J/Crews Sweep Van Isle 360 Race!

(Victoria/ Nanaimo, BC)- The biennial Van Isle 360 Race was an epic adventure and experience for nearly a dozen J/Teams that participated in the 2019 edition.  Comprised of nine individual legs that circumnavigate the outrageously picturesque Vancouver Island off the Pacific coastline of British Columbia, the race was full of drama as each leg completed and teams fought for good overall results.

The combination of the nine legs determined the class winners as well as the overall winner.  The legs were:

1. Nanaimo to Comox- 36.9nm
2. Comox to Campbell River- 27.6nm
3. Deepwater Bay to Hardwicke Island- 24.2nm
4. Hardwicke Island to Telegraph Cove- 41.0nm
5. Telegraph Cove to Port Hardy- 28.7nm
6. Port Hardy to Winter Harbour- 69.1nm
7. Winter Harbour to Ucluelet- 138.1nm
8. Ucluelet to Victoria Harbour- 98.2nm
9. Victoria Harbour to Nanaimo- 59.9nm

That made for a total of at least 486.8nm down the rhumbline. The fleet experienced the standard extremes of weather- from complete glass outs, waiting for breeze, to 40 to 50 kt microbursts ripping down from the mountains peaks on Vancouver Island transited across the notorious Johnstone Straits.

In the end, J/Teams led sweeps in the two largest big boat divisions. In the PHRF Division 1, winning was B. Chan and A. Smyth’s J/111 65 RED ROSES II with 19 pts and also taking 1st PHRF Overall (six classes). Tied going into the last race from Victoria to Nanaimo, it was Scott Campbell’s J/121 RIVA winning the final leg to take second in class over Bill Fox’s J/160 JAM that settled for third place.

Then, in PHRF Division 2 the final leg became a complete cliffhanger for the two leading J/109s. Indeed, they both ended up tied on 25 pts each. Winning on count-back was T. Sitar’s J/109 SERENDIPITY over Mark Hansen’s J/109 MOJO. Completing the podium with the bronze medal was C & J Wolfe’s J/120 SHEARWATER and taking fifth was Tolga Cezik’s J/109 LODOS.  For more Van Isle 360 Race sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

Van Isle 360 Race Report

J/Crews Leading Sweeps in PHRF 1 & 2!
(Victoria/ Nanaimo, BC)- The biennial Van Isle 360 Race has been going on for well over a week now. The race is actually a series of nine individual legs that circumnavigate the outrageously picturesque Vancouver Island off the Pacific coastline of British Columbia.

The combination of the nine legs determines the class winners as well as the overall winner.  The legs are:

1. Nanaimo to Comox- 36.9nm
2. Comox to Campbell River- 27.6nm
3. Deepwater Bay to Hardwicke Island- 24.2nm
4. Hardwicke Island to Telegraph Cove- 41.0nm
5. Telegraph Cove to Port Hardy- 28.7nm
6. Port Hardy to Winter Harbour- 69.1nm
7. Winter Harbour to Ucluelet- 138.1nm
8. Ucluelet to Victoria Harbour- 98.2nm
9. Victoria Harbour to Nanaimo- 59.9nm

That makes for a total course length of at least 486.8nm as the crow flies down the rhumbline. However, as all sailors know, it could be almost 30% more than that depending on weather conditions. This year it has been quite windy at times and there were reports of 40 to 50 kt blasts (more like microbursts) tripping down off the mountains peaks on Vancouver Island while racers were in the notorious Johnstone Straits.

At this time, J/Teams are leading sweeps in the two largest big boat divisions.  In the PHRF Division 1, leading is B. Chan and A. Smyth’s J/111 65 RED ROSES II with 15 pts and they are also sitting in 1st PHRF Overall (six classes). Tied for second place on 22 pts each are Bill Fox’s J/160 JAM and Scott Campbell’s J/121 RIVA.

Then, in PHRF Division 2, leading is T. Sitar’s J/109 SERENDIPITY with 21 pts, Mark Hansen’s J/109 MOJO is second with 22 pts, third is C & J Wolfe’s J/120 SHEARWATER with 25 pts and fifth is Tolga Cezik’s J/109 LODOS with 38 pts.

With just one race left, the approx. 60.0nm leg from Vancouver Harbour to the finish line off Nanaimo Harbour, anything goes for 2nd and 3rd spots on the podium in PHRF 1 and no question it will be one heck of a battle in PHRF 2 class for all three spots on the podium as the three boats are only separated by 3 pts!  For more Van Isle 360 Race sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

Blustery Puget Sound Sailing Championship

(Seattle, WA)- The Saturday of CYC-Seattle’s PSSC regatta this past weekend was one for the ages– 18-22 knot winds, big waves, bright sun, grins galore, and at least one tragedy averted.

When Stuart Burnell J/109 TANTIVY realized crew member Brian Perry fell overboard, into the spinnaker, there was a moment of panic. “Where in the hell is Brian?” he thought. “If he’s wrapped in the chute, in the water,. . .” It was one of the those sailing moments that gets etched in a skipper’s mind, even skippers just reading this. What had started as an irritating, slow chore of clearing a wrap in a spinnaker after a gybe gone wrong, became a potential tragedy.

Brian, it turned out, was sitting in the spinnaker in the water after the boat apparently rolled. A few seconds later he squirted out from the spinnaker behind the boat, relatively unharmed. But that wasn’t quite the end of it. It turns out that as a member of the cockpit crew on the J/109, Brian wasn’t wearing a PFD. He’d come forward to help clear the wrap. And TANTIVY wasn’t exactly set up for a quick takedown and man overboard retrieval, with the spinnaker half down and the crew all out of position.

