South Sound Regional Opening Day is an annual event, normally held the last weekend in April. The event celebrates the official opening of boating season for the South Puget Sound boaters, although for many in SSSS, sailing is year-round! The festivities consist of several events centered around the OYC clubhouse.
The planning is coordinated among several boating clubs starting in January. As SSSS members you are cordially invited to attend all events as well as participate in the planning or volunteer to assist.
Every year is a little different, but usually you can plan on an informal Friday night with beer and chips at OYC. On Saturday, a breakfast is served followed by Opening Day Ceremonies. The Olympia American Legion Band has been providing the music for over 75 years for this event. The ceremonies include introduction of the Lakefair Princesses, the Commodore and bridge of each club, and a welcome from the Commodore of the Olympia Yacht Club.
In early afternoon the parade of boats commences. There is a parade theme and several skippers dress their boats accordingly. There are trophies for numerous categories in the parade. It starts near the yacht club and takes a route through Budd Inlet where the Commodores of each club review the boats. SSSS members are encouraged to participate, ensuring a healthy representation of sailboats amidst the powerboats.
The afternoon usually includes with some other water-related events and is topped off with a barbecue back at the Yacht Club.
Opening Day is a great way to have fun and enjoy the camaraderie of other boating enthusiasts.
Our Vice Commodore represents SSSS for Opening Day. Look for more details in early spring, and consider volunteering to help with this fun event.
This special event, which coincides with Presidents’ Day weekend in February, is part of the Southern Sound Series. It is co-hosted by SSSS and the Olympia Yacht Club.
Toliva Shoal is a full weekend of events, including the race itself. It is our best-attended race and the only one that attracts boats from throughout Puget Sound, commonly drawing 80-100 boats. Many locals who only do one race a year do this one. There is a party the night before that has a reputation in the Puget Sound sailing community as an event all by itself. This is your chance to sample “down Sound” racing without leaving Olympia.
Course:
start and finish between Olympia Shoal and the RC boat, rounding Anderson Island, the Toliva Shoal Buoy, and the buoy in Balch Pass to port. 36.8 nm
This race is not part of our regular SSSS race program. It is run by the Toliva Shoal Race Committee, which represents both SSSS and OYC. You must register in advance and pay an entry fee. It has its own Sailing Instructions, which are different then the instructions in this book.
This is the third race in the four-race Southern Sound Series. The Southern Sound Series Council organizes the series and represents Tacoma Yacht Club, Gig Harbor Yacht Club, Three Tree Point Yacht Club, and of course SSSS and the Olympia Yacht Club.
You are welcome to sail the entire series. Many SSSS boats do. More boats, and tighter classes make great winter racing. It is a good introduction to racing beyond Olympia.
December Vashon Island Race TYC Tacoma January Duwamish Head Race TTPYC Des Moines February Toliva Shoal Race SSSS Olympia March Islands Race GHYC Gig Harbor
For more information on Series Races, including specific dates for the races, Sailing Instructions, entry form, or results, see the Southern Sound Series Office or the Toliva Shoal Race Office.
If you still have questions about these races, contact the Toliva Shoal Race Chair,
the SSSS Representative to the Southern Sound Series Council, or the SSSS Race Chair.
One of the biggest dangers to sailors everywhere is falling or being knocked overboard. Getting someone back to the boat and onto the deck is a much more difficult task than many people realize. Lifting even an average size adult the height of a boat’s freeboard takes more strength than many people have. The best method of retrieving an overboard victim and getting the victim onto the boat is the LifeSling.
The LifeSling is a somewhat complicated looking device, but actually is easy to use with proper instruction. As part of its instructional program, SSSS offers an annual LifeSling clinic to give its members hands-on experience with this important piece of rescue equipment.
The program includes classroom instruction with a step-by-step explanation of how to use the LifeSling and an actual on-the-water rescue carried out by each participant. Basic sailing ability is required. The length of the clinic varies with the wind, but usually goes from mid-morning until late afternoon.
Skippers are encouraged to bring their boat and crew so they all can learn how to use the LifeSling as it is set up on the boat they usually sail. There is also opportunity to participate on someone else's boat, so it is not necessary to have a boat or be part of a crew to participate.
Space is limited, so as to provide each participant with the necessary hands-on experience. Frequently we have to turn away some sailors who want to take the class. Please watch the Ship-to-Shore for registration information. There will be a nominal fee for the class. The LifeSling Clinic is normally scheduled for the first weekend in June. Check the Calendar for the specific date. If you have any questions about the class or registration, please contact one of the officers.
