CYC Home
March 28, 2009
By Peggy Johnson
It was late in the afternoon of the Pully Point Race, March 28, the third and final race in the Corinthian Yacht Club Center Sound Series. I arrived at CYC to find no sailors. But quickly, my concern that I had missed everything was laid to rest when I observed the Sound through the clubhouse windows. It was dark and stormy, about 25 knots. And the fastest boats were either docking near the boat lift or just crossing the finish line. Banshee, Snake Oil, Dangerous When Striped. Roxanne and Ballistic. Tachyon. Not long after, sailors were making their way into the clubhouse. It grew loud in no time, full of stories of the race.
"How was it? How was the race?" I was eager to learn. My day's race, with the West Sound Sailing Association, was out of Port Orchard and, although wet, was quite mild compared to the finishing conditions I observed at Shilshole for Pully Point. Sailors gave me their hands to feel. "Cold!!!" I heard this over and over. Last Tango's JP Peterson, exclaimed, "It was cold! Absolutely freezing! And we were first! First to turn on the motor…! We couldn't make the time limit."
photo: Borrowed Light
Greg Slyngstad's J/125 Roxanne heads for West Point in a good breeze shortly after the start of the Pully Point Race.
The race started as a cold, hard beat in a 15-20 knot southerly, against the ebb during the fastest current of an 11-foot tide change. The wind gradually shut down towards the south, approaching the Pully Point mark, which is just to the south and east of Three Tree Point. And boy, did it shut down. But I never would have guessed this, as I studied the Sound in the late afternoon as the fastest boats arrived back home. Of the 71 boats that started, forty-one did not finish, unable to make the time limit. Motors were started, and whether under sail or under power, all boats made their way back home against the current, which had switched direction to a flood at about 1:00 pm. Heading north from the mark, near Alki, the wind swung around to a northerly and fortunately, for some classes, gradually and steadily built from about 0 to 30 knots. This wind brought the finishing boats home.
Derek Campbell's Banshee, a Melges 32, won first overall in the Series. Taking second was Steve Travis' Flash, a One Design 48, and in third place was Steve Johnson's and David Lynch's White Cloud, a Cookson 12m.
I spoke with Josh May, who helped bring Greg Slyngstad's Roxanne, a J/125, to second place in Class 1 for the Pully Point race and fourth place overall in the Series. "It was a tough race. Some races are a day out sailing and some are essentially battles... against the elements, against yourself, and against a challenging competitor." What was key to their success, I asked. "Playing the shore and the positive current relief rivers was key. We had current against us, both there and back. Sail changes at the opportune times was very important, as is, of course, team work. We have a really good group on the boat and we work really well together. They are really great to race with. Most importantly, we stayed in the race mentally even though it was easy to get distracted." Perhaps there was talk of beer when the boat speed went to zero. Or hot chocolate....
Don Wills II sailed his Shoot the Moon, a Peterson 40, to first place in Class 5 in the Pully Point race and first overall in Class for the Series. I asked Don about Shoot the Moon's race strategy. "Pully Point turned out to be a rather straight forward race as the wind direction and current pretty much set the tone for the day. STM did the perfunctory stay-to-the-east heading south after the start. We tacked back in a couple of times to stay along the shore at West Point. We went all the way out to the West Point buoy before we turned to the south and headed for Alki. We did this to get out of the strong current that bends around West Point."
Fighting the current, Shoot the Moon made their way towards Pully Point. "From Alki south, we kept ducking into the bays to get out of the current. When the wind was stronger, we stayed in it for as long as it held. Just getting to the Pully Point mark was a chore."
Don continued. "Our main goal was to keep the boat moving and finish the race. We were second overall in our class and had to win to end up in first for the series. The crew was great as they knew we would stick it out until the end."
On the beat home, with a northerly building, Don noted that "we had changed to our #3 headsail, which turned out to be a good call as the wind was blowing 17 knots true. We headed into Elliott Bay for current relief and basically tried to get to Fourmile Rock then up the Magnolia shoreline and around West Point." From there, it was a race to the finish. Shoot the Moon crossed the finish line first in class, followed by the only other boat that finished in their class, Charles Hills' Different Drummer, who also took second overall in Class for the Series.
Although the race was a cold, tough one lasting almost 8 ½ hours for Shoot the Moon, Don felt good. "On Shoot the Moon, the determination and good spirits of the crew are what make it a pleasure to be racing. Now if we can just pump up the air temperature a bit, it will be sailing in paradise!"
I know Jimmy Buffett would agree, as he prefers to sail the warm, clear waters of the south. Me? I'll take the Pacific Northwest any time. We've got some great races and competition going on up here. Next Friday, April 10th, West Vancouver Yacht Club's Southern Straits race begins. CYC boats currently registered include Paul LaMarche's Neptune's Car (Santa Cruz 70), Charles Burnett's Braveheart (TP52), Brian Watkins' Declaration of Independence (Express 37), and Jonathan McKee's Dark Star (Riptide 44), all doing the long course (131 nm), and Jim Lowry's Zorra, a C&C 115, doing the medium course (91 nm). One of the many CYC crew participating in this race, I'll be on Turicum, Warren Hale's C&C 44.
See you all in two weeks, at Corinthian Yacht Club's Puget Sound Spring Regatta, April 18-19, 2009. Join us, as about 100 one-design and PHRF boats compete in a fun weekend of buoy racing.