This year’s Scatchet Head race on March 12 was, in one way, exactly the same for all divisions—wet.  Very wet.  It rained from the first start to the last finish, but such things just don’t bother the dauntless sailors aboard 73 yachts gathered for the second race of the CYC Seattle Center Sound Series. 
Almost as constant as the rain was the southerly—which generally increased from 10-12 knots at the start to 20-22 knots by the finish—and the ebb—which went from 9 ft to 1 ft during race time.

With spinnakers hoisting right after the start, boats diverged to three lanes—to the west or east shore or somewhere in the middle.  The new boat in town, Wasabi, a Kernan 44 owned by Greg Slyngstad, went west chasing better pressure, while Neptune’s Car and Flash went east.  When the wind shifted from southeast to more southerly, Wasabi found herself on the wrong side of a significant shift.

After rounding, with the southerly holding, the breeze slowly building, and the ebb continuing, most boats took off for the eastern shore; relatively few went to the west.  It was a long, cold, wet beat of short tacks down the eastern shore.  When finally she came into view, Shilshole was a sight for sore eyes.  In the end, first overall went to Bravo Zulu, Denny Vaughn’s Beneteau 40.7 of Division 1.

The crew of Neptune’s Car delivered another first in Division 0 for owner Paul LaMarche.  Steve Travis’ Flash followed 1:08 later to take second.  Wasabi, the new-to-town Kernan 44 owned by Greg Slyngstad, was splashed less than 24 hours before the start and sailed the day’s conditions well enough to earn third in Division 0.

With one race left in the series, the battle is on!  In the Series standings after two races, Division 0 has Neptune’s Car sitting at the top with 2 points, followed by Flash with 4 points and Artemis with 7. Tight battles are on with every division– four have ties in the top three positions. Division 7 standings include a tie between Kiwi Express and Slick with 4 points each, followed by Muffin with 6 points.  In Division 8, the results for Scatchet Head flipped from those of Blakely Rock for the top three boats so that there is currently a 3-way tie between Kowloon, Blue Martini, and Rubicon, each holding 4 points.  In Division 9, Blakely Rock overall winner Invader held onto first in division with 3 points for a one-point lead over Tuesday with 4 points and Express and Selchie tied for third with 7 points.

In two weeks, on March 26, boats return for the third and final race of the Center Sound Series—the reverse-start Three Tree Point.  Post-race in the clubhouse is sure to be exciting as we wait for results and the Series awards.
Article by Peggy Johnson