The Hope Island Dash is an opportunity for SSSS members to take advantage of those brisk, steady westerlies that frequent our southern sailing region with a quick dash out and around Hope Island and back. The quickest dash is recognized with the Andrew Jackson Trophy. You don’t have to be a registered racer to do the Dash, and you can do it when the mood strikes you, and the winds are right! In fact, you can do it as often as you like. Following are the Racing Instructions for the Hope Island Dash.
Date: Anytime between the May General Meetings; No race fees required.
Course: Sail around Hope Island, either direction, and return.
Start/Finish Line: Any place on a line across Budd Inlet from an extension of SSSS Race Marks 1 and 4. Line up the dolphins at each end of Olympia Shoal and you’re on the line.
Instructions: Sail the course. Turn in your time within two weeks of doing so, and before the May General Membership Meeting of SSSS. Each contender much submit the following data in writing to the RC Chair for each attempt: Boat name, skipper’s name, date, time of start and finish to the nearest second, and PHRF handicap.
If you do not have a PHRF handicap, please contact the handicapper. You may try more then once and record each attempt. The engine may not be used while on the course. The official distance for correcting times is 13 nautical miles.
Here’s a race that isn’t a race on the water but a race to support one of the organizations that helps to make our community a better place. The Annual Benefit Sailboat Race recognizes the boat that raises the most money for the designated charity organization. This is one race where the slowest cruising boat can correct out over the fastest trimaran.
Recent organizations benefiting from this Benefit Race include Habitat for Humanity, the Thurston County Foodbank, and Safeplace.
The Pacific Handicap Racing Fleet of the Northwest is the organization that sets our handicaps. They supply our local Handicapper the information he needs to handicap our boats, so that our local racing is fair. And, just in case you do not feel it is fair, the organization has system for appealing a handicap. Finally, PHRF enables us to race in other clubs events, up and down the Sound, in Oregon, on Vancouver Island, and on inland lakes in the NW, without getting an other handicap.
PHRF is a “performance based” system: it uses past performance of your boat and sister ships to establish your handicap. This makes it easy, cheap, and quick to get a handicap. You do not have to haul your boat and have it measured. Yet it does a good a job of handicapping a fleet as diverse as ours.
We currently use “time on distance”. To get your corrected time you multiply your handicap by the course distance in NM, then subtract that number of seconds from your finish time: finish time - (handicap X distance) = corrected time.
The following is a quick way to figure out how much time in seconds you owe another boat: subtract her handicap from yours and multiply this number by the distance. A negative number means you owe her that many seconds, a positive means she owe you.
PHRF is made up of racers. You need to be a PHRF member to have your rating current. That means need to pay your annual dues in January. To join and get a handicap, see our handicapper.
SSSS is a Member of PHRF. As such, we have a Director on the PHRF Board, who has voting power based on the number of individual PHRF Members in the Club. The Board sets policy and handles the money. SSSS's Handicapper is a local racer and a voting member of the Handicapper's Council, which sets handicaps.
For more information read your PHRF Roster. There you will find more information about the handicaps and the Bylaws. PHRF also has a web site. And our Director or Handicapper would be happy to talk with you about PHRF.
PHRF Director and/or Handicapper
The US Sailing Association, USSA, is the national governing body for the sport of sailboat racing. The job of the USSA is to provide support and encouragement to all who love the sport of sailing. USSA is responsible for the USA’s participation in the Olympics. They have developed a program to teach people, particularly kids, to sail, and to teach the people who will teach it.
USSA hosts several national championships yearly, for men, women, kids, teams. The Association also oversees Safety-at-Sea and Community Sailing.
And whether it is PHRF keelboats in Budd Inlet or dinghies at the Youth Champs, USSA is the final word on the rules and regulations that govern. USSA represents all American sailors to the International Sailing Federation where the Racing Rules of Sailing are formulated.
South Sound Sailing Society is a member of USSA and supports its efforts. Many of our Members are also individual members of the Association. Our involvement takes many forms. We have been involved from the beginning in the re-writing of the rules of sailing in an attempt to make them more easily understood by those who use them.
The Society is represented at the national level on a number of Association boards.
For more information, see the USSA web page,
or the International Sailing Federation web page
The Pacific International Yachting Association, PIYA, is the regional organization that oversees sailboat racing in the NW. It represents sailors in Alaska, British Columbia, Washington, Idaho and Oregon.
PIYA was the first organization to develop a category certificate that specifies safety equipment necessary to race in different conditions, and it is updated yearly. You can download a category certificate. PIYA appoints the association appeals committee to hear any appeal that is made of any protest that is heard in USSA Area H-East; their decision can be appealed to the US Sailing Appeals Committee.
