Recap of Thursday
‘Ohana Harbor Coffee Whidbey Island Race Week 2009
Day Four – Thursday, July 16
By Liza Tewell
Oak Harbor, WA, USA (July 16, 2009) -- The fourth day of the ‘Ohana Harbor Coffee Company Whidbey Island Race Week regatta saw the third day of actual racing. With a minimum of three races shot off each day so far for the 94 boats in 10 starts, this event, 27 years in the running, is an opportunity to immerse one’s self in sailing and hone racing skills. Sailing for multiple – uninterrupted – days is like going on a skiing vacation, where by the last day of the trip double diamonds aren’t nearly as daunting. In the same vein, four or five days in a row of sailboat racing make one a much better sailor than four or five Wednesdays in a row of beer can races. By day three of this year’s race week, it was apparent that the quality of racing had already improved.
On land in Oak Harbor, the temperature had reached 70 degrees by 10:30 Thursday morning, and the thermometer was climbing quickly. In Penn Cove the day had dawned sunny yet still. By start time the breeze had built to a comfortable 8 knots. Though to get to the race course it was safe to keep a bow watch out for the wayward red-and-white buoys bobbing in Penn Cove as dozens of crab pots posed a navigational challenge for those heading out the channel from the Oak Harbor Marina.
By noon, Corinthian Yacht Club-Seattle had set the courses for the fleet and Thursday’s races were on. It was not all guns and roses, however, for the men and women on board the boat from So Cal, as the Melges 32 with articulating pole, Nemesis, found a formidable foe in John Hoag’s Seattle-based 1D35, Shrek, as well as the rest of the “1Ds” in class P0. Going into Thursday’s races, Shrek had played the consistency card and rose like cream to the top of the reader board, even with just one first place in their quiver. That move works best, however, when there are no throw-outs involved. When throw-outs come into effect, those boats that tanked a race can simply pretend it never happened. Which is what Hoag will do with their first race of Thursday, which, to put it kindly, wasn’t their best. Regardless, Hoag was selected as Seattle Yacht Club’s Sailor of the Year for 2006 for a reason, and losing isn’t it. 2006 was the same year his Beneteau 40.7, Snake Eyes, was selected as Seattle Yacht Club Boat of the Year. The prior year, Shrek won the West Coast 1D35 Championship.
Shrek’s pit boss, Bob Combie has raced with Hoag on just about every boat Hoag’s ever campaigned, beginning with Hobie cats and including multiple Offshore Championships. At the 2001 U.S. Offshore Championship, Hoag and his crew posted a winning performance aboard Navy 44s in Chesapeake Bay.
Combie offers up no secrets about their gold medal tactics. “Sail fast and win. Or at least have fun. That’s our usual strategy,” says Combie, fresh from a morning bike ride around Penn Cove.
Thursday’s three races (four for the one-design classes), were not without drama. In the start sequence of class P0, the Cookson 12-Meter, White Cloud, messed it up with YC5, the big red race committee boat. White Cloud’s bow caught the anchor rode of the RC boat, struck the bow of the committee boat with a sickening thud, and yanked out a stanchion. White Cloud quickly withdrew to analyze her damage at the Coupeville dock, but was back on the start line – at the pin end – for race two.
Said the race committee, busy with firing off starts for the remaining nine classes, “At the moment, if we’re not sinking, we don’t care.” The rest of the fleet was busy returning to the starting area (around the ends because the “I” flag was on display) as they had democratically earned themselves a general recall.
Next, class P1 saw the first individual recall of the day when the J/80, Eye Eye, was called “on course side” at the start of the day’s first race. Both classes P2 and P3 were called “all clear,” though What? A Tripp! was the first of the day to unfurl their red protest flag in response to a double-dog-dare-ya during the prestart of class P3. Subsequent classes saw their fair share of recalls, as well, though the usually aggressive J/105s in class P4 were uncharacteristically hesitant to begin Thursday’s contests, finally crossing the line about 10 seconds after the horn sounded. Rod Buck’s Myst and Chris Johnson’s Wiggle Room were the two Melges 24's called over early, but that’s not always a bad thing, as it forces one’s hand – being the first to port tack and head toward the north beach in search of clear air and a clean lane sometimes pays off if the wind and currents are in one’s favor. Myst and Wiggle Room instead chose the wiser move by quickly tacking back to starboard to hitch a ride up the strong current flooding up the center of the cove.
