The 2007-2008 Southern Sound Series is history. Descriptions of the four races may be found below.
This Series was similar to those in the recent past. Approximately eighty boats registered for each race and about fifty to seventy showed up depending upon the weather. The Cruising Classes, Non Flying Sails and Flying Sails have grown with SSSS sailors dominating the NFS class. A few boats have moved up into the other divisions, thus validating the theory that starting out in a less stressful environment may encourage racing in the faster divisions after a year or two of trying it out.
There were over 40 SSSS boats competing in this Series. Several raced the Toliva Shoal only. This is excellent participation!
Silverheels, skippered by Tucker Smyth, won the new Best Fleet Performance trophy. It is awarded to the boat with the lowest cumulative overall score for all boats for all four races. Tucker was 9th at Winter Vashon, 22nd at Duwamish Head, 2nd at Toliva and 2nd at the Islands Race.
Tacoma Yacht Club took home the Winter Challenge Trophy, the team trophy, as team members Kahuna, Sidewinder and Teaser II proved unbeatable. The Overall Perpetual Trophy, best score in Class for the Series, went to Jon Thompson on Teaser II.
SSSS sailors took home their fair share of Class trophies which will be awarded at the June 10th SSSS pot luck. Pax the Space Spider, 1st, Class A; Still Gladiator, 1st Class C; Bodacious, 1st Class G; Silverheels, 2nd Class C; Something Special, 3rd Class E; Sparrowhawk, 3rd, Class H; Inati 3rd Class I; Havin’ Sun Fun, 1st NFS Cruising Class; Maranatha, 2nd, NFS Cruising Class; and Releaf, 3rd, NFS Cruising Class.
See you next December at Winter Vashon!
Dave Knowlton, Koosah
The last of the four Series races was hosted by the Gig Harbor Yacht Club on Saturday, March 15th. The weather the day before was rainy as was Friday evening. The weather forecast predicted clearing skies for Saturday and light southwest winds. The forecast was correct.
Saturday morning had gun-metal clouds surrounding the Harbor. The start was a drifter. Spinnakers were hoisted and the boats slowly headed north towards the mark at Blake Island 14 miles away. The lighter boats ruled the day. You could see them surge ahead in the few puffs that were found on the course while the heavier boats moved just a little faster. All could see Pax the Space Spider along with Still Gladiator pulling away from the fleet. The winds were gusting from zero to five knots.
The race was an enjoyable spinnaker ride down Colvos Passage. Around 1130 the sun came out. All the boats still were Gunkholing for Wind. Most of the racers were hoping the race would be shortened at the Blake Island mark. It was.
Pax the Space Spider was first to finish and Still Gladiator was first overall. Other South Sound Sailing Society boats to collect silver included Silverheels, 2nd in Class C, Bodacious, 1st in Class G, Balder, 2nd in Class G, and Shattered, 3rd in Class H. SSSS boats did well in the Cruising Classes. Spiff was 1st in Flying Sails and there was a clean sweep in the Non Flying Sails: Havin’ Sun Fun 1st Brandy Lee, 2nd and Releaf 3rd. [Full results are on the Series web site.]
The delivery home turned into a towing exercise! Koosah towed Inati after the finish so she could repair her raw water pump. Rick fixed it after a couple of miles and was able to make it back to Olympia. Around 2200 when rounding Boston Harbor I thought I was seeing double! There were four stern lights ahead that looked weird! Our radar indicated that they were all moving at the same speed and staying the same distance apart. Perhaps a log boom?? The first set of stern lights was Bodacious towing Still Gladiator. Since the race was ended at the north end of Blake Island, Still Gladiator had 14 miles of extra motoring to do with here 3.5 horsepower outboard. She had run out of gas! The next set of lights was Zealot towing Djinn. These are excellent examples of why you should keep your VHF radio on and monitor Channel 16.