Enter Scott Malone. Malone, who makes a habit of heading out when it’s blowing hard, was out bombing around in his 13′ RS Aero, enjoying blasting around among the big boats. He was near TANTIVY as they rounded the weather mark and thought he would make a go of keeping up with them. They started to scoot away, but wrapped their chute in a gybe, and he thought he saw his chance to catch up. Instead he saw a head pop out of the water.

“I took a land sight behind him and went over. But I actually lost sight of him. It’s amazing how hard it is to see a guy in the water.” When he located the MOB again, Perry waved him to sail in and help. Brian hung on to the side of the Aero until TANTIVY, now under power, and a CYC Whaler, turned after about 5-10 minutes. Perry wasn’t eager to let go of Malone’s Aero, but eventually made it to TANTIVY where he was retrieved.

Burnell, who wrote about a previous man overboard recovery a couple years ago here on Sailish, said, “we are re-thinking TANTIVY’s life jacket policy!!!” And Malone, who’s crossed oceans singlehanded, came away struck by how difficult it is to actually see a person in the water. There was at least one other MOB, ironically on the other J/109 SHADA.

This all seems like a great reminder how important it is to wear a life jacket in gnarly conditions and how vital it is to do regular MOB drills. And it doesn’t hurt to have a skilled dinghy sailor trailing right behind you.

Once in a while, not nearly often enough, Seattle comes through with Saturday’s conditions. Puget Sound was carpeted with whitecaps, and you can see from Jan Anderson’s photos the day made for some great sailing. A total of 56 boats actually sailed the event, with three PHRF classes and five one-design classes, four of which made up the south course right off Shilshole Bay Marina. Once again, CYC somehow set the courses in the deep water and waves and got in 9-11 races for all the fleets. Kudos.

If Saturday was a day for the boats that could plane, Sunday was sailed in equally perfect, if somewhat more sedate sunny conditions. The 9-boat J/105 fleet reveled in the conditions, with Erik Kristen’s MORE JUBILEE team winning easily.  Second was John Aitchison’s MOOSE UNKNOWN and third was Chris Phoenix’s JADED.  Rounding out the top five were Jerry Diercks’ DELIRIUM and Jeff Pace and Philiippe Le Mouel’s LIFTOFF in 4th and 5th, respectively.

The increasingly active J/80 fleet saw John Sezer’s RECKLESS win the class with seven bullets in his 11-race scoreline!  Second was Bryan Rhodes’ CRAZY IVAN and third was Mike Gridley’s RAVEN.

In the PHRF handicap racing world, Stu Burnell’s J/109 TANTIVY managed a 4th in PHRF 3 class and Pat Denney’s J/29 HERE & NOW virtually eclipsed PHRF 5 class with seven bullets in 11-races to take the win.  For more Puget Sound Series Sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

J/Crews Love Whidbey Island “Summer Camp”!

(Whidbey Island, WA)- Over the course of time, J/sailors from the Pacific Northwest have dreamed of sailing one of their favorite regattas of all time in Whidbey Island, the annual “race week” hosted by Oak Harbor YC.

From Canada and California, Oregon and Idaho, and even Hawaii, sixty-eight boats made the pilgrimage to sailing mecca for Whidbey Island Race Week (WIRW). What counts is a glorious opportunity to reconnect with old friends, make new ones, race hard, hone sailing skills, dance, eat and take deep gulps of fresh, clean Pacific Northwest air. New this year was a NFS cruising class, a J/80 one-design fleet, and for a fifth or so of the fleet, this is their first WIRW. There were twenty-eight J’s racing, one-third of the fleet. Here is how it all went down, enjoy the daily reports.

Day One- Friday
The clock said 2:20pm when the westerly finally settled in Penn Cove, but who’s counting? Race Week runs on island time. The wind’s delay meant more time for making a run into Coupeville for a Bloody Caesar at the Front Street Grill, a hoppy IPA and fresh steamed mussels at Toby’s, or a triple scoop from Kapaw’s Ice Creamery. Or, perhaps a catnap on the bow, far away from the work world’s worries, listening to the “chi-kee” of a Kingfisher diving for its meal, or the sneaky splish of a curious sea lion. Or maybe gazing at the fire-red trunks of the Madrona trees circling the west end of the cove like a ruby necklace. However, one chose to bide the time waiting for Charley Rathkopf’s CYC race committee to signal the start of the first day’s first race, after 36 years it’s a wait that never gets old.

After a week or so of hottish temperatures, Thursday’s cooler weather reminded the racers why they’re pros at layering, bundling up in foulies only to strip down to shorts when blue finally appeared in the north sky later in the day. On the race course, a swift ebb tide, beach currents and flukey wind shifts combined to make leads swap like cards in a fast-paced game of Go Fish. The first hand has been dealt, three more to go!

Day Two- Saturday
After 36 years you might think you’ve seen it all at WIRW. Charley Rathkopf’s race committee set a bizarro course that sent the fleet into the mussel beds at the west end of Penn Cove, which they’ve done before, but for the first time ever, they finished the race. Sure there were a few classes that saw their courses shortened (the prudent thing to do) but it still qualifies as a WIRW first. Winds had been forecast oh, somewhere between 5 and 12, and with the RC calling for a start one hour later than usual, Friday was NOT a lay day. Yay! Adding to the challenge of playing chess with Mother Nature, the ebb tide saw nearly 2 knots at various places on the course, causing some boats to overrun their sails. Unfortunately, a couple of the classes did see some DNFs (so here’s hoping for a throwout). Regardless, it was a fun day under the sun and on the water, with a stop at the Coupeville dock for a crew or three, so in the grand scheme of things, who’s complaining?

