‘Ohana Harbor Coffee Whidbey Island Race Week 2009
Day Two – Tuesday, July 14
By Liza Tewell
Oak Harbor, WA, USA (July 14, 2009) -- For the 94 boats competing in the 9 classes of ‘Ohana Harbor Coffee Whidbey Island Race Week, the crew’s watches could be set by the noon-sharp start of Tuesday’s first race, one of three races completed successfully during the second of five race days scheduled for the 27th annual regatta. Making up for the event’s first day, which was sat out in non-wind, day two of the five-day regatta chalked up a total of 27 starts plus finishes, and more than 100 mark roundings.
Ranging in PHRF ratings from 6 to 244, the fleet kept PRO Charlie Rathkopf and his crew from Seattle’s Corinthian Yacht Club busy deciding which marks to assign to which class in order to give the nearly 100 boats enough room to maneuver within the waters of Penn Cove. The race committee’s fleet of five vessels ran three solid races between noon and 5:00 pm, testament to why the club was awarded the US Sailing One-Design Club Award in 2001 for its outstanding performance in support of sailboat racing.
New this year was a decision to increase communication between the race committee and the fleet, including calling countdowns for the start, and attempting to hail those boats “on course side” at the starts. The philosophy of this courtesy being that those seasoned enough to not need the reassurance could take it or leave it, but those newer to the sport would find the assistance a help to their learning curve. For the race committee itself, it is hoped that over-earlies would be reduced – a benefit to all involved.
Regardless, and thanks to the still-flooding current, premature starts were still seen in about half the starts earlier in the day. However, and thanks to the increase in communication, those that were over early were alerted to their infraction and restarted, rather than having to spend an entire race competing only to find at the end that it was all for naught. Nearer the end of the race day, as the tide turned and the currents rushed back out the cove, over-earlies became more rare, though of course there were a fair share of protests, and a collision or two, including one involving the head committee boat itself.
But with a refreshed Corinthian spirit, the fleet began Tuesday’s competition under clearing skies, a freshening breeze and mild temperatures looking to reach the low 70s. Still pushing the last of the lingering low out the door, the winds were a bit fluky for the day’s first race. Conventional wisdom says head to the northern beach and hop aboard the elevator. But go too far in too early on Tuesday and one would find themselves languishing in the calm waters of a still undecided breeze as the wind, unsettled and restless, coaxed the racers to the northern shore like Greek sirens.
One thing was apparent – banging the corners was a Penn Cove rule that still held true for Tuesday’s three races. When the waters rush up Saratoga Passage and find themselves pinched out as Skagit Bay constricts into an increasingly narrower outlet, the water doglegs into Penn Cove and flushes through the bay in a counter-clockwise rotation, creating what’s called “the toilet bowl.” When the tide turns and comes spilling back into Saratoga from the Skagit Bay northern spigot it again finds refuge in the nearest outlet: Penn Cove. So whether coming or going, the water rushes up the north shore and back down the south shore. But there are several shifty shoals, and if the wind shuts off, even the wind can’t save you.
A quick look at the regatta’s first day results shows how it all shook out, and how well boats, skippers and crew were able to negotiate the myriad challenges of the Penn Cove playground:
Making the short trip up Whidbey Island from his current home in the artist town of Langley, Soling world champion and Olympian medalist Jeff Madrigali joined the crew on Tuesday of the fleet’s scratch boat, the J/125 Roxanne. A solid performance wasn’t enough, however, to keep her ahead in the ratings game. Instead it was WIRW first-timers from San Diego who took top honors for the day. The Melges 32, Nemesis, goes into Wednesday’s racing top of the reader board ahead of the Melges 30, Ballistic. Essentially similar hulls with modifications, the Melges 30 and the Melges 32 fight like siblings. The top 1D35 in class, John Hoag’s 1D35, Shrek, rounds out the top trio. Bob King, tactician aboard Roxanne, explained some of the strategy behind how a J/125 is to compete against two Melges and a boat load of 1D35s. Without giving away too much, suffice it so say that King firmly believes in not only knowing your own strengths and weaknesses, but those of your rivals as well.
Designed by Robert Perry (who coincidentally lives on one of the islands in the local archipelago to which Whidbey Island belongs), the seven Flying Tigers in class P1 were pestered relentlessly by Eric Nelson’s Henderson 30, Gardyloo, though the top three boats for Tuesday in this level-rated class were all FT10Ms: Prowler, Dangerous When Striped and Firecracker. Gardyloo’s inadvertent lassoing of the leeward mark in the day’s second race – and consequent exonerating spin – was enough to put her out of pickle dish territory for the first real day of racing.