The team scoring and overall scoring is on the Series web site. This year’s Series had two windy races, Winter Vashon and Duwamish Head, and two light wind races, Toliva Shoal and the Islands Race. There was increased participation in the two cruising classes. Overall, I think we all had some fun experiences.
Our next race is Winter Vashon, Saturday, December 6th, 2008. See you there!
Dave Knowlton, Koosah
More current than wind! Toliva Shoal lived up to its reputation: either it is blowing like blazes or it is a drifter. The 2008 Race turned out to be a drifter with a twist: current.
The 0930 start for the Cruising Class was postponed for five minutes as the wind started to fill in from the north. It roared in to about 5 knots and stayed that way for the next two hours. Boats beat their way up to Boston Harbor. A few boats found the holes and swiftly found their place at the back of the fleet.
Around noon, the wind shifted to the southwest and spinnakers started flying. Approximately an hour later the wind shifted north again and the number one sails went back up. Most of the crews, throughout the race, were on the leeward rail in an attempt to provide sail shape in the light wind. The current also shifted from the weak flood to the stronger ebb. It was to be over 3 knots by 1600.
Boats from several classes were able to cross tacks with each other because of the holes that were discovered by some of the faster boats. It was encouraging to see Skookum Too back racing. A Martin 241, she was dismasted during the Duwamish Head Race. Skipper George Brown must have been so excited to get back into racing he paid his Toliva entry fee twice! (Your check is in the mail!)
After Johnson Point the Race Committee announced that the race would be shortened near Lyle Point on Anderson Island. You could hear the sighs of relief from the fleet!
Spinnakers were able to carry most of the fleet to the south side of Anderson Island. Then the wind shifted again! Spinnakers down, number one up!
The ebb was strengthening and the wind was light. The key to this finish was not to be swept past the committee boat on the incorrect side! The closest finishes occurred with the G and H classes. Thirteen boats from those classes finished within a ten-minute period, being swept through the line with the ebb current. Several boats were caught on the incorrect side of the committee boat and were unable to get back to the finish line. There were 19 DNfs, most occurring at the finish line.
Over half the of the 75 entries were South Sound Sailing Society/Olympia Yacht Club boats. This is a great show of support for their local race. SSSS boats taking home silver included Pax the Space Spider 2nd Class A; Silverheels 1st Class C; Still Gladiator 3rd Class C; Something Special 1st Class E; Charlemagne 3rd Class F; I-5 1st Class G; Bodacious 3rd Class G; Pandora 3rd Class H; Kaitlin 1st Class I; Inati 3rd Class I; Rushwind 1st Flying Sails Cruising Class; Maranatha 1st non flying sails Cruising Class; Releaf 2nd NFS Cruising Class; and Silent Partner 3rd NFS Cruising Class.
Not withstanding the light winds and strong currents, all who attended had a great time and a delicious meal at the welcoming party Friday night!
Our final race of the Southern Sound Series will be the Islands Race hosted by the Gig Harbor Yacht Club on March 15th. Details are on the web site along with all of the results and photos of the first three races.
Dave Knowlton, KoosahIt is early February as this is written. Since the Duwamish Head Race report has been published and the Toliva Shoal Race is not yet completed now would be a convenient time write about a different topic: Is your boat ready?
The Winter Vashon and Duwamish Head races were gear busters. The weather provided snow, rain, cold, reduced visibility, winds gusting into the 40s, and some large waves. These conditions contributed to a dismasting, several men overboard, ripped sails, miscellaneous gear broken and several did not finishes.
Your boat and crew should be as prepared as you can make them, whether you race or cruise.
All racers in the Southern Sound Series must meet Category III requirements as outlined in the Pacific International Yachting Association checklist. This list must be signed by the skipper and kept on board when racing. The PIYA checklist is an excellent guide to improve the seaworthiness of your boat. You may obtain a copy of it from www.ussailing.net/piya/. This four-page document outlines the minimum requirements for each of the five categories, 0 thru IV. Racers are subject to inspection at any time to ensure compliance with their category requirements. Inspections don’t occur too often in the Southern Sound Series, but we have been inspected every time for the Oregon Offshore and Swiftsure races.