Back at the marina, it was Pink Boat Regatta night, with donations gladly given for the chance to play Bra Pong next to the refreshment station, then dancing to crowd favorite Gertrude’s Hearse. They get better each year, and it’s always fun to see fellow sailors out of their foulies and into their top hats. After tucking into burgers or ribs (yours truly got the last of ’em), the good-natured revelers continued into the wee hours back at Tent City, though the laughter did eventually die down, only to be replaced by the constant clanging of the porta-pottie doors and the plaintive hoo, hoo-hoo of a lonely owl

Day Three- Sunday
Sunday seemed more like the Mad Hatter’s tea party. Too little wind, too much current, cold weather, free hot showers (what?!?), new faces picking up awards, old regulars wondering who tied cement blocks to their keels.

Saturday’s weather wasn’t as favorable for others, however. Plenty went from hero to zero, albeit it painfully slowly, as the pseudo-westerly clocked to a southerly, sending the fleet on a scavenger hunt for a river of anything in Saratoga Passage.

Courses were shortened, and some boats didn’t finish, whimpering while limping back to the marina, hoping to nurse their unfulfilled racing needs with hefty doses of freshly caught and cooked Dungeness crabs. The ensuing scene was like some sort of primitive offering, the racers holding claws aloft, mouths full of juicy meat, bribing and begging the Northwest wind Gods for more breeze on Sunday. For all the frustrations that light air days bring, back on terra firma, where the laws of nature seemed at least a little less collusional, comments ranged from NSFW to “We had a blast!”. A rich feast of memories was made regardless of the lack of a stiff breeze, and will get embellished with each re-telling.

The ten-boat J/105 Class saw Jerry Diercks’s DELIRIUM take the class by just one point over Erik Kristen’s MORE JUBILEE. Third was Chris Phoenix’s JADED. The balance of the top five saw John Aitchison’s MOOSE UNKNOWN take fourth and Jim Geros’ LAST TANGO in fifth.

The J/80 class continued to expand and this year’s fleet of six boats saw very competitive racing for the top three boats. Winning was David Schutte’s TAJ MAHAL, second was Lek Dimarucot’s UNDERDOG, third was Emre Sezer’s RECKLESS.

In PHRF 2, it was Stu Burnell’s J/109 TANTIVY that won class closing with three bullets. Then, David & Vernice Cohen’s J/90 EYE EYE won PHRF 3 Sport Class. And, in PHRF 5 class, Pat Denney’s J/29 HERE & NOW took an easy silver. Finally, in PHRF 9 Cruising enjoying the festivities was Steve Kirsch’s J/35C WILDFLOWER, finishing in 4th.

Speaking of memories, be sure to check out all the photos of this year’s Whidbey Island Race Week at
http://www.janpix.smugmug.com — all proceeds benefit Kids Camp (thanks, Jan!).
Sailing photo credits- Jan Anderson For more Whidbey Island Race Week sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

J/Crews Triumphant in Southern Straits Race

(Vancouver, BC, Canada)- The 50th annual Southern Straits Race took place this past weekend, hosted by the West Vancouver YC in British Columbia- the Canadian side of the infamous Straits of Juan de Fuca that separate the wild and majestic Olympic Peninsula from the Canadian Maritimes to the north.

The race is a popular one in the Pacific Northwest for the offshore racing fraternity.  Like the Swiftsure International Yacht Race that sails later in the year, the West Vancouver YC has also evolved the race over the course of time to be more accommodating to the reality of today’s lifestyles.  The participants have the choice of three course- the Long Course (140nm), the Medium Course (106nm), and the Short Course (73nm).  A majority of the J/Teams participating sailed the Long Course (mostly 35 footers on up), while the smaller J’s did the Medium Course.  Here is a report of what took place during the race by Peter Salusbury who sailed on a boat called Longboard.

“This was the 50th anniversary of the Southern Straits Race classic and weather cooperated for what most will admit was a very pleasant and enjoyable race. Bruce Hedrick’s pre-race forecast was mostly spot on, though the NW wind stayed on a little longer than forecast into Saturday morning and then re-built closer to Vancouver to get most boats home early Saturday evening.

After a brief postponement waiting for the westerly winds to build into English Bay, all the fleets started in a light westerly which built fairly quickly as we passed Point Atkinson and hit the Bowen Island shore. On the long course, most boats left the Bowen Island shore after reaching Cowan Point and started the long starboard tack over to the Nanaimo harbor area. The now NW wind built to between 12 to 16 knots all afternoon. The J/160 JAM and others really legged out with their long waterlines on the smaller long course boats. The long and fast downwind sail to T10 was beautiful, with a huge full moon all night long and clear skies. On our boat, we seemed to notice an unusual amount of wood in the water and twice ran smack into substantial logs doing 10+ knots!

On the downwind leg, it seemed to pay dividends to keep tacking to port offshore every time the wind went light while on starboard tack. We always found bigger breeze offshore and made big gains on our fleet by approaching T10 from the north.

After rounding T10, we had a solid beat upwind to Ballenas (second time) with winds peaking out over 20+ knots at time, but lightening substantially after Nanaimo Harbor. Going upwind, it seemed advantageous to be a little closer to the Valdez/ Gabriola Island shores as we picked up a nice port tack lift that definitely helped us on those competitors who were more offshore.

