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Seattle's J/24 fleet won the war of attrition at North Sails Puget Sound Sailing Championships One Design Weekend, held by Corinthian Yacht Club Oct. 3-4 off Shilshole Bay Marina. The lake-based keelboats got off 11 races in up to 30 knots of breeze, as Skiffs and Moths were blown off the course Saturday, and Laser sailors wore out midway through the second day.
The foil-borne Moths were reported to have been pitch-polling and otherwise crashing in the big waves and wind before most of the six competitors gave up the ghost after two races Saturday. Only two of three registered Skiffs even ventured out of the marina, and only one of those sailed even two races.
Photo by Derek Storm
Photo by Bruce Sherman
The Laser Fleet took off on a start Sunday, Oct. 4 on the first weekend of CYC's North Sails Puget Sound Sailing Championships. Dan Falk was the winner of the Laser class. In the photo below, Jack Christiansen of regatta sponsor, North Sails, left, congratulates Eric Sanderson, winner in the J/24 Class. PSSC continues next weekend with the large boat PHRF and one-design classes.
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by Jan Anderson
by Bruce Sherman
by Derek Storm
Obviously exhausted Laser sailors limped off the course after starting with 15 boats Saturday and ending up with only eight finishing their ninth race Sunday, when they agreed to call it quits.
But the J/24s, the heaviest boats out and the only keelboats, made it through the weekend with relatively little carnage, all but a couple of them sailing every race with their spinnakers, while surfing down wind in waves said to be up to about six feet.
The winners were Eric Sanderson and his crew on Suspence, who prevailed on a tie-breaker with John Rahn on Rubber Ducky. Sanderson's victory came in spite of two premature starts, only one of which could be thrown out. Otherwise, he won five of the 11 races and never finished below third.
Big Dan Falk won the Laser Class, winning six of the nine races and finishing 17 points ahead of his closest competition.
Sanderson is a veteran of heavy-air buoy racing, having traveled to the Columbia Gorge numerous times and racing as much as he can when the wind is up on Puget Sound in the fall and in spring.
What were his secrets of success:
"We always as a team try to sail as close to max crew weight (883 pounds on a J/24) as we can," Sanderson said. "It's a bit of a handicap in the lighter air we have here, but you don't have to get too far up the wind scale before that weight is an advantage."
Probably more important, according to Sanderson, is having the boat set up right for the conditions. The Suspence crew watches weather reports carefully, makes its best guess on rig tension and tuning before leaving the dock and fine tunes between races. On Sunday, they moved the mast butt forward slightly to increase the headstay tension.
"It made a noticeable difference," Sanderson said.
Crew experience also was a key. Four of the five on Suspence have sailed together at lease five years and as many as 10. The fifth, though new to the group, is an experienced J/24 trimmer.
"Heavy air exposes weaknesses in crew work," Sanderson observed. "When you make a mistake it tends to have greater impact. Our sets, takedowns and mark roundings went pretty well, and we worked hard at keeping the boat flat."
He also gave credit to Rahn.
"I think he sailed really well, and we had some excellent downwind surfing duels. It was great competition."