Some of the requirements you may not be able to meet. You cannot change your boat design. Measurements such as limit of positive stability, minimum average freeboard, cockpit drain sizes, cockpit volume and location of the companion way are dependent upon your boat design. There are numerous items, however, that you can accomplish to improve the seaworthiness of your yacht. They range from adding soft wood plugs next to all thru hulls, updating your first aid kit and installing a radar reflector.
Since we race Koosah in Swiftsure, this will be our 12th race, we must meet Category I requirements. One of these is to have a separate emergency steering apparatus to steer the boat in event of a rudder loss. For years our plan was to use the spinnaker pole with a piece of plywood attached to serve as the emergency rudder. Our backup plan was to steer with the sails. One summer we tested both of these plans. They did not work well! The plywood turned sideways and started to float at the end of the spinnaker pole. The sails sort of worked but not really. Our solution was purchase an SOS emergency rudder from Scanmar Marine, which also makes the Monitor wind vane. The SOS rudder works great, but as the instructions state: stop racing and just head for the nearest port!
Another Category I requirement is a life raft. This is expensive and hopefully something that is never deployed. It costs about $1000 every three years to have it serviced; PIYA requires service every two years. We always carry it aboard, even when we cruise in the summer. You could use your dinghy as a life raft if you cruise in inland waters.
Koosah had her lifelines replaced last October. The old ones with the white plastic coating around the stainless steel life lines were about 20 years old. When we pulled the old ones off and shaved off some of the plastic, you could see where corrosion was weakening the line under the plastic. The life lines were replaced with 3/16" uncoated #316 stainless steel.
So, go ahead and print out the PIYA list and start improving your boat. Perhaps the most important item not mentioned in the checklist is Practice using your emergency gear on your boat with your entire crew.
Hope this has been preaching to the choir.
Dave Knowlton, Koosah
Duwamish Destruction! That could unofficially be the title of this years’ race sponsored by the Three Tree Point Yacht Club on January 5th, 2008.
The weather forecast called for gale warnings, and sure enough it was accurate. The forecast perhaps contributed to the decision of several sailors not to enter the race; the number of boats was down from the Winter Vashon Race.
The start was near the pier at the Des Moines Marina. This allowed the race committee a level place to conduct the race. In years past the committee boat would be rocking and rolling regardless of the wind direction. There is at least ten miles of open fetch at Des Moines, north and southwest.
After the start most boats headed up towards the middle of the channel in anticipation of then heading down for a spinnaker hoist to clear Three Tree Point and the sleigh ride to Alki Point 13 miles down wind. That is when the destruction began! Most of the big boats seemed to do this OK. They started surfing and seemed to be under control. The slower boats had difficulties. Everyone was rigged to hoist, but held back as the first in the slower fleets hoisted and then either broached a few times or ripped the sail into shreds! That convinced the Koosah crew that a main and #2 were more than enough sail area for this leg of the race! There are some excellent photos of boats surfing at Sean Trew’s web site, www.pacificfog.net. [Links to photos by Sean and others are on the Series web site.]
As the fleet approach Three Thee Point, all were jerked into reality of how dangerous it could be out on the water. There was a 35-foot-plus boat on her side being dashed to pieces on the rocks in front of the homes on the Point. We discovered later that she was not in the race, but she served as a reminder of what could go wrong. (See photo on Sean’s web site, )
Radio calls suddenly filled the air! MAN OVERBOARD! A sailor on a J-105 was in the water! Then again! Someone on a Melges 24 overboard! Then a dismasting on a smaller boat in the back of the fleet! I also heard that one of our members, Eric Rimkus on Still Gladiator, went overboard. All were recovered and the dismasted boat motored slowly back to Des Moines. The race committee chase boats did an outstanding job of keeping track of all the emergencies and the status of each recovery.