After rounding Ballenas, the NW backed to more of a westerly and softened to less than 5 knots. We favored the north side of the course home, found a very nice 4 to 7 knot northerly that seldom hit the water, but we were able to keep the boat moving at 3 to 5 knots and sneak along over boats. Eventually the NE wind disappeared, and after a short period of calms (good time for hot oatmeal and cinnamon buns), a very light westerly started to build, which continued to build all the way to the finish. The smaller, slower boats on the Long Course were a little less fortunate with the westerly dying off not long after we finished, with many finishing late into Saturday evening– well done to them for persevering and getting a result! Overall, a very pleasant but somewhat ‘longer’ Long Course race compared to more recent years – but no rain, no clouds, full moon, lots of sun – none of us were complaining!

The boat that really impressed us on the Long Course was Bill Fox’s J/160 JAM who took the ORC Overall win by a wide margin– they appeared to sail a flawless race– super-fast up wind, and really managed the light air on the last leg to get the win– kudos to their team.

On the Medium Course, the J/109’s seemed to love the conditions as they took 3rd to 5th overall with a double handed J/120 called SHEARWATER, skippered by Justin Wolfe, taking an impressive 6th place overall, beating some very talented fully crewed boats. Great job to you both!

Once again, the race organizing committee deserves so much credit for making the 50th anniversary race so successful. On behalf of all participants, I’d like to thank first time Race Chairman, Mike Seper, and his army of volunteers at West Vancouver Yacht Club for making the race possible – great job, Mike! And lastly, thanks so much to all the participants who travelled from afar from home bases like Seattle and Victoria for the race – we appreciate the commitment you make to deliver your boats up and back at this time of the year and hope to see you all back next year.”  Thanks for contribution from Peter Salusbury and Sailish.com (http://sailish.com/index.php/category/racing/).

Winning the Long Course ORC Division was Bill Fox’s J/160 JAM, correcting out by nearly two hours over a TP52 and 1D48.

Winning the Medium Course ORC Division was Tom Sitar’s J/109 SERENDIPITY.  They were followed by Alex Smyth’s J/111 65 RED ROSES II in third place.

For the Medium Course PHRF 2 Division, J’s took 5 of the top 6 places. Sitar’s J/109 SERENDIPITY took the silver, with Mark Hansen’s J/109 MOJO awarded the bronze, John Peterson’s J/109 LEGACY in 4th, Wolfe’s J/120 SHEARWATER in 5th (sailing doublehanded!), and Smyth’s J/111 65 RED ROSES II in 6th.

The Medium Course PHRF Doublehanded Division was dominated by two J/Teams.  Winning was Justin Wolfe’s J/120 SHEARWATER and taking second was Scott Shaw-Mac & Brian Isaacs’ J/30 NATURAL HIGH.

The Medium Course PHRF 3 Division saw Ron Mackenzie’s J/37 FUTURE PRIMITIVE almost in the chocolates, having to settle for 4th place only 3.5 minutes back on corrected from taking the bronze!  Ouch.

Finally, in the Medium Course PHRF 4 Division, winning class was Phil Wampold’s J/92 ZAFF, taking the class by over a half hour on corrected time.  Taking the bronze was the Doublehanded team of Shaw-Mac and Isaacs on the J/30 NATURAL HIGH!

As a result of their performance, the J/crews did well in the Medium Course PHRF Overall scoring, with 5 of the top 8 going to J’s.  Top boat was Sitar’s J/109 SERENDIPITY taking the bronze, with Hansen’s J/109 MOJO in 4th, Peterson’s J/109 LEGACY in 5th, Wolfe’s J/120 SHEARWATER in 6th (sailing doublehanded!), and Smyth’s J/111 65 RED ROSES II in 8th.  Sailing photo credits- Jan Anderson/ Janpix.com.  For more Southern Straits Race sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

J/Crews Dominate Van Isle 360 Race Comfortably!

(Nanaimo, BC, Canada)- Once again sailors are showing that the Pacific Northwest is J/Boat country by taking 1st or 2nd in all three classes in the 2017 Van Isle 360! Thirty keelboats participated in this year's race, of which seven of them are J/teams (23% of the fleet!).

The conditions for this year's event covered almost the full spectrum of the Beaufort scale with beautiful summer winds up the inside of the island while crossing tacks with the Race to Alaska teams followed by winds kissing 40 knots from Telegraph Cove to Port Hardy with big rolling waves, smooth sailing over the Nahwitti Bar and around Cape Scott to Winter Harbor followed by a brutal 138 mile slog to Ucluelet with waves approaching 12 ft and 30+ knot winds, and then a beautiful run down the straits to Victoria followed by the most challenging leg of the race - Victoria to Nanaimo with its plethora of navigational choices, currents and light wind conditions. The Van Isle 360 race course is one of the most varied and challenging courses you'll ever compete on.

Sailing under the Offshore Racing Congress Rule (ORC) Class 1 was taken by the beautiful teak decked J/122E JOY RIDE owned and skippered by John Murkowski. JOY RIDE is a beautiful 2015 model of the J/122E and the ride around the island must have been in style with her comfortable two head two-cabin layout! (https://www.facebook.com/joyridesailing)

Second in class 1, putting on the steam in the middle of the course was the J/125 HAMACHI and her new owners Jason Andrews & Shawn Dougherty. The J/125 continues to prove that high performance can be manageable and even though she doesn't sport the comfortable interior of the J/122E she can sail you around Vancouver Island through some varied and rather gnarly conditions and bring you into the finish well ahead of much bigger yachts. (http://hamachiracing.blogspot.com)

Fourth place in Class 1 was taken by the J/133 CONSTELLATION, just 3 points out of 3rd after sailing such a long way. Built in 2005 and owned by Ron Holbrook, CONSTELLATION takes comfort to a new level with her 43' length and her microwave, television, double heads and plenty of tankage- this is performance cruising at its best!

