on, we didn’t all have our crotch straps fastened which makes the lifejacket much more effective and comfortable in the water.

The way our liferafts were stowed, on deck and right at the transom, could not be accessed with the boat flipped. It would have taken a superhuman effort to release them, and then pull them under water to clear the lifelines and up to the surface. We thought about it… in the rafts was a full assortment of safety gear to help sustain us and assist in our rescue. But we decided that it couldn’t be done.

On being under boats…

I think a lot about the young girl (Olivia Constants) who died this summer in Annapolis after capsizing a Club 420. Being on a boat, turning turtle with a lifejacket on, and envisioning an escape. How hard can it be? Well, it’s hard. The chance of getting tangled within the lines, getting hit by the motion of the boat, are real. All of us on Rambler 100 are very thankful for surviving this incident.

photo by Tim Wright

photo by Carlo Borlenghi

We waited a long time for a weekend like this last one. Sunny, clear, warm, and absolutely perfect wind. Like they say, it doesn’t get any better than that.

There were 38 registrants for the Classic Mariners’ Regatta, as well as 7 for the rowing [...]]]>

MORNING FLIGHT at the 2011 Classic Mariners' Regatta

We waited a long time for a weekend like this last one. Sunny, clear, warm, and absolutely perfect wind. Like they say, it doesn’t get any better than that.

There were 38 registrants for the Classic Mariners’ Regatta, as well as 7 for the rowing race on Sunday. Two were from Canada and a number from out of town. The race results are as follow

Committee’s  Choice Award:  Lady Van (R-Boat from Canada)for sailing the perfect race, for coming down from Canada to do it, and for practicing all last week to ensure their victory.

Ruling Class (those boats built to a “rule”, the R-boats and IOD, and 6-meters)

1. Lady Van (R-boat)                                          Barry Van Leewen
2. Lulu (6-meter)                                                  Craig Downey
3. Pacemaker (6 meter)                                      Adam Henley

Racing Class A

1. Sirocco (Yankee one design)                       Steve Scharf
2. Martha (CrowninShield schooner)           Robert D’Arcy
3. Lotus (Concordia Yawl)                                Chris Grace

Thunderbirds

1. Dorado                                                                Hans Daubenberger and family
2. CocoSolo                                                             John Carey
3. Rowdy                                                                 Jerry Fry

Cruising Class B

1. Aura                                                                      Ward Fay
2. Vito Dumas                                                         Alex Spear
3. Cubana                                                                 Don Haviland

Schooner Class

1. Alcyone                                                                  Sugar Flanagan
2. Nylla                                                                      Brian McGinn
3. Grail                                                                       Jeff Smith Jr.

Class C

1. Sharon L                                                               Tupper Griffith
2. Lorraine                                                               Bob Denney
3. LaBoheme                                                             Jeff Kelety

Nine boats participated in the rowing race. On the short course,17 year old Cooper Parrish won in his Aleut kayak. On the long course, Steve Chapin’s  two- person Pocock shell came in first.

Full results after the break

Race CMR race 1

Information is provisional and subject to modification
Regatta results saved: Saturday, June 4, 2011 5:25:43 PM PDT

Division: Ruling Class

Start time 12:10:00

1          Lady Van       13:37:51
2          Lulu                 13:42:56
3          Pacemaker   13:43:35
4          Prophet         13:59:04

Division: Schooners

Start time 12:30:00

1          Alcyone          13:33:30
2          Nyla                13:40:51
3          Grail               13:50:42
4          Ceridwen       14:02:08

Division: Class C

Start time 12:35:00

1          Lorraine         13:47:07
2          Sharon L        13:51:01
3          La Boheme    14:09:06
Truant            DSQ (started with schooners)
Otter              DNF

Division: PHRF A (5 boats)

Notes

Division: PHRF B (9 boats)

Notes

Division: Thunderbirds (4 boats)

Notes

Race CMR race 2

Information is provisional and subject to modification
Regatta results saved: Saturday, June 4, 2011 5:25:43 PM PDT

Division: Ruling Class
Start time 14:55:00

1          Lady Van       15:41:15
2          Pacemaker   15:46:00
3          Lulu                 15:46:02
4          Prophet         15:49:17

Division: Schooners
Start time 15:10:00

1          Alcyone          15:45:23
2          Nyla                15:46:06
3          Grail               15:55:02
4          Ceridwen       16:00:15

Division: Class C
Start time 15:15:00

1          Sharon L        15:56:27
2          Lorraine         15:57:04
3          La Boheme    DNF
Truant            DNS
Otter              DNS

Division: PHRF A (5 boats)

Notes

Division: PHRF B (9 boats) (top)

Notes

Division: Thunderbirds (4 boats)

Notes

Race CMR race 3

Information is provisional and subject to modification
Regatta results saved: Sunday, June 5, 2011 3:41:21 PM PDT

Division: Ruling Class
Start time 12:05:00

1          Lady Van       13:31:29
2          Lulu                 13:38:36
3          Pacemaker   13:41:54
4          Prophet         13:48:48

Division: Schooner
Start time 12:25:00

1          Alcyone          14:36:37
2          Nyla                14:59:01
3          Grail               15:08:24
4          Ceridwen       DSQ (did not round last mark)

Division : Class C
Start time 12:30:00

1          Sharon L        15:30:28
2          Lorraine         15:32:40
3          La Boheme    DNS

Division: PHRF A (5 boats)

Notes

Division: PHRF B (9 boats) (top)

Notes

Division: Thunderbirds (4 boats)

Notes

Series Standing – 3 races scored

Information is provisional and subject to modification
Regatta results saved: Sunday, June 5, 2011 3:41:21 PM PDT

Division: Ruling Class
Prophet was registered in Ruling Class but chose to race with A class.  Class changes can only be made at the Skipper’s Meeting.  Prophet started 5 minutes after their assigned class, 5 minutes was deducted from their time for inclusion in Ruling Class.)

1          Lady Van       1          1          1
2          Lulu                 2          3          2
3          Pacemaker   3          2          3
4          Prophet         4          4          4

Division: Schooner

1      Alcyone    1      1      1
2      Nyla         2      2      2
3      Grail         3      3      3
4      Ceridwen 4      4      DSQ

Division: Class C

1          Sharon L        2          1          1
2          Lulu                 1          2          2
3          La Boheme    3          DNF     DNS

Division: PHRF A (5 boats)

Notes

Division: PHRF B (9 boats)

Notes

Division: Thunderbirds (4 boats)

Notes

Information is provisional and subject to modification

Principal Race Officer: Myron Gauger & Dave Burrows

Version 5.6.03: Regatta scoring by JavaScore, an Open Source project available at http://www.gromurph.org/javascore

2011 CMR Rowing Race Results

Short course (to Union wharf and back to NWMC dock=too short

Cooper Parrish in Velvet Eyes (aleut kayak) won

Chelcie Liu in Puff came in second (and had to do a 360 for not rounding the mark)

Long Course NWMC to orange salvage buoy and back) (only 30 min)

0:00     Steve Chapin and Sue in double

1:16     John Collins and co in triple

2:10     Oho x4

3:35     Riversiude x4

5:24     x8

5:48     Salish Star

6:28     Erica S- wherry