Tucker Smyth on Silverheels, a Synergy 1000, had his spinnaker up all the way and was blasting away at 17 knots to Alki Point! Gerry Gilbert on Wild Turkey, an Olson 30, also was surfing and green water was coming over the foredeck and filling the cockpit when the nose would bury in a wave.
Rounding Alki Point the waves subsided but the wind did not. Koosah, having been in these conditions several times before and being a 1970 IOR boat, read heels easily with too much sail, knew that a double reef in the main and a #3 would be the combination to take us home! We made these adjustments prior to rounding Duwamish Head dolphin.
The reach across to Blakely Rock was a lumpy ride! The crew on Balder elected to go with main alone and Duke, a Catalina 36 which moved up from last years’ cruising class, found out that their headsail was much too large and was unable to hoist a replacement headsail.
After rounding the Rock, it was a beat back to the finish. Several boats which didn’t have reef points in their main wish they had. Some were seen sailing with only a jib. Gary Pedigo on Charlemagne, a J-36, was racing under main alone. Something must have broken. The winds were in the 20’s and gusting into the 30’s. The waves were rather large and when a boat fell of one you could hear the booming crash! Colin Roberts on Sparrowhawk, a J-30, after ripping his spinnaker at the start had another unfortunate adventure. The through hull in the head started letting in water and soaked the inside of the boat! They fixed it before any major damage, but Colin and his crewmember Terry had to spend a night in a Tacoma motel since the inside of Sparrowhawk was soaked!
Bob Connolly on Pandora, a Cal 36, discovered that his #3 was too large for the conditions and elected to beat back with his storm jib. That cost him time and he mentioned looking around for a new #3! John Martens on his new J-30, Djinn, seemed to be doing well considering this is his first year with that boat.
About half way up the beat we passed Bill Hutchinson on Havin’ Sun Fun in the Cruising Class. The boat looked good going to weather and the crew was havin’ sun fun, although there was little sun. Bill placed first, again, in his class. That boat is a true winner, and it is for sale!
The forty boats that finished did so before dark. There were at least 18 boats that did not finish. Top honors go to the smallest boat in the fleet, a Moore 24, Lowly Worm, sailed by Andy Schwenk. South Sound Sailing Society boats taking home silver include Silverheels, 3rd in Class C, Something Special, 3rd in Class E, Time Warp, 2nd in Class G, Koosah, 3rd in Class H, and Havin’ Sun Fun, 1st in Non Flying Sails Cruising Class. Bodacious, Still Gladiator, Blue Canary and Sparrowhawk placed 4th in their classes. Results are posted on the Series web site.
Well done Three Tree Point Yacht Club!
[Peter tells us how he sailed Time Warp to third OA.]The next race in the series is Toliva Shoal on 16 February 2008. This is a non delivery race for most SSSS sailors, so there is no reason not to be out there on the water, either in your boat or as crew!
Dave Knowlton, Koosah
What a blast!! The race lived up to its name, winter!
The festive mood started early Friday afternoon as the boats from all over the Sound came to raft up at the Tacoma Yacht Club. Sailors renewed aquaintenances and made the last minute preparations required before every race.
The dinner was stupendous. Great salad, outstanding pasta and meatballs and two types of sauce, toped by rolls and free beer! The Tacoma Yacht Club knows how to throw a pre-race party! The sweat shirts were well worth the $20 price, plus a ticket for a drawing later in the evening. Drawing prizes included a free haul out and power wash! The class breaks were posted around 2000. Teams were formed and most sailors headed home or for their boat.
All knew what the weather report said: cold, snow, sleet, and strong winds. Most sailors were apprehensive as they headed for the rack that night. Morning brought cold but no precipitation, at least at the Yacht Club. The breakfast served at the clubhouse ensured all had their protein and hot beverage.