By about 2:00, as race 2 got underway in a breeze that had picked up but still not broken double digits, Adam Korbin’s J/109, Astral Plane, added her own unique handicap to the P2 class when she crossed the start line in the day’s second race three minutes late – under a wee #3 jib, putting her out of contention for the day’s top three places, which were earned instead by the J/109s Tantivy and Illusionist in first and third, sandwiching Wayne Berg’s stalwart J/35, The Boss, in second. Not windy enough to qualify as a “sailmaker’s stimulus package,” Tuesday still threw the sailmakers a bone or two as several entrants returned to the stalls after the day’s racing in need of repairs.
Several classes have their own traditional rivalries, the Furniture 40s in class P3 being one of them. Mac Madenwald’s Baltic 39, Pangaea took third for the day, throwing down the first gauntlet in the perpetual race for the “broken bone trophy” between him and colleague, Byron Skubi and Dr. Skubi’s Baltic 37, Skookumchuck. (In the day’s third race the two actually tied.) Another race week regular, Don Wills’ Shoot the Moon returned for her 27th year, and took second for the day. Don’s son, Andrew – age 27 – once sailing as a baby by Don’s feet, now sails by his side as co-captain. But it was the firefighters aboard the Peterson 37, What? A Tripp who took top honors for the day in class.
There’s something satisfying about seeing a stable of similar steeds charging the start, and the nine one-design J/105s in class P4 do just that. First place went to Mike Schiltz’s Money Shot, which sports a tiller rather than the famously oversized J/105 wheel. Rounding out Tuesday’s triumvirate were Erik Kristen’s Jubilee and Jerry Diercks’ Delirium.
Three bullets were to be expected by Seattle NOOD champion Don Kasele and his crew aboard the Melges 24 pTeron, fifth-place winners in last month’s Melges 24 U.S. National Championship held in San Francisco Bay. But the play of the day belonged solidly to Chris Johnson’s Wiggle Room, who port tacked the start in the last race of the day, rolling over the entire class, including pTeron. Says Wiggle Room crew Lynn Gleason, “We didn’t really plan it. Bruce (the driver for that race) saw a lane and bang! We went for it.”
The seductive lines of the two 6 Meters in class P6 do more than just look good. When the breeze picks up and the water’s flat, they glide around the course like a knife through warm butter. Jim Metteer’s stunning hand-built Fokus 3 stayed far enough ahead on time of Mike Mechaelis’ Rocket 22, South Lake Union Trolley, and Chris White’s J/80, Crazy Ivan, to stay in first place for the day.
Another classic rivalry is the friendly competition among class P7. Dubbed ‘Performance 30’ for their relative similar waterline length, the assortment of boats ranges from the scratch boat in class, Ken Chin’s Olson 911, Kowloon, to the two J/30s, Allen Roberts’ Jayhawk, and Grady Morgan’s Slingshot. Throw in a Laser 28 and a C&C 33 and you’ve got a spodie-odie of sailing styles. By week’s end the winners may have changed several times, but after three good races on Tuesday it was perennial favorite Kowloon followed closely by Lance Staughton’s S2 9.1, Symbiosis in second, and Doug Ullmer’s Laser 28, Imzadi in third.
The noisiest start of Tuesday also belongs to the regatta’s biggest class. With 14 boats jostling for one of three daily spots, class P8 is bound to mix it up all over the course. Throw in a bunch of Moore 24 sailors and you’ve got a recipe for raucous racing. Conspicuously absent from the front of the fleet at the beginning of the day’s contests, Ben Braden and his Team MUD Moore 24 exhibited a more expected performance in the day’s second and third races. It wasn’t enough to earn them a top spot for the day, however, but perhaps Team MUD was simply getting their throw-out out of the way early. Beating the Hotfoot 27, Blackfoot, in a tie breaker for second place, Moore 24 racer Stephanie Schwenk and her all-women crew on her new Santa Cruz 27, Wild Rumpus (p.s. the movie comes out in October), gave the first place boat, Egress, the other Hotfoot 27 in class P8 a run for their money. Steve Trunkey’s Egress is being campaigned by yet another Moore 24 sailor, Schwenk’s husband, Andy...
Consistently crossing the finish line first in class P9 is the second “slowest” boat in the fleet, Bill Stange’s classic Columbia 26, Tuesday. Local Oak Harbor boats Lucky Jim, Jim McAlpine’s J/24, and Shannon Buys’ San Juan 24, Magic Juan, took second and third.
By 6:00 pm on Tuesday, as the fleet began their half-hour mosey back to the protection of the Oak Harbor Marina, the earthy smell of cattle was carried down on the back of warm thermals to the water below Blower’s Bluff, promising more wind and sunshine in the days ahead.
Protests in some classes were pending as of Tuesday night, to be settled soon after dawn on Wednesday. None, however, affected the top three spots in any of the day’s classes. But with three solid days of racing still in the forecast, any ding to one’s results could be damaging. For those so affected, chances are they are hoping for at least 7 races for the week to toss that scarlet letter as a throw-out.
