Awards
The Directional Helmet goes to Tiny Dancer. Music, laughter, a trumpet, and a trailing rum bottle seemed to take precedence over sailing “a proper course”. Flying the flag of Camaroon, they took third to last place overall by a nose over Tarani.
The Golden Trident for the saltiest boat or crew goes to Opus. This black hulled, gaff rigged beauty with tanbark sails stood out as the essence of salty.
The Hook is given to Nais, a black hulled folk boat. Indeed, if they’d had it for this race the may have been able hook on to Tiny Dancer or Tarani to fight it out at the end, but alas they were far enough behind that the race committee finished them at the last turning mark. Well done Nais for sticking it out and winning the prestigious Hook award.
Wack-o-Matic for the best use of misspend energy goes to Surge. Registered for the racing class they started with cruising class B and would have finished somewhere down in the standings in that class, but the race committee decided to just call it a late start and gave them 4th in the racing class. They were also spotted mis-spending energy avoiding other boats in questionable rounding of the windward mark on the first lap.
The Wire Cruising boat trophy goes to the first boat in the cruising class, and that was Amelie. Due to a lapse in memory the presenter forgot to give it out at the awards party! Sorry Amelie, your victory in the cruising class was well deserved, congratulations.
The Peg Leg is given to the first place boat, and that was Sir Isaac. Skipper John Bailey, however, said that the victory would not have been possible without the help of the able crew of Pacific Swift (the big schooner from Victoria, currently on the hard in PT). So the peg leg goes to those five souls with the hope that they will be back next year and one of them will wear the peg leg. Sir Isaac will also get its name engraved on the Perpetual Trophy (again).
The Van Hope Community Spirt Award goes to Salish Rescue (salishrescue.org). This organization is dedicated to helping improve on-the-water safety in the Puget Sound region. Since 2004, Salish Rescue has offered hands-on, on-the-water search and rescue skills training for both youth and adults. They provided a speedy orange RIB (named Red Duck), with skipper Tess at the helm, to help with the race and to keep an eye out for any boats that might need help. Community spirit indeed.
A last minute addition to the awards lineup the was The Wet Butt Award. It was given out in the past, but had been forgotten over time. It was resurrected for this race and awarded to the two PT11’s: Li’l B, and Creirwy. This might also be called the “Bail for your life” award as the crews of these two eleven foot dinghies were seen doing in challenging conditions. You can also be assured that their butts were wet.
”Race
Results
| Racing – Class A | Place | Thunderbirds | Place | Cruising – Class B | Place | Cruising – Class C | Place |
| Sir Isaac | 1 | Owl | 1 | Amelie | 1 | Murrelet | 1 |
| Dooflicker | 2 | Dorado | 2 | Windmist II | 2 | Opus | 2 |
| Pacifica | 3 | Blew Bird | 3 | Windsong | 3 | Sadie | 3 |
| Surge | 4 | Mabuhay | 4 | No Name | 4 | Li’l B | 4 |
| Falcon | 5 | Jubilee | 5 | Fiddlehead | 5 | ||
| Merlin | 6 | Amsala | 6 | Sampguita | 6 | ||
| Confluence | 7 | Tiny Dancer | 7 | ||||
| Curious | 8 | Nais | 8 | ||||
| Erin | 9 | ||||||
| Gypsy Women | 10 | ||||||
| Pneuma | 11 | ||||||
| Apogee | 12 | ||||||
| Flapdoodle | 13 | ||||||
| Tarani | 14 | ||||||
| Cito | TBD |
Thirty-one years ago a bunch of shipwrights started this race. It was winter, but they were used to working outside, so why not? Today we continue the tradition with what has become one of the most popular and fun events of the sailing year.
You can sign up by clicking on the button below (no entry fee). Then please read the sailing instructions – they specify the start time, starting sequence, class breakdown, rules, etc. We will have an awards party after the race at the NW Maritime Center with pizza and beer. Even if the race is cancelled again due to weather the party will go on! Come one, come all- let’s start the 2022 sailing season with gusto.
Questions? Email info@ptsail.org.
Sponsors
A BIG thank you to our sponsors! To the Port of Port Townsend and Sea Marine for free haul outs (to two lucky winners). To Admiral Ship Supply, Haven Boatworks, The Shipwright’s Co-op, and Port Townsend Rigging for covering expenses. To West Marine for door prizes. To the Northwest Maritime Center for helping to organize the event and for the space to hold the awards party. And to Salish Rescue for providing a safety boat.