Class 2 was taken by the J/109 MOJO owned by Mark Hansen. Based out of Vancouver, British Columbia these Canadians took this performance cruiser- arguably one of the most capable performance cruisers ever built- around Vancouver Island and through consistent sailing took the overall win by 4 points over the second place boat. (https://www.facebook.com/J109Mojo/)

Just 3 points out of second after the 9-leg course was another J/109, SERENDIPITY, owned by Tom Sitar. SERENDIPITY pulled off 2 first place finishes and if it wasn't for an 8th coming into Victoria would have had a chance at 2nd place in ORC 2.

In ORC Class 3, second place, just 4 points back from 1st, was the original J Performance Cruising Boat, the J/30! Designed as the perfect all around cruising and racing boat, the J/30 continues to perform over 30 years after its inception- and this 1979, yep 79 model year(!), naturally took things to a new level and took 2nd place in Class 3 racing doublehanded! Well done NATURAL HIGH sailed by Mardy Grossman & Scott Shaw-MacLaren.

Congratulations to the Van Isle 360 J/Boat teams! We are sure you had an experience of a lifetime and showed us all that manageability and comfort can go hand and hand with performance and will put you on the podium.  Thanks for report contribution from Ben Braden at Sailboat Northwest in Seattle, WA.  For more Van Isle 360 Race sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

Van Isle 360 Race Midway Regatta Report

(Vancouver, BC, Canada)- Taking place from June 10th to 24th has been the famous Pacific Northwest truly massive “Round Island Race”, one of the world’s longest at 600nm+ (only Round Britain & Ireland is longer!).  In this year’s event, there have been thirty keelboats participating in the infamous race, of which seven of them are J/teams (23% of the fleet!).  There are nine individual point-to-point races that comprise the entire score for the Van Isle 360, your basic circumnavigation of Vancouver Island!  Here is the breakdown for each leg:

• Date    Start    Finish    NM
• 10-Jun    Nanaimo    Comox    37.4nm
• 11-Jun    Comox    Campbell River    27.6nm
• 12-Jun    Deepwater Bay    Hardwicke Island    24.2nm
• 13-Jun    Hardwicke Island    Telegraph Cove    41.0nm
• 15-Jun    Telegraph Cove    Port Hardy    28.7nm
• 16-Jun    Port Hardy    Winter Harbour    69.1nm
• 18-Jun    Winter Harbour    Ucluelet    138.1nm
• 21-Jun    Ucluelet    Victoria    98.2nm
• 23-Jun    Victoria    Nanaimo    59.9nm

To give you a taste of what it has been like to sail the event, here is a description from one crew’s blog of what has been happening to the fleet:
“Day 6 - Telegraph Cove to Port Hardy: Winds up to 40 knots, 10 foot rolling waves, hail and rain, multiple blown spinnakers, round ups, a blown main, a lost rudder, broken spreaders, bent spinnaker poles... and a quick trip to Port Hardy for most! It was sketchy out there to say the least, but everyone made it back to port safe! Resting in Port Hardy till tomorrow's race to Winter Harbour!

Day 7 & 8 - Port Hardy to Winter Harbour: Just about every type of wind condition you can get, ruled this 80 nm race. Started off slow, some nice winds before hitting Nahwitti Bar and a nice run until winds died again at the finish. We had amazing sunset, despite the challenging conditions!

Day 9 & 10 - Winter Harbour to Ucluelet: That was a brutal leg. Winds starting in the 30 knots, waves up to 12 feet tall... crazy cold and bumpy, 138nm race took us over 33 hours to complete. Winds and surf lightened up towards the finish. Thank the universe I can fall asleep anywhere, or I'm not sure how I'd make it through that leg of the race!”

So far, the John Murkowski’s J/122E JOY RIDE (https://www.facebook.com/joyridesailing) has been leading her fleet.  However, the duo of Jason Andrews & Shawn Dougherty’s J/125 HAMACHI (http://hamachiracing.blogspot.com) have been catching up fast on the “ocean” legs versus the “straits legs” that JOY RIDE seemed to enjoy!  Through leg six, JOY RIDE was leading, with Ron Holbrook’s J/133 CONSTELLATION in third and HAMACHI in fourth place overall in the entire fleet.

The HAMACHI blog commented on their experiences so far: “we just crushed Leg 5 of the Van Isle 360. Winds were 30 plus kts at the start and averaged 15 to 25 with peak of 35 kts. We started under reefed main and J4, and then set the A3. We covered 29 nm in 2.5 hours taking line honors for the fleet (ahead of Smoke who split their main at the start) and allegedly set a course record. We saw 20.5 kts of boat speed and averaged high teens. The boat beautifully handled 4-6 ft seas. We could do this every race!  It was a great couple of days racing around the north end of Vancouver Island and through the Johnstone Strait. Beautiful vistas, fast currents (5-6 kts helping and hurting) and good fleet. Its been all upwind so far in 4-20 kts and Hamachi has held her own, although we don’t understand ORC scoring. Hamachi took division line honors on Day 4.

The two J/109’s (Tom Sitar’s J/109 SERENDIPITY and Mark Hansen’s J/109 MOJO) were 2nd and 3rd, respectively, in ORC 2 division after six legs.  And, Mardy Grossman & Scott Shaw-MacLaren’s J/30 NATURAL HIGH that have been sailing Doublehanded Division and were in first at the sixth leg point in the race. In other words, an amazing performance by the intrepid adventurers aboard the J/Boats in this tough, but spectacular event.  For more Van Isle 360 sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

Awesome, Fast Oregon Offshore Race

J/105 "The Soup" Wins PHRF Overall!
(Victoria, BC, Canada)- The prestigious trophy for winning first Overall in the Oregon Offshore International Yacht Race will have another THREE names emblazoned on it this year - Schenk, Hopper & Davis.  The trio sailed their J/105 FREE BOWL OF SOUP to an overall victory in the 2017 race under blustery conditions. “Congratulations” to the crew! They were not only the PHRF Overall winner, but the J/105 Class winner, too.  In fact, J/Teams in general sailed extremely well; with six J’s in the top eight boats overall.

