(Whidbey Island, WA)- 68 boats made their way to beautiful Oak Harbor,
Washington for 5 days of racing and festivities hosted by Oak Harbor YC
in that eternally warm Pacific Northwest weather we are becoming to know
and love. Whidbey Island Race Week 2015, on its first year of new
ownership, brought out some solid numbers with a 10 boat J/105 fleet, 2
making the long delivery from Portland, Oregon, a small J boat Asym
class and various J’s spread throughout the PHRF fleets.10 boats for a one-design class may seem small to some but it’s a huge step in the rapidly growing PNW J/105 fleet. To get 10 J/105s sailored-up and committed to a weeks’ worth of racing is pretty awesome stuff. 12 races over 5 days to be exact, and all the logistics that come with deliveries, managing the crew, housing and festivities, the J/105 fleet is overcoming a large amount of adversity to get together for some great races.
James
Geros and crew aboard #212 LAST TANGO jumped out to a quick lead after
Monday’s races on both the Southerly morning breeze in Saratoga Passage
and then up in Penn Cove for the afternoon Westerly off the Straits.
LAST TANGO was given a bit of trouble by those sailors from Portland
aboard Kent Siks’ #604 TROUBLEMAKER yet through consistent finishes and
solid crew work LAST TANGO held on throughout the week to finish 10
points ahead of TROUBLEMAKER after the final flags came down.
TROUBLEMAKER wasn’t without their own nemesis as their cohorts from
“stumptown” gave them a run for their money. Fresh off last year’s
class victory in the Pacific Cup (that’s that short race to Hawaii, yep,
on a J/105), Eric Hopper’s #519 FREE BOWL OF SOUP was only 1 point
behind TROUBLEMAKER after 12 races to hang on the podium in third place.
PHRF
Class three sailed hard with 2 J/109’s, a J/120 and a not often seen
J/90(!!). Four Asym boats battling hard with the two J/109s not giving
an inch all week. One day Jerry Woodfield’s J/109 #44 SHADA captured
the podium and the next day it was Stuart Burnell’s’ J/109 #248 TANTIVY
taking the podium. Back and forth they went and in the end the two
109’s were just 1 point apart with SHADA taking home the blue ribbon,
leaving TANTIVY in second and the J/90 EYE EYE, owned by David Cohen in
third.
PHRF
4 finished with Brian Whites J/35 GRACE E in 5th and Ernie Catham’s
J/35 JIBARU in 7th. PHRF 7 had 3 J/29s out of the 10 boats and Pat
Denny’s BEER & NOW lost the tie breaker for 3rd and finished in 4th,
Mayfield’s SLICK finished in 6th and Kirk Schroeder’s BLAZING SALSA
finished in 7th.PHRF 8 had Rex Dupuis’ J/30 GADZOOKS finish solidly in 7th and just behind them the boat that started it all for the J/Boats company strutted its stuff. The J/24 ITCHY & SCRATCHY, #3593 owned by Richard Demmler, held on after their mid-week string of first place finishes to show that the old design can still make it happen in PHRF by taking 1st place in the 9 boat division, 8 points in front of second. The J/24 #3747 ROSHAMBO, owned by Mark Daniel finished the week in 3rd and the Race Week stalwart LUCKY JIM, J/24 #3202 owned by James McAlpine rounded out the week in 6th.
If
you’re ever looking for a true week of racing and want to do it with
some stellar race committee work, extraordinary shore side activities,
complete with a kids sail camp, rum tent, nightly bands, camping, cabin
rentals and the smooth PNW summer lifestyle followed by some time in the
best cruising grounds the world has to offer – make the trip to Oak
Harbor Washington in July!! YOU WILL NEVER REGRET IT!! So says,
“Sasquatch” from the ooohhh soooo coooll Olympia mountain range. In short, Race Week 2015 was EPIC! “Rabbit Wilde” (the band) rocked the post race party Tuesday night. And, after hearing from many of you who were there, they’re booked again for Race Week next year (July 11-15, 2016)!! Finally, a big thanks to all the racers who participated and the event sponsors and partners for supporting WIRW including Bacardi, Tesla Motors, Helly Hansen, Fisheries Supply, CSR Marine, Ullman Sails, Prism Graphics, Sea Bags, Brenda Van Fossen and the Oak Harbor Yacht Club. Sailing photo credits for Best Northwest Yacht Shots- Jan Anderson. For more Whidbey Island Race Week sailing information
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