South Sound Sailing Society is a member of PIYA. We use the PIYA category certificates; some of our races require each boat to meet Category 3 requirements. Our membership in PIYA and USSA is allows our Members to participate in races put on by other sailing organizations who are also PIYA members.
We have a long history of participation in these bodies and look forward to your input.
For more information, see the PIYA web page.
South Sound Sailing Society’s monthly Meetings provide a great opportunity for socializing, making new friends, and expanding your horizon, all with people who share your love of sailing.
Meetings are held on the second Tuesday of every month, from September through June. SSSS meets at the Olympia Yacht Club, OYC, next door to Bayview Marketplace in downtown Olympia. Doors open at 1900 for socializing; the Meeting starts at 1930.
With the exception of two Meetings, described below, regular meetings typically follow a standard format. The first 30 minutes or so are dedicated to general SSSS business. This is when you’ll learn about upcoming events, provide input to proposed changes in race or other procedures, and generally stay abreast of all that SSSS is involved in. After a brief break to replenish your beverage and finish conversations started before the meeting, the second part of the Meeting begins.
This part of the Meeting is dedicated to presentations from guest speakers. It is highly anticipated, frequently affording standing room only for those who arrive late. Guest presenters are often well-known people from the sailing community who visit SSSS to share their expertise or adventures in racing or cruising or some other aspect of sailing. Other times, the presentation is conducted by one of the Sailing Society’s own members who share interesting adventures or trips.
Within one year, guest presenters included circumnavigator Nancy Erley, sailboat designer Robert Perry, Starpath Navigation School founder David Birch, cruising author Migel Scherer, master rigger Brion Toss, the Budd Bay Chantey Singers, and SSSS’s own Ken Russell. Guest presenters are arranged by the Member-at-Large, who solicits input from members as to speakers and topics of interest. The caliber of speakers and presentations draws many South Sound Sailing Society members to the Meetings, which enhances the overall social and networking aspects of the Meeting.
Twice a year, SSSS substitutes its traditional meeting format for food and celebration. The December Meeting is occasion for a holiday potluck. The June Meeting is a great excuse for a bar-b-que potluck and awards ceremony. SSSS members are fantastic cooks and these potlucks are a terrific opportunity to simply visit with sailing friends old and new. Look for details of these potlucks in the Ship-to-Shore.
The Ship-to-Shore (S-t-S) is the official newsletter of the South Sound Sailing Society.
It is published monthly from September though June and mailed to each Member immediately
before each General Membership Meeting. All amendments to the Sailing Instructions are published in it. There is an On Line version. There are marine related classified ads and a list of those wanting to crew as well as skippers looking for crew. Members may place an ad.
Ad Policy : Ditty Bag, Commercial, Crew Sheet Policy
The Ship-to-Shore is a publication by Members of SSSS. It includes informative articles from Sailing Society Officers. But much of it reflects contributions and interests and experiences of SSSS members in general:
If you have something to contribute, we would like to encourage you to do so. The Ship-to-Shore is as popular as it is because of these diverse contributions. See the S-t-S Style Sheet a guide for submissions.
Assistance with mailing the S-t-S is also welcomed.
Labeling and mailing parties typically proceed each General Meeting.
Please call the editor if you wish to participate.
Next : Deadline, Mailing Party, Mailing Date
The Club House was started in 1996. Gary Ray donated the space, so we put up a temporary structure. We moved to a new address in 2001 when Steve Roth gave us a larger space. We got our own domain name in 2004.
What will you find here?
It is organized so that you can go through it in many ways. For a chronological approach there is the calendar; entries are linked to articles about them. The PHRF Fleet Office, Portsmouth Fleet Office, Star Fleet Office, Cruise Office, and Women’s Group Office provide details of their respective programs: such as the Cruise schedule, or all this year’s changes to the Sailing Instructions. The Toliva Shoal Race Office has information about the Toliva Shoal Race.
The Ship-to-Shore on-line may get out a little ahead of the printed version, particularly in the summer when there is no printed version. Old articles are kept if they are informative and / or entertaining.
The Bar has photos of SSSS events, a collection of sailing magazines, links to some entertaining sailing sites, and a space for Members to voice their opinions.
The Business Office has information about SSSS, including a membership application form and a form for ordering SSSS items by mail.
Racing down Sound? The Southern Sound Series office has information about the entire series: Sailing Instructions, results, entry forms. There are links to other NW yacht clubs for events and results. There is a generic entry form in the RC Office, copied from 48 North, that should be good enough for most races. We try to post results of SSSS boats that have raced in other places.
There are also links to weather reports, tide data, a cruising guide, the Racing Rules of Sailing, and other useful tools. If you want to know all that is here, you will have to look. It keeps changing.
If you have questions or would like to post an item, contact an officer.