According to Schenk from “the Soup”, “another epic one is in the books with a Southerly up the coast, and not too dead in the straights for an early finish.  Having a J/105 division was super cool, and J/105’s finished 1st, 3rd, and 8th overall!  Riva (J/46) also had a great race winning their division and 3rd across the line behind Rage and the TP52!”

The Oregon Offshore is one of the toughest races on the entire West Coast and also one that has seen very loyal teams participate year after year; the event is hosted by Corinthian YC of Portland and the Astoria YC in Astoria, OR along the opening of the Columbia River.

Historically, the race acts as a “feeder” for the Swiftsure Race and for the Vic-Maui Race, too.  The race starts off the Columbia River Buoy 2 and goes 193nm north to the Strait of Juan de Fuca, leaving Duntze Rock buoy to starboard and finish off the piers at Victoria, British Columbia in Canada on the northern side of the Straits.

Twenty-one teams entered this year and besides the J/105s, other J/Crews gathered their fair share of silverware.

The PHRF A2 Class saw a sweep of the top three positions on the podium, led by Corinthian YC’s Scott Campbell and his team on the pretty blue J/46 RIVA (4th overall).  Second in class was Tom Keffer’s J/42 VELOCITY (5th overall) and third in class was Tom Kelly’s beautiful blue J/122 ANAM CARA (6th overall).

Behind the winners in the J/105 class (the “Soupers” that also won last year’s PHRF A class), it was Doug Pihlaja’s ABSTRACT that took second place (3rd overall) while Dana Sibilla’s ESCAPE ARTIST placed third (8th overall). That is a great showing for the J/105s in general. For the two “newbies” in the race, it was especially gratifying to do so well overall, too!!  For more Oregon Offshore Race sailing informationAdd to Flipboard Magazine.

USA J/24 Nationals Preview

(Seattle, WA)- The Corinthian YC of Seattle YC is celebrating its 125th Anniversary and as part of that program, they are hosting the USA J/24 Nationals on Puget Sound.  An excellent, and quite talented, fleet of 27 boats from across America will be vying for the championship title starting on May 17th and ending on May 21st.

Perhaps the strongest group of sailors will be comprised of those Washington teams that have both North American and International experience.  It would not be surprising to see several of these teams at the top of the leaderboard, such as Mark Laura’s BABA LOUIE, Keith Whittemore’s TUNDRA ROSE, Mark Ross’ ATOM ANT, Richard Bustamante’s HABANERO, and Scott Milne’s TREMENDOUS SLOUCH.

Joining them from all points of the compass rose are top crews like Will Welles’ COUGAR USA 5208 from Portsmouth, RI, Wayne Pignolet’s JOYRIDE from Sandpoint, ID, and Nobuyuki Imai’s SIESTA from Wakayama, Japan.  For more USA J/24 Nationals sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

Oregon Offshore Race Preview

(Portland, OR)- One of the toughest races on the entire West Coast and also one that has seen very loyal teams participate year after year has to be the infamous Oregon Offshore Race, an event hosted by Corinthian YC of Portland and the Astoria YC in Astoria, OR along the opening of the Columbia River.

Historically, the race acts as a “feeder” for the Swiftsure Race and for the Vic-Maui Race, too.  The race starts off the Columbia River Buoy 2 and goes 193nm north to the Strait of Juan de Fuca, leaving Duntze Rock buoy to starboard and finish off the piers at Victoria, British Columbia in Canada on the northern side of the Straits.

Twenty-one teams are entered this year, a bump up from last year.  And, and there is an even larger contingent of J/Teams participating- a J/122, a J/46, a J/42 and three J/105s (29% of the fleet)!

The PHRF A2 Class is always competitive for the larger J/Teams.  Here are some quickie profiles of each boat:

J/122 ANAM CARA- If there was an award for the most Oregon Offshores raced, Portland's own Tom Kelly would be in the running with 35 of 40 (not to mention about the same number of Swiftsure's)! In fact, his first race was in 1977 back when the race course headed south to Tillamook before going North. Around 1984 Tom set the OOR elapsed time record aboard Wizard. This record held for a solid eleven years. As you might know, all standing OOR records were annihilated back in 2014! Tom has won the race overall before and he hopes to do it again.

J/46 RIVA- this boat is based in Portland, Oregon and skippered by CYC's own Scott Campbell. She has had an active racing schedule since 2003 with almost annual participation in both the Oregon Offshore and Swiftsure races. She has taken first place trophies numerous times in both races in her division and class. She is also a three-time veteran of the Pacific Cup race from San Francisco to Hawaii in 2006, 2010, and 2016.

J/42 VELOCITY- Although skipper, Tom Keffer, took last year off to race the Pac Cup, he still helped us out on the start boat and for that we are grateful! That being said, we certainly are glad to have him back on the racing side of things this year.

For the first time ever in the history of the race, there is a one-design class- the J/105s!  Here are the profiles of the crews participating:

J/105 ABSTRACT- this will be Doug Pihlaja’s first Oregon Offshore on Abstract.  And it will be the first Oregon Offshore for four of her six crew. However, overall the crew’s total experience makes up for any perceived shortcomings. This includes many Oregon Offshore races for the remaining two crew members and other Ocean races including Fastnet and multiple Swiftsure races and Bridge-to-Bridge’s (Columbia River Gorge), so the crew should have enough to be in the game. Future plans include this year’s Swiftsure, where there is a one-design class for J/105s, and next year’s Pacific Cup in the Doublehanded division. Glad to have Portland based skipper, and crew join us!

