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By Peggy Johnson
This year's Seattle Yacht Club Grand Prix Invitational Regatta conjured for me the Six Suites for Unaccompanied Cello by Johann Sebastian Bach. It was huge, dramatic, heart-thumping action—on the last day, at least. But hearts were thumping beforehand, too, during the four and a half days leading up to the start Friday afternoon. Since the Monday before the regatta, sailors were watching the approach of a storm towards the Pacific Northwest coast. Fueled by a low pressure system over the eastern Pacific, it persisted in the models day after day and was projected to bottom out at 961 millibars Sunday afternoon, the last day of the regatta. With such an extreme low sitting in the eastern Pacific for several days, large waves would hit our coast—and these indeed peaked at 40-45 feet Monday morning after Grand Prix. But all indications were that the low would remain west of the coast and near the north end of Vancouver Island. This means that the most dramatic storm effects expected would be along the coast. The Puget Sound—and we sailors—would be spared the worst of it. However, northwest Washington and the Straits of Juan de Fuca had a forecast of a rather hearty 20-45 knots for Sunday. This is what the sailors of Grand Prix had been anticipating for days.
By the time the three-day regatta began Friday October 22, the system had divided into three distinct weather events, and the first was in progress. This one was rather weak with some rain and light wind in Puget Sound. The low pressure cell was doing a slow dance around the eastern Pacific, building isobars and wave height, while Grand Prix yachts sailed to Suite No. 1 in G major—the familiar mid-distance race in a light southerly. The big boats, in Class 1, were sent on the longest course—30 miles—so long, in fact, that they were still racing when the other classes finished. Yachts in Classes 1 and 2 completed their race in 4½ to 6 hours while those in Classes 3 and 4 finished in 4 to 5 hours and those in Classes 5 and 6 finished in 2½ to 3½ hours. With the southerly diminishing towards the end of the race, it was fortunate all boats finished within the time limit. The boat that most severely tested that limit was Strider, who crossed the line with just 43 seconds to spare. After racing, at the Corinthian Yacht Club, crews of the slower boats were able to have their fill of pizza and beer before the fast boats were even off the race course. Boats in the six classes that took a bullet in this Race 1 were Flash, Tachyon, Tantivy, Dos, Gaucho, and More Uff Da.
The second weather event arrived Saturday morning. This one was supposed to be stronger and wetter, but in the Sound, the storm manifested as a light southeasterly to easterly, shifty and fickle—this was Suite No. 4 in E-flat major. The Race Committee did a great job with what we were dealt. Marks had to be moved and there were postponements and some delays, but all in all, one couldn’t be disappointed. There were up to four buoy races, and there was no rain and some sunshine. Afterwards, it was back to Corinthian Yacht Club for the post-race socializing. Yachts with the lowest Saturday score were: Class 1, Flash, four bullets. Class 2, Tachyon, three bullets and a third. Class 3, Uno, with two bullets and a fourth. Class 4, Dos, two bullets and a second. Class 5, South Lake Union Trolley, with one bullet , a third, and a fourth. Class 6 had three boats tied for the low score of 4 points: More Uff Da, Moore-on, and Sputnik.
Sunday arrived and along with it, the third and largest weather event. By now, the extratropical cyclone had been dancing to the cello suite in the east Pacific for a number of days and the low had deepened to a forecast 961 mb for 2 pm Sunday. For days, sailors had been anticipating 30 knots. Would we get it? The day was shaping up to be Suite No. 6 in D major. The Race Committee decided to go with a buoy format, and racing began in 15 to 20 knots. Just as the four big boats of Class 1 crossed the start line in tight formation, Dark Star’s main began to drop, but almost no time was lost before they rehoisted with the spinnaker halyard. The wind built over this first race. Three boats did not finish. By the start of the second race, the wind was 20-25 knots, and eight boats decided not to come. Of those that did, five did not finish, including the Rocket 22, who lost their rig. By the start of the third race, there was 30 knots of wind with gusts to 40. Thirty one boats retired for the day, leaving only 16 boats to compete in the eighth and final race of the regatta.