Current Entries
- Kuma San 1248 / Thunderbird class
- Houat / Cruising class
- Mabuhay. 944 / Thunderbird class
- Andiamo Again, 39954 / Cruising class
- Pneuma / Cruising class
- Amsala / Cruising class
- Tarani (no sail number) / Cruising class
- Gypsy Woman 007 / Cruising class
- Lil’B 11 / Cruising class
- Falcon 1177 / Thunderbird class
- Varya / 14 / Racing class
- Owl 642 / Thunderbird class
- Curious 10999 / Cruising class
- Sampaguita F20 / Cruising class
- No Name, no sail number / Cruising class
- Fiddlehead / Cruising class
- SNS (no sail number) / Cruising class
- Sir Isaac 18944 / Racing class
- Apogee / Cruising class
- Murrelet / Cruising class
- Creirwy – not painted on hull / Cruising class
- Pacifica. 7010 / Racing class
- Windsong W348 / Racing class
- Gypsy Woman 007 / Cruising class
- Flapdoodle / Cruising class
- Merlin #1069 / Thunderbird class
- Windmist II – no sail number / Cruising class
- Jubilee 157 / Cruising class
- Confluence 9455 / Cruising class
- Peter Leach / Cruising class
- Blewbird #1144 / Thunderbird class
- Erin / Cruising class
- Nais (no sail number) / Cruising class
- Surge 47879 / Racing class
- Cito. D-8 / Cruising class
- Dooflicker 8868 / Racing class
- Dorado 242 / Thunderbird class
- Dorado 242 / Thunderbird class
”History
–Tracing Footsteps, Jefferson County, Washington, Pam McCollum Clise
Awards Ceremony for the first race was at the the Landfall restaurant [at Point Hudson, now torn down], everybody was poor. A guy named Doug made and sold “scow chow” (not so good). The ceremony was later moved to the Public House and to Sirens. A glass of wine was often given for the biggest whiner award.
Early Races: Jim Peacock would always start the race with a cannon. There was a committee boat. Sometimes on Emiline. A shipwright would set the course, it didn’t matter which way the wind was blowing. There were no classes in the beginning. Except Russell brown had to go around twice in his cat and he finished ahead of most and he got a bottle of rum.
Shipwright’s Regatta by Diana Talley
When I came to town, I could count on one hand the number of shipwrights that did not own a sailboat. The backbone of our fleet, almost all, old wooden wonders, owned, used and loved by our community of shipwrights. Our boats were our teachers, our inspiration, our connection to a broader world. Family members.
Shipwrights: those who build or repair vessels of all sizes, often working 7 days a week, year round in all weather; bless them.
There was a kind of brain trust group who noticed our tendency to work first and neglect life. A plan was hatched. The Shipwrights Regatta. Put down the tools, cast off the lines and remind yourself why you love boats, on the bay and mid-winter, with your competitors, your community.
Doug, a shipwright, whose business was called Doug’s Shim Shop and one of my neighbor boys on the dock and part of the brain trust, came to me. “We’re all going sailing on Sunday and I want you to come with us.” “I can’t go sailing. I have to work on my boat.” “No Diana, you’re coming with us! You absolutely have to take this day off for sailing!”
Typically and not happy, I fought it all the way to jumping on the boat and motoring out the harbor. And then of course, life, wind, water, sailing… one of my all time best days. Ahhhh. Life, indeed.
Our first awards ceremony was impromptu and proprietary at Rob’s Landfall restaurant. We huddled around the wood stove. Less than a shoestring, we shared a 4 or 5 pack of beer amongst the fleet. Doug cooked up a huge pot of Scow Chow (a tasteless, healthy mix of beans, seeds and cardboard) which we were grateful to inhale. We recognized and celebrated our shipwright community.
The regatta grew from there. No particular rules of racing, no starts, horns, classes. A course would be set, a different sailing master each year. Every year a different skippers meeting and awards ceremony venue. Jim Peacock would sail out a ways, light the fuse, put his fingers in his ears and the cannon would signal the start of the “race”. The awards ceremony lasted longer than the race and almost everyone won a prize.
FUN! Community! Life!