By the time the next classes were setting up for their first race of the day, the J/125, Roxanne, was legging out on her nearest competitor in the big boat class and approaching their first spinnaker drop. It took only about 40 minutes for Roxanne to reel in the first two legs of the double windward-leeward course. Behind her were the two Melges, Ballistic and Nemesis, and John Leitzinger’s Kahuna, the first of the five 1D35s in class P0 (like his rival, John Hoag, Leitzinger has also won the U.S. Offshore Championship). Meanwhile, most of class P6 was charging across the start line. Bill Sheldon’s Humboldt 30, Opposition, and Ed Snyder’s triple-handed Laser SB3, Back Marker, exchanged some choice words before forcing each other to peel off the race committee boat and take another stab at crossing the start line properly. Hinting at the aggression that the rest of the day had in store, even the usually sedate starters in class P9 posted a premature start when the sail numbers of Gabe Murphy’s Thunderbird, Factotum, were called out over the VHS for all to hear. However, Bill Stange’s Columbia 26, Tuesday, which looks like the kind of boat Bill Murray would sail, pulled off a clean start in the middle of the line.
Like an elaborate nautical square dance, the final few classes in the fleet were beginning their first race while classes 2 through 6 were all rounding the Z mark – set just upwind of the start line – and the Flying Tigers were running down the north shore while the J/109s chose the south shore for their downwind attack. It wasn’t long before Roxanne showed up again, screaming all alone downwind in a sliver of a back eddy on the north beach. (A gutsy move as she’s been known to get a little too cozy with some of the beachfront waters off Oak Harbor.) It was definitely a day for horizon jobs as John Peterson’s J/105, Last Tango, was so far ahead of her sisterships in class P4 one would be hard pressed to guess they were even racing in the same class. After rounding the leeward mark for her second douse for the day, Roxanne was on her way to the finish. And finish she did – before the next boat in class had even made it to the leeward mark. Roxanne crossed the finish line a full leg ahead of her nearest competitor. It was a drubbing.
Continuing the day of big leads, Adam Korbin’s Canadian J/109, Astral Plane, who had a rocky start to the week but crawled back up the reader board by posting a 1-5-2 in class P2 on Wednesday, was also way ahead of the J/35s and other J/109s in her class. But if it was a day of big leads, the first race had some other surprises in store, as well. Rounding the leeward mark first in class P1, Tiger Lilly, Prowler and My Tai stomped on class leader Tigger, who was uncharacteristically helping to bring up the rear.
Race one on Thursday was just the first of what was to be a total of three each for the fleet, plus a fourth race for the one-design classes. By the time the first race was in Thursday’s pocket, crews were busy tallying the myriad mathematical possibilities that a throw-out now added to the equation. The thing about throw-outs is that they don’t favor consistency. It skews the outcome more if one gets to throw out a double-digit fiasco, than if one is required to toss out a 1 or a 2.
The day’s second race was not as blown up as the first, but it was no less exciting. The first weather mark rounding for class P1 was the tightest of the week. The entire class, which consists of seven Flying Tigers, one J/80 and a Henderson 30, hoisted their chutes within 10 seconds of each other. Within moments, the J/105s rounded en masse. Their collective hoists were equally as awe inspiring. Who says that sailboat racing isn’t a spectator sport?
For the final races of the day, a gybe mark was set for the asymmetrical boats off the Coupeville dock. A historic town, used as backdrop for movies thanks to its spectacular waterfront location and charming period buildings, Coupeville draws its share of the tourists who come to Whidbey Island. Those lucky enough to have paused near the ‘red barn’ at the end of the town’s dock, were treated to the sight of nearly 100 sailboats racing up and down Penn Cove. A well-placed gybe mark makes the railings on the Coupeville dock the “best seats in the house,” and brings the action on board the boats close enough for the crowds to hear the heated exchanges between rivals as well as see the intense action that, from a distance, only appears to be quiet and without effort.
The fleet had plenty of on-the-water support and encouragement, as well. A dozen photo boats zipped up and down the cove, documenting the competition. IFB, the event’s press boat, managed to cover much of the action while going about the same speed as free falling from an airplane. Some of the more colorful maneuvers captured forever on film included Avalanche’s unintended sideways spinnaker hoist, and Symbiosis’ port tack start in the third race, which was not at all a bad way to end the day before finishing out the night doing the limbo at the Navy-hosted tropical bbq to live music by Andy-O.
Speaking of symbiosis, a word about sponsors. The reality of the times is that sponsors are a necessity, and not an evil one. The support of those companies and organizations who understand the mutual benefit of such a relationship must be nurtured if the symbiosis of economics and adventure is to continue. So support your sponsors. Please.
p.s. Massages just a dollar a minute in the rum tent.