One crew member on the Grand Prix race course this year was long-time Seattle sailor, Sheila McKee, who is thoroughly enjoying a recent resurgence in the racing world. Years ago, Sheila and her then-husband Bates owned and raced one of the first boats built by Bill Buchan, Sr.— the first he built for sale— which they named Vivace for Sheila's love of music. As the years went by, Sheila retired from sailing in order to develop her career of teaching sailing as a means to raising her four young children, who all became sailors. Teaching at Bellevue Community College and a couple other colleges in the area, Sheila put together classes in dinghies and keel boats, leasing boats and persuading owners of larger boats to use their yachts for teaching and in return, they would have the opportunity to look over crew prospects. While enjoying her career and watching all four of her children grow up into sailors of distinction, she did miss cruising and racing. That brings us to the fortunate event of last April, when she attended a particular Seattle Yacht Club event.... which absolutely might not have happened if Joy Okasaki and her husband Mike Johnson, who was a student of Sheila's at Bellevue CC, hadn't told her about the event. It was a talk to be given by Sheila's son Jonathan to raise money for the Leukemia Cup. Sheila went, and there she found Phil Johnson, an early acquaintance who years ago competed in the same class as Sheila and Bates. They shared memories of those early racing years, and Phil asked Sheila to crew on his boat Tiga, which she has done happily. She went on to race the Leukemia Cup this year on Steve Travis' Flash.
For Grand Prix, Sheila crewed with Phil on Tiga. Friday and Saturday they had additional crew, but Sunday— for the heavy air— they were on their own after several crew members were unable to sail as planned. Sheila was at the helm. "I knew it was going to blow," Sheila told me, still emanating the excitement of that day. "We didn't finish— I'll tell you that right now! We reefed the main and used a small jib. At the leeward mark, we got an override on the jib sheet. Phil got that free, we tacked, and we touched the buoy. There was some debate as to whether we had to do a 360 or a 720, but it didn't matter. I told Phil, 'I don't want to do this.' Not in 30 knots of breeze! Doublehanding....! You know... I'm 77." I smiled and shook my head in disbelief and wonder and admiration. Yes, I have to agree "Vivace" was a very good name for her Buchan boat, but it would be an even better nickname for Sheila herself.
By the end of Sunday, there was quite a bit of damage—one lost rig and some mains and spinnakers—but a lot less than might have been since so many boats retired. There were man-overboards, one capsize, and a severe hand injury with broken bones—cauterization by extreme rope burns prevented excessive bleeding. No doubt part of the decision to retire for some boats was that they had another race to do in just two weeks—Round the County, co-hosted by Orcas Island Yacht Club and the Friday Harbor Sailing Club— and they simply did not want to risk being on the hard or out of sails for that fabulous race.
The long weekend of Grand Prix racing was summed up this way by Al Johnson. “We had our conditions on Pegasus (Soverel 33) on Friday and Saturday and were in 3rd place as of the end of Saturday. Sunday was another story. After some tense port/starboard crossings and an 8th place finish in the first race of the day, we decided that the chance of a collision or major damage on a day of buoy races with lots of boats in tight proximity in big breeze was way too high, so we headed for home. We took a detour over to Port Madison, and everyone on the crew who wanted to drive got a chance to steer. After eating our lunches and taking a scenic harbor tour, it was time for a rough sail back to Shilshole in 30 knots of breeze.”
The awards party held at Seattle Yacht Club following racing on Sunday was a grand affair with dinner served buffet style. Awards were given out, and scattered between them were stories of the weekend’s racing and the history of the Grand Prix over the years.
Racing Grand Prix is always exciting. About all one can be sure of is that the varied autumn weather in the Pacific Northwest—when the leaves come falling down—can bring everything from no wind to 30-40 knots and from sunshine to rain to snow. The Cello Suites by Bach are a perfect accompaniment, with their varied emotional expression and deep intimacy. And just as the individual movements work together to make the suite, crew members do the same to make the race. Josh May, bowman on Steve Travis’ Flash, put it all in perspective. “On days like Sunday, a little extra breeze always adds a whole new meaning to teamwork. I like the windy days—they take us out of the comfort zone just enough to remind us of the importance of the team and the respect we owe the elements and the boats we race.”
Next year's Grand Prix will bring some changes. Brian Watkins, Racing Activities Chair of Seattle Yacht Club, offers a few incentives for GP 2011, designed to get more boats out, get them registered earlier, and encourage one-design fleets to participate:
With that said, here's looking forward to next year’s Grand Prix Invitational. In the meantime, the next race up on the SARC calendar is Round the County. Good luck to all, and be safe!