J/105 ESCAPE ARTIST- Looks like we're gonna have ourselves some friendly J/105 competition this year. Another first time participant, Escape Artist, skippered by Dana Sibilla, is the "youngest" of the four Portland based J/105 One Design teams. While this is the first Oregon Offshore for the boat, the combined experience of the crew will bring some stiff competition on the race course. Once in Victoria, Escape Artist will stay for Swiftsure then plans to make her way over for Whidbey Island Race Week for a second year.

J/105 FREE BOWL OF SOUP- Looks like these guys are back for another serving! Free Bowl of Soup, a Portland-based J-105, signed up at the Portland Boat Show! That’s long-term planning! This will be Schenk, Hopper, and Davis's sixth Oregon Offshore race skippering FBoS, although each have been participating for even longer. Last year they took home First Place- PHRF A Fleet. We are fortunate enough to call Eric Hopper our 2017 CYC Race Captain and we appreciate the work he does to keep our club afloat!!  For more Oregon Offshore Race sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

A Woman's Perspective Sailing World Championship

(Vancouver, BC, Canada)-  Isabella Bertold provided some wonderful perspective on her team's experience sailing J/70s at the recent Women’s World Championships at American YC in Rye, New York.  The Royal Vancouver Yacht Club Team finished 6th at the International Women’s Keelboat Championships!

“From August 15 to 19, I had the privilege of competing with three other British Columbia women at the International Women’s Keelboat Championships in Rye, New York. 

Along with myself, the team consisted of fellow Royal Vancouver Yacht Club member Maggie Drinkwater, Royal Victoria Yacht Club member Maura Dewey, and Vancouver sailor Elizabeth Dier.

Our team was unique in that both Maggie and Elizabeth had never raced outside of the Vancouver area, the team had never actually sailed together, and we were brand new to the J/70 sailboat. The other teams were made up of past Olympians, experienced international J/70 sailors, and former All-American college crews.  Even former America’s Cup champion, Dawn Riley, captained a team.   Needless to say, we went in with low expectations!

Our Canadian entry rounded out a truly international fleet including teams from Germany, New Zealand and 15 U.S teams.

American Yacht Club in Rye, NY hosted an incredible regatta, and wowed us with their hospitality. The regatta was raced following the league sailing format in J/70’s. J-boats provided a fleet of brand new J/70’s for us to race with, and even in strong breeze, the boats were not only manageable but also incredibly fun for the all female teams. It didn’t take long for us to understand why there have already been over 1100 J/70’s sold.

The championship was also unique for me in that it was my first time racing in a league sailing regatta, and it was my first time skippering a team.

The regatta was a 5-day event with up to 10 races each day.  The races lasted an average of ten minutes and consisted of a windward leeward twice around racecourse.   After five races, a crew would sit out one to three races before switching back into a new boat. The racing was intense, tiring, and I have never been involved in as many photo finishes as I was that week.

As the results show, we had a few races filled with learning moments, but otherwise we had consistent top 5 finishes, a couple of race wins, and finished 2nd overall in round two.

One of the more memorable moments happened on the final day of the regatta. Our team had come together seamlessly, and we were suddenly disappointed to finish races outside of the top three. We flew to New York ready for a learning experience, and with low expectations; we flew home to Vancouver satisfied with our 6th place finish at this prestigious championship, but hungry for more and with a clear goal of winning the 2017 championship to be held in Bermuda.”

Isabella Bertold is a member of the Canadian National Sailing Team in Laser Radials.  She has represented the Royal Vancouver Yacht Club on the international stage since joining the race team in 2001.

J/Teams Cruise Southern Straits Race

(Vancouver, BC, Canada)- “The 48th Annual Southern Straits Race, hosted by the West Vancouver Yacht Club, was basically a “cruise” up and down the Straits.  While the winds were definitely on the lighter side, the fleet had a spectacular spinnaker start for the 2nd year running, with “HMCS Orioles” magnificent sail drawing an audible gasp from the crowd gathered on the shore as the breeze filled in,” commented Sonia Telford, the 2016 Southern Straits Race Chair.

She goes on to say that, “The rain held off until the last few hours of the race as the wind filled in to bring the last racers across the Finish Line. Competitors remarked that they saw more sea life on the course (dolphins, sea lions, killer whales and a massive grey whale) then they have ever seen before.

A total of 83 boats competed on the four courses offered, with the last 3 competitors sailing on the Medium and Long Course right until the final minutes of the race.

Thank you to the WVYC Staff and 108 Volunteers that have put their heart and soul into this amazing weekend of sailing!”

The 138nm race takes place in the Southern Strait of Georgia Race over the Easter weekend. There are three turning marks, the race starts at the Point Grey Bell buoy, the first mark is Entrance Island, the second is a lighted buoy 1.5 miles south of Pt. Roberts, third mark is White Islets, and the finish is at Passage Island. It has become a popular race for the Pacific Northwest offshore sailing fraternity.

John McPhail’s mighty blue J/160 JAM from Gig Harbor YC took home the silver in Division 2, rounding the track in 44:01:51.  Just behind them in their first major offshore race ever was Bron Miller’s brand new J/122E JOY RIDE from Seattle YC; finishing the race in 45:42:33 and taking third place.

In Division 4, sailing the 98.1nm Medium distance race, was Bob Brunius’ J/120 TIME BANDIT, easily eclipsing their class with an elapsed time of 36:44:40 and winning on corrected time by 87 minutes!  As was told to HM Queen of England after the Americans won the 100 Guinea Cup, “there was no second, Your Highness!”