The start was a slow broad reach across the line. After clearing the line most classes hoisted the spinnaker and headed for Colvos Passage. It was a spinnaker run to the north end of Vashon Island. The slower boats could look behind and see the snow approaching. It looked like a scene from a Christmas card, white on the trees and fog on the water. All now realized that the weather report was accurate.
After rounding the buoy on the north end of Vashon, boats beat their way through the snow and headed towards Point Robinson. The visibility was around a quarter of a mile at times and there were a couple of squalls that provided interesting views of boat bottoms. After rounding Point Robinson, most could close reach to the finish.
Twnty two SSSS boats sailed Winter Vashon this year. Over 92 boats registered to race.
South Sound Sailing Boats taking home silver included our newest member, Eric Rimkus sailing on a Cheetah 30, Still Gladiator. Eric placed first in C Class and 2nd overall! Eric sailed Gladiator, a Martin 242 from Rose City Yacht Club in Portland, last year in the Series and did well. Gladiator is the former Young Lust which sailed in South Sound for years.
Others placing in the top three: Rod Tharp on his new F-32 Trimaran, Pax the Space Spider, 3rd in Class A; Rafe Beswick on Zealot, 2nd in Class F; J Rosenbach with Bodacious, 1st in Class G; Bill Hutchinson on Havin’ Sun Fun, 1st in Non Flying Sails Cruising Class; and Richard Bigley with Osa, 3rd in NFS Cruising Class. Full results are on the Series site.
The big question: When to return to Olympia?? The winds had picked up around 1600, just like the weather report said. The winds for the next day were predicted to be even worse. It would be OK if we had a Seattle delivery, with the wind and waves at our back, but we would have over twenty miles of that stuff in our face!
Kelly Coon and I elected to return, along with Bodacious and some other boats who left earlier, to Olympia that night. We cast off the lines around 1730 from the Tacoma Yacht Club. The ride to Point Defiance was smooth, we were in the lee! Upon rounding Point Defiance, the wind picked up. When we hit Point Evans we knew it was going to be an interesting ride home! The only advantage of traveling at night is that you cannot see the sleet and snow hitting your face or the size of the waves hitting your boat! By the time we were abeam of the Cement Dock we were down to 3 knots because of the huge waves and wind. The current was flooding, thus helping our progress, but also contributing to the wave height. It was a long slog to the McNeil Island Prison dock where the waves started to diminish with the shelter of Anderson Island.
Traveling at night presents scenes that you seldom see in the day. As we passed the McNeil Island Prison dock, a sail boat with a full main and #1 jib was over in the lee near the Anderson Island ferry dock. A boat behind it had a spot light on it and was following it. Then all of a sudden blue lights went on from the boat and it was the Coast Guard. Another boat then illuminated red and yellow lights. We never could figure out what was going on! We just kept slogging on towards Olympia, hoping that we would not be stopped as we had been a few years before.
The return home was also a test. Kelly was testing his combination of clothing, wet weather gear, boots, socks, hats, gloves, face mask, and what ever else could keep him warm and dry. You will have to ask him what the solution is! I climbed into a Mustang Ocean Commander survival suit and was dry and mostly warm all the way home. I did learn that with the survival suit you also need wool gloves and a wool hat to be really warm. You don’t find this out in a swimming pool test during the summer!
As Kelly gently stepped off Koosah onto the dock steps covered with two inches of slush I could hear him mummer, “How could those square rigger sailors make it around the Horn?” My wife’s reply to this was “They didn’t keep doing this after age 40!”
We tie Koosah up and headed for the car. It was 2230 and we were exhausted. Guess next year I’ll get a dodger and auto pilot for Koosah!
OK! Duwamish Head, on January 5th, is next. Then our own Toliva Shoal! SSSS sailors always have a good showing for this race. It is conducted in the most beautiful part of the Sound and also has the most currents! Come on out and give it a try! February 16th!
Dave Knowlton, Koosah
It is SSSS’s turn to head the Southern Sound Series Council. For the next two years Dave will be Council Chair.
Ed.