Day Four – Thursday, July 16
By Liza Tewell
Oak Harbor, WA, USA (July 16, 2009) -- The fourth day of the ‘Ohana Harbor Coffee Company Whidbey Island Race Week regatta saw the third day of actual racing. With a minimum of three races shot off each day so far for the 94 boats in 10 starts, this event, 27 years in the running, is an opportunity to immerse one’s self in sailing and hone racing skills. Sailing for multiple – uninterrupted – days is like going on a skiing vacation, where by the last day of the trip double diamonds aren’t nearly as daunting. In the same vein, four or five days in a row of sailboat racing make one a much better sailor than four or five Wednesdays in a row of beer can races. By day three of this year’s race week, it was apparent that the quality of racing had already improved.
On land in Oak Harbor, the temperature had reached 70 degrees by 10:30 Thursday morning, and the thermometer was climbing quickly. In Penn Cove the day had dawned sunny yet still. By start time the breeze had built to a comfortable 8 knots. Though to get to the race course it was safe to keep a bow watch out for the wayward red-and-white buoys bobbing in Penn Cove as dozens of crab pots posed a navigational challenge for those heading out the channel from the Oak Harbor Marina.
By noon, Corinthian Yacht Club-Seattle had set the courses for the fleet and Thursday’s races were on. It was not all guns and roses, however, for the men and women on board the boat from So Cal, as the Melges 32 with articulating pole, Nemesis, found a formidable foe in John Hoag’s Seattle-based 1D35, Shrek, as well as the rest of the “1Ds” in class P0. Going into Thursday’s races, Shrek had played the consistency card and rose like cream to the top of the reader board, even with just one first place in their quiver. That move works best, however, when there are no throw-outs involved. When throw-outs come into effect, those boats that tanked a race can simply pretend it never happened. Which is what Hoag will do with their first race of Thursday, which, to put it kindly, wasn’t their best. Regardless, Hoag was selected as Seattle Yacht Club’s Sailor of the Year for 2006 for a reason, and losing isn’t it. 2006 was the same year his Beneteau 40.7, Snake Eyes, was selected as Seattle Yacht Club Boat of the Year. The prior year, Shrek won the West Coast 1D35 Championship.
Shrek’s pit boss, Bob Combie has raced with Hoag on just about every boat Hoag’s ever campaigned, beginning with Hobie cats and including multiple Offshore Championships. At the 2001 U.S. Offshore Championship, Hoag and his crew posted a winning performance aboard Navy 44s in Chesapeake Bay.
Combie offers up no secrets about their gold medal tactics. “Sail fast and win. Or at least have fun. That’s our usual strategy,” says Combie, fresh from a morning bike ride around Penn Cove.
Thursday’s three races (four for the one-design classes), were not without drama. In the start sequence of class P0, the Cookson 12-Meter, White Cloud, messed it up with YC5, the big red race committee boat. White Cloud’s bow caught the anchor rode of the RC boat, struck the bow of the committee boat with a sickening thud, and yanked out a stanchion. White Cloud quickly withdrew to analyze her damage at the Coupeville dock, but was back on the start line – at the pin end – for race two.
Said the race committee, busy with firing off starts for the remaining nine classes, “At the moment, if we’re not sinking, we don’t care.” The rest of the fleet was busy returning to the starting area (around the ends because the “I” flag was on display) as they had democratically earned themselves a general recall.
Next, class P1 saw the first individual recall of the day when the J/80, Eye Eye, was called “on course side” at the start of the day’s first race. Both classes P2 and P3 were called “all clear,” though What? A Tripp! was the first of the day to unfurl their red protest flag in response to a double-dog-dare-ya during the prestart of class P3. Subsequent classes saw their fair share of recalls, as well, though the usually aggressive J/105s in class P4 were uncharacteristically hesitant to begin Thursday’s contests, finally crossing the line about 10 seconds after the horn sounded. Rod Buck’s Myst and Chris Johnson’s Wiggle Room were the two Melges 24's called over early, but that’s not always a bad thing, as it forces one’s hand – being the first to port tack and head toward the north beach in search of clear air and a clean lane sometimes pays off if the wind and currents are in one’s favor. Myst and Wiggle Room instead chose the wiser move by quickly tacking back to starboard to hitch a ride up the strong current flooding up the center of the cove.