Mimicking their 120 colleagues were the J/109s in Division 5 on the same Medium Distance track.  Winning class was Jim Prentice’s J/109 DIVA with a course time of 37:18:09, winning by an hour corrected time.  In fourth place was Mark Hansen’s MOGO and in fifth place was Tom Sitar’s SERENDIPITY.

The sole J/crew on the Short Course of 66.4nm was John Tulip’s J/35C IRENE II, taking sixth in Division 8.  For more Southern Straits Race sailing information

J/Teams Enjoy Van Isle 360 Race Adventure

(Vancouver, BC)- The Van Isle 360 is a biennial, 580 nautical mile point-to-point race circumnavigating wild and rugged Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. Sailed in ten legs, the course provides inshore, offshore and overnight sailing through some of the most stunning and challenging waters on the planet.

For a good perspective on why people do the race, here is a report from Christof Marti (Director at Simply Sailing School in Vancouver and sailing scribe for Vancouver Sun).  Reports Christof, "Starting in Nanaimo, the first half of the race takes sailors up the inside of the island through some of the world’s most beautiful cruising grounds, sailing through Desolation Sound and up through Johnstone Strait to Port Hardy. The second half takes the boats around infamous Cape Scott at the Northern tip of Vancouver Island into the Pacific Ocean. The distances between ports are much longer on the outside and each leg includes an overnight passage.

You may ask why would someone want to be on a small sailboat with up to eight other crew, with no showers and sitting on deck in the rain and wind for hours or baking in the sun without shade?

The answers are as varied as the sailors participating in this race: A love of sailing and the ocean, the adventure of visiting stunning places few of us will ever visit, the camaraderie among crew and competitors, are probably common sentiments among participants. The exhilaration when the wind is just right, the sails trimmed perfectly and the boat is accelerating down a wave can hardly be described in words.

So, what makes Van Isle 360 so special? It’s the involvement of the communities. At each stop, there is an event: The traditional pancake breakfast at the start in Nanaimo, the salmon feast at Hardwick Island, or the famous barbecue in Telegraph Cove.

The boats on this race range from small coastal cruising boats to high-end racing machines. The crews are just as varied. Some boats are crewed by highly trained, and seasoned racers. While other boats are crewed by less experienced sailors looking for a lifetime adventure.”

One of those adventurers was multi-J owner Kevin and Sandy Reath.  Kevin is a former J/133 owner who just completed the race in his J/80 SOMETHING WICKED II. They had 20-35 knot winds almost the entire race, and were by far the smallest boat in the fleet. SW II won legs 7 and 9 overall in the race!!  Here is the first-hand account of how it all went down:

“We just completed the Van Isle 360, a 580nm of sailing, 9 ports in two weeks, shortest leg 28 miles and the longest 138 miles. It was EPIC! Winds on the inside and outside 25-35 knots. Our boat, SOMETHING WICKED II struggled in those headwinds against our larger 40-45 ft competitors. But, once we turned the corner at the top end of the island, our little boat lit it up and simply torched the racetrack! We won two of the offshore legs and placed 3rd in the other!  We were simply wearing cheshire cat grins a mile wide!  All the best, Kevin & Sandy Reath”

In addition to their stunning performance in the “offshore” portions of the race in the wild blue Pacific Ocean pounding the dramatic, beautiful bluffs on the western shore of Vancouver Island, other J teams enjoyed the most amazing weather the race has seen in years.

In the IRC Division, Tom Huseby’s J/145 DOUBLE TAKE (if you recall this is his second J/145!) took 3rd overall and won the final leg from Victoria to the Nanaimo finish line.  Then, John McPhail’s J/160 JAM took fifth overall after winning two of the legs- the start from Nanaimo to Comox and Deepwater Bay to Hardwicke Island.  They are commonly referred to in the fleet as “the blue boats”- both with gorgeous dark navy Awlgrip paint jobs.

PHRF Class 1 saw Ron Holbrook’s J/133 CONSTELLATION take fourth after stellar performances on three of the legs- a 2nd on the Comox to Campbell River leg, a 1st on the Deepwater Bay to Hardwicke Island leg, and a 2nd on the Port Hardy to Winter Harbor leg.

Then, in PHRF Class 2, Bob Brunius’ J/120 TIME BANDIT started out by leading the entire class after seven legs, then suffered a “brain fade” after so much success.  Nevertheless, TIME BANDIT’s scores after a slow start included winning the Comox to Campbell River leg, another 1st on the next leg from Deepwater Bay to Hardwicke Island, a 2nd from Hardwicke Island to Telegraph Cover and a 2nd from Winter Harbour to Ucluelet.   In the end, just 8 pts out of first place, they still managed 4th overall.

PHRF Class 3 saw a rather eclectic field of boats, including a J/32 and the Reath’s J/80.  Taking 5th overall was Todd Rutter’s J/32 BLUE JAY with a very steady scoreline, including a 2nd in the Deepwater Bay to Hardwicke Island and a well-deserved 2nd to their stablemate in the finale from Victoria to the Nanaimo finish line.  Just behind them in 6th place was the Reath’s J/80 SW II, suffering in the upwind beats as mentioned above in the early stages of the race.  However, once around the top, the closed rapidly with a 1-3-1 (1st from Winter Harbour to Ucluelet, 3rd from Ucluelet to Victoria Harbour, 1st from Victoria to Nanaimo).  Congratulations to all for having an adventure of a lifetime sailing around the spectacular Vancouver Island!   For more Van Isle 360 Race sailing information