(Seattle, WA)- The Vashon Island Race is full of legends and incredibly amusing stories, some good, some
not so good. For example, one year some
sailors got banned from the clubhouse, another year the entire fleet sailed the wrong
way around the island and then there was a time you couldn’t see your competitors
through the snow (nor could the race committee!).Winter Vashon, the annual 30.7nm race that kicks off the South Sound Series, has often been renown for providing the sailors grey, wet and windy conditions as enormous fronts blow down from the Gulf of Alaska and provide the Seattle area with their notorious wet, grey weather. This year was a bit different and the relatively warm, benign conditions were enthusiastically welcomed by the sailors.
As she has done many times before, leading all the J's home was the J/160 JAM sailed by John McPhail,
sailing the race in a reasonably fast elapsed time of 4:14:05. The
result of their herculean efforts was first prize for Class 2 amongst
all the big boats!In Class 4, the J/120 HINZITE sailed by James and Charles Hinz managed to snag second in class with an elapsed time of 4:41:24, about a half hour behind the speeding J/160.
The
J/35s and J/109s comprised most of Class 6 and managed to take 6 of the
top 7 spots! Leading the J's home was the J/35 GREAT WHITE sailed by
Dan Wierman with a 2nd in class. Third was the J/109 TANTIVY sailed by
Stuart Brunell. Fourth and fifth, respectively, were two J/35s, GRACE E
skippered by Brian White and MELANGE sailed by Jerry McKay and V
Beyehe.The J/105 DULCINEA helmed by Matthew Gardner-Brown won her Class 7 by the narrowest of margins, 8 seconds!
Class 8 saw J's take 3 of the top 5. The J/35c WILDFLOWER sailed by Tom Mitchell took second overall, followed by the J/29 SLICK skippered by Pat Nelson and Bob Mayfield in third and the J/29 HERE & NOW skippered by Pat Denney in fourth. Sailing photo credits- Jan Anderson For Tacoma Yacht Club’s Winter Vashon Island Race sailing information