By the time the next classes were setting up for their first race of the day, the J/125, Roxanne, was legging out on her nearest competitor in the big boat class and approaching their first spinnaker drop. It took only about 40 minutes for Roxanne to reel in the first two legs of the double windward-leeward course. Behind her were the two Melges, Ballistic and Nemesis, and John Leitzinger’s Kahuna, the first of the five 1D35s in class P0 (like his rival, John Hoag, Leitzinger has also won the U.S. Offshore Championship). Meanwhile, most of class P6 was charging across the start line. Bill Sheldon’s Humboldt 30, Opposition, and Ed Snyder’s triple-handed Laser SB3, Back Marker, exchanged some choice words before forcing each other to peel off the race committee boat and take another stab at crossing the start line properly. Hinting at the aggression that the rest of the day had in store, even the usually sedate starters in class P9 posted a premature start when the sail numbers of Gabe Murphy’s Thunderbird, Factotum, were called out over the VHS for all to hear. However, Bill Stange’s Columbia 26, Tuesday, which looks like the kind of boat Bill Murray would sail, pulled off a clean start in the middle of the line.
Like an elaborate nautical square dance, the final few classes in the fleet were beginning their first race while classes 2 through 6 were all rounding the Z mark – set just upwind of the start line – and the Flying Tigers were running down the north shore while the J/109s chose the south shore for their downwind attack. It wasn’t long before Roxanne showed up again, screaming all alone downwind in a sliver of a back eddy on the north beach. (A gutsy move as she’s been known to get a little too cozy with some of the beachfront waters off Oak Harbor.) It was definitely a day for horizon jobs as John Peterson’s J/105, Last Tango, was so far ahead of her sisterships in class P4 one would be hard pressed to guess they were even racing in the same class. After rounding the leeward mark for her second douse for the day, Roxanne was on her way to the finish. And finish she did – before the next boat in class had even made it to the leeward mark. Roxanne crossed the finish line a full leg ahead of her nearest competitor. It was a drubbing.
Continuing the day of big leads, Adam Korbin’s Canadian J/109, Astral Plane, who had a rocky start to the week but crawled back up the reader board by posting a 1-5-2 in class P2 on Wednesday, was also way ahead of the J/35s and other J/109s in her class. But if it was a day of big leads, the first race had some other surprises in store, as well. Rounding the leeward mark first in class P1, Tiger Lilly, Prowler and My Tai stomped on class leader Tigger, who was uncharacteristically helping to bring up the rear.
Race one on Thursday was just the first of what was to be a total of three each for the fleet, plus a fourth race for the one-design classes. By the time the first race was in Thursday’s pocket, crews were busy tallying the myriad mathematical possibilities that a throw-out now added to the equation. The thing about throw-outs is that they don’t favor consistency. It skews the outcome more if one gets to throw out a double-digit fiasco, than if one is required to toss out a 1 or a 2.
The day’s second race was not as blown up as the first, but it was no less exciting. The first weather mark rounding for class P1 was the tightest of the week. The entire class, which consists of seven Flying Tigers, one J/80 and a Henderson 30, hoisted their chutes within 10 seconds of each other. Within moments, the J/105s rounded en masse. Their collective hoists were equally as awe inspiring. Who says that sailboat racing isn’t a spectator sport?
For the final races of the day, a gybe mark was set for the asymmetrical boats off the Coupeville dock. A historic town, used as backdrop for movies thanks to its spectacular waterfront location and charming period buildings, Coupeville draws its share of the tourists who come to Whidbey Island. Those lucky enough to have paused near the ‘red barn’ at the end of the town’s dock, were treated to the sight of nearly 100 sailboats racing up and down Penn Cove. A well-placed gybe mark makes the railings on the Coupeville dock the “best seats in the house,” and brings the action on board the boats close enough for the crowds to hear the heated exchanges between rivals as well as see the intense action that, from a distance, only appears to be quiet and without effort.
The fleet had plenty of on-the-water support and encouragement, as well. A dozen photo boats zipped up and down the cove, documenting the competition. IFB, the event’s press boat, managed to cover much of the action while going about the same speed as free falling from an airplane. Some of the more colorful maneuvers captured forever on film included Avalanche’s unintended sideways spinnaker hoist, and Symbiosis’ port tack start in the third race, which was not at all a bad way to end the day before finishing out the night doing the limbo at the Navy-hosted tropical bbq to live music by Andy-O.
Speaking of symbiosis, a word about sponsors. The reality of the times is that sponsors are a necessity, and not an evil one. The support of those companies and organizations who understand the mutual benefit of such a relationship must be nurtured if the symbiosis of economics and adventure is to continue. So support your sponsors. Please.
p.s. Massages just a dollar a minute in the rum tent.
posted by WIRW Admin at
6:54 AM
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Arizona fans are betting on Kowloon as a sure winner! Go Kowloon
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