Shrek in Penn Cove, 2010

Northwest sailboat racers are turning their attention to Oak Harbor next week as Whidbey Island Race Week gets underway, with a CYC crew led by Principal Race Officer Charley Rathkopf running the on-the-water action.

Rathkopf expects to run the racing the same as he has in past years, setting courses in Penn Cove in westerly conditions and in Saratoga Passage when it blows from the south.

If a good, strong southerly takes hold on one of the days, he said he plans to run a 25- to 30-mile long-distance race, for which there are provisions in the race instructions.

“It would be the only race for the day and it would count double,” Rathkopf said. He said the Melges 24 fleet has asked to have only short courses,  which he would set while other boats take the long route.

Rathkopf’s first mate on CYC’s committee boat, YC V, will be his wife Schelleen, who will keep time and will manage the rest of the crew. Catherina Picha will be the scorer. Others helping out will be Joyce and Stan Butchard, Joyce’s sister Lorraine Carter, and four or five people from Oak Harbor.

A second committee boat, the Oak Harbor-based Gopher Baroque, will again facilitate race management this year.

Whaler drivers will be Kealan Haynie, Alex Mathers, and Jeb Bins, the one with the cowboy hat.

More than 100 boats are registered for the regatta this year. To go to the event website, click here.