I was “forced” (kicking and screaming) to participate in last weekend’s regatta (2021). My sweet friend, Scott Walker, insisted I join him on our bay, in a boat I’ve worked on for years but never sailed. SUBLIME!
Do you have more stories? Send them to info@ptsail.org and we will include them here.
“]
“In the winter of 1991-2, Pete Johnson, a local shipwright at the time, talked with Scott Swantner about having a local race for the boat builders in February, one of the coldest months of the year. The idea gained momentum and Swantner, Johnson, Dr. David Lewis, Libby Keefer and a handful of others organized the first Shipwrights Regatta. In the beginning, you had to either be a shipwright or sail with one. There were a dozen or so boats that participated made of Ferro cement, wood, fiberglass, steel, in all sizes. That first year, they just got together, planned the time and place, and when the race was finished had a small party at the Landfall Restaurant, with all the chili and scow chow they could eat and a couple of six packs of beer. Awards were a collection of informal and humorous items. Perpetuated awards for the event are now donations, pieces of art, and oddities still providing a lot of fun for the race participants each year. Among the awards are the Taku Award [now missing], a wooden box with the Kodak timer inside and a Plexiglass cover given to the first boat over the starting line. The Hook Award is made from the handle of a bilge pump and given to the last boat to finish to indicate that they should have hooked the boat ahead of them. The Directional Helmet Award goes to the boat that has headed in the wrong direction, gone the wrong way around a mark, missed the mark or other blunders. There is a fanciful list of other awards given out each year, most locally made with a sense of humor.”
–Tracing Footsteps, Jefferson County, Washington, Pam McCollum Clise
Awards Ceremony for the first race was at the the Landfall restaurant [at Point Hudson, now torn down], everybody was poor. A guy named Doug made and sold “scow chow” (not so good). The ceremony was later moved to the Public House and to Sirens. A glass of wine was often given for the biggest whiner award.
Early Races: Jim Peacock would always start the race with a cannon. There was a committee boat. Sometimes on Emiline. A shipwright would set the course, it didn’t matter which way the wind was blowing. There were no classes in the beginning. Except Russell brown had to go around twice in his cat and he finished ahead of most and he got a bottle of rum.
Shipwright’s Regatta by Diana Talley
When I came to town, I could count on one hand the number of shipwrights that did not own a sailboat. The backbone of our fleet, almost all, old wooden wonders, owned, used and loved by our community of shipwrights. Our boats were our teachers, our inspiration, our connection to a broader world. Family members.
Shipwrights: those who build or repair vessels of all sizes, often working 7 days a week, year round in all weather; bless them.
There was a kind of brain trust group who noticed our tendency to work first and neglect life. A plan was hatched. The Shipwrights Regatta. Put down the tools, cast off the lines and remind yourself why you love boats, on the bay and mid-winter, with your competitors, your community.
Doug, a shipwright, whose business was called Doug’s Shim Shop and one of my neighbor boys on the dock and part of the brain trust, came to me. “We’re all going sailing on Sunday and I want you to come with us.” “I can’t go sailing. I have to work on my boat.” “No Diana, you’re coming with us! You absolutely have to take this day off for sailing!”
Typically and not happy, I fought it all the way to jumping on the boat and motoring out the harbor. And then of course, life, wind, water, sailing… one of my all time best days. Ahhhh. Life, indeed.
Our first awards ceremony was impromptu and proprietary at Rob’s Landfall restaurant. We huddled around the wood stove. Less than a shoestring, we shared a 4 or 5 pack of beer amongst the fleet. Doug cooked up a huge pot of Scow Chow (a tasteless, healthy mix of beans, seeds and cardboard) which we were grateful to inhale. We recognized and celebrated our shipwright community.
The regatta grew from there. No particular rules of racing, no starts, horns, classes. A course would be set, a different sailing master each year. Every year a different skippers meeting and awards ceremony venue. Jim Peacock would sail out a ways, light the fuse, put his fingers in his ears and the cannon would signal the start of the “race”. The awards ceremony lasted longer than the race and almost everyone won a prize.
FUN! Community! Life!
I was “forced” (kicking and screaming) to participate in last weekend’s regatta (2021). My sweet friend, Scott Walker, insisted I join him on our bay, in a boat I’ve worked on for years but never sailed. SUBLIME!
Do you have more stories? Send them to info@ptsail.org and we will include them here.