D1, 2012

It was good to get the old team and boat back together last night and go tear up the race course. We had great conditions for a fully powered up sail last night with 8 to 12 knots out of the North and despite the ominous forecast no thunderstorms in sight. The course was set as SDXDXAF and we were off. It was a square line for a change so we set up closest to the pin just under the Martin 242 who was just to leeward of the big J. The Martin quickly got squirted out the back getting a mouthful of dirt from us and the J29. We had to maneuver around Animal Manor as we tacked our way to the lay line and rounded a fair distance behind behind J. We sat in this position for the remainder of the race slowly losing ground to them on the upwind and quickly closing the distance on the downhill. That J29 is an amazing all around boat. It is like a locomotive that will run anything down in its path. Unless we get conditions with winds above 15 knots that allow us to plane we usual get waterlined with little chance to recover. It is such an unusual race course that we sail on here in Kelowna with unpredictable winds and anything but windward leeward marks. The lack of any passing lanes and such a diverse fleet make for a very interesting dynamic. The latest race results to date are now posted on the website but keep in mind that they do not yet show the 3 throw outs that will be applied for the entire summer season at the end of August. Happy sailing.

M

WIRW 2012 Day 5 Wrap Up

The fleet did end up heading out into Penn Cove on Friday with light rain but steady 5 knot winds out of The West. We managed to get off one final race for PHRF 8 and it was a good one. The boat I had been helming all week had to return to Seattle early so I was invited on another J80, Crazy Ivan. The boat was owned until recently by the infamous Chris White and is immaculate in every way. I got to call tactics and do some coaching and judging by the smiles on the crews faces they must have been quite happy with their 3rd place finish just 10 seconds out of second place. 2012 was a light air event with half of Monday and Tuesday spent under the AP flag but still a blast in every way. I can't wait for next year. See you back on the KYC Wednesday night start line.

M

WIRW 2012 Day 5

Not looking good for day 5 of race week this year. We have 4 1/2 hours to go before the first gun and have had steady heavy rain and thunder showers for a while now. I hope things start to clear off quickly.

WIRW 2012 Day 5

Not looking good for day 5 of race week this year. We have 4 1/2 hours to go before the first gun and have had steady heavy rain and thunder showers for a while now. I hope things start to clear off quickly.

WIRW 2012 Day 4

Today was an exceptional day of racing in Penn Cove. We had steady West wind at about 8 knots for most of the day. The RC got off two races for most fleets. We raced that J80 as hard as it could race under these conditions and turned in two solid performances. We managed to beat the shiny new J70 across the line the first race and on corrected time for race two. So much for it being a light air rocket. It was another great day for Okanagan sailors with Alan Barnes on board Octopussy taking home double bullets in the PHRF sport boat fleet with Aaron L in second place. Just one more full day of sailing before heading back to our local race course. I sure miss the heat.
M

WIRW Day 4

Looks like a sunny start and a little more breeze up here in Oak Harbor. Let's hope it holds.

Big Winners Today

First place phrf sport boat fleet for today. Aaron Jim Steve and Jeff. Congratulations.

WIRW 2012 Day 2

We finally had a full day of racing out here in Penn Cove with steady winds out of the West at about 5 knots all day. We had a crap first race and a stelar second race. Aaron L on SLUT finally got his dream of winning a race besting the sister ship Octopussy by a considerable margin. The startline is giving me the most headache of the race course. It is an entirely different strategy when the current
is pulling you accross the line even when you are sailing away from it. Tomorrow will be the day we finally nail the start. Good luck to everyone at home on race night tonight.

M

WIRW 2012 Day 2

Another light air day on the race course out here in Penn Cove today with winds constantly doing 360 degree turns and about 5 knots of breeze. They only seem to be able to run races with a Westerly wind and constant pressure. They tried to start a fleet of T Birds with a Easterly breeze but that resulted in 3 general recalls. The current flows about 2 knots out of the East and with this light wind they were not even able to fetch the startline. We did have a good race once things got rolling. There was a heavy pin end favoured line with many boats trying a pin end port tack approach. I took the mind set of clear air is king and started mid line starboard. We sailed above the whole fleet and flipped over to port taking advantage of the huge current generated lift up to the windward mark layline. We rounded 4th just behind SLUT skippered by Aaron L and quickly managed to roll on top of them. We had an excellent downwind managing to out sail most of the fleet. We were hot on the heels of Octopussy helmed by Alan Barnes as the number 2 boat heading for the leeward mark but got screwed over by a j105 which set us back several boats. We finished strong but surely played the what if game afterwards. Octopussy took the race with a well deserved bullet.

M

WIRW day 1 recap

It was light air for much of the day today with breeze in Pen Cove out of the North. Racing was postponed until about 2 pm waiting for the wind to fill in. It sure feels strange to be postponed in breeze that we would normally race all day in at home. The Rockets did well today in the light air and managed to stay out in front of us most of the way around the race course. In our J80 OD grouping we got a first in race one and even after sailing through a large weed field got a second place finish after a great gybing dual with Crazy Ivan in race two. Now about that rum.

M

WIRW 2012 Day 1

Here we are at the start of another race week down in Whidbey Island. A pretty thin representation of Okanagan sailors this year with only the two rocket 22's and our J80 Skye Rocket hosting our local sailors. It's my privilege to be able to helm the J80 as well as call tactics and trim main so I think I will stay quite busy for the week. We have a good crew but only three of us so the light air that is forecast for today is not all bad news. The owner of our boat is from Oak Harbor so a little insider knowledge of the race course also should not hurt. Looking out the window right now I see low cloud, no wind, and about 10 degrees. Several cool new boats down here this year including the 1 week old J70. I must admit that I look at the ease of with which she is trailered with great envy. Well off to breakfast and I will give a brief recap of the days events before I get lost in the fog that is the end of day rum tent.

M

C3, 2012

We were graced with another almost picture perfect evening for a sailboat race tonight.  Although the very hot temperature we had of about 35 degrees usually gives us dead calm conditions, tonight it came with a steady 5-8 knot breeze out of the North.  The course was SCABAF and with better pressure on the shore the comittee boat was another popular spot on the line.  We had a good start closer to the right side just under J and the C+C 30 and flipped over to port as soon as we could to head for the beach near the Grand.  Flipping back over to starboard we got tacked on by J and sailed neck and neck for a long way up the first beat.  We hit the C mark 3rd just behind GR and J.  We threw in a quick gybe set and back to the better pressure on the Eastern shore.  Most of the fleet elected to sail a more DDW course and we manage to squeeze in front of everyone else until our paths crossed about 4 minutes from the leward A mark rounding.  We got killed with all the dirt coming of the fleet and once again dropped to 3rd for the rounding.  Things improved for us on the beat to B mark when GR was forced into a very expensive 3 boat duck with us leading the charge.  We did another solid gybe set at B mark and pulled into the 2 position behind J.  We were making good gains on J but just couldn't cross them and rounded A mark right on their transom.  Although we were only feet away from them on the rounding we knew this would be a huge problem for us.  There were no passing lanes on the last beat to the finish so we tried the only thing we could and footed off to get a lane and hope for a left shift on the beat.  Unfortunatly it never came and we crossed less than a minute after J.  We were quite happy with a second tonight and continue to make gains in our crew work and tactics.  I will be heading down to Whidbey Island Race Week sailing on another J80 Skye Rocket and will miss next Wednesday's reagatta as well as the Giants Head Regatta in Summerland so if anyone was pictures or a recap they would like posted email them to me so we can all stay informed.

m

C2, 2012

Tonight was definitely an exercise in frustration for our boat from start to finish.  Weather wise we could not have asked for better conditions with a beautiful 8 knots of breeze out of the North.  There must have been a problem with the usual RC boat as they were no where to be seen at the normal start time.  Just as we were  getting ready to find a way to start ourselves the RC came rolling in on the backup sailboat version on the committee boat.  They anchored up to something on the line and we took our sites and marked the start line.  What the fleet didn't know was that the RC boat must have let out about 100 feet of rode and would drift considerably South prior to the gun.  Everyone lined up fighting aggressively for the boat end of the line and a general recall was sounded putting us in the back of the start sequence.  It was painful to see all that beautiful breeze going to waste as we sail back and forth waiting for another start.  Start number two was almost a carbon copy of the first and was the only time I have ever seen a second general recall at the KYC.  The third start was played a little more conservatively with fewer boats crowding the committee boat end and most opting for a midline start.  We were right on the line but in a bad spot being squeezed between two boat on either side of us.  Fortunately we had room to tack over to the shore and did so, finding much better pressure in the process.  At on time we were sailing a much further route towards the upwind D mark but because of the pressure we managed to sail around most of the fleet.  There were quite a few big shifts tonight and the advantage was obvious to always try to be on the lifted tack heading for the shoreline pressure whenever possible.  The rest of the course took us back to ACAF.  We manage to settle into third place slowly reeling in GR and J on the downwinds but due to some let's say, unremarkable corners, we could not continue building on those gains on the uphill.  We crossed the line 3rd with a considerable lead over the next boat and will just have to hope that the corrected time does not push us further back in the rankings.