'Round Whidbey 2003

The Story

The Story, Results and Photos!

"What a great sight!" whooped the Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts at Rocky Point -- 5 nautical miles down the course. The Round Whidbey racers had already begun to separate into two groups, four in front in a tight pack and others spreading out behind. The drizzle had stopped and the boats were heeled over in a 10-knot wind.

The 65-nautical mile Round Whidbey race provides a series of challenges that are found only in the best of race courses: strong currents, varying winds, rocks, giant ships, and LUCK. The crews work continuously for ten to twenty hours with little chance to enjoy the beautiful scenery of beaches, cliffs and trees.

The current boiled out of Deception Pass at seven knots and had carried the fleet toward the start line. Byron Skubi's SKOOKUMCHUCK and Skip Meisch's SLOW FLIGHT crossed the start line first. Except for a light wind giving them just a tad of steerage, Byron and the other skippers lacked the perfect control they wanted.

Within minutes of the start, a pack of leaders had formed: SKOOKUMCHUCK, of course, with hot racers HEART OF GOLD and MISTRAL. Surprising everyone, slow, old BLIDEVIND galloped right along with the speeders. Behind them, the boats had spread out in a wide fan. The current had shoved DIVA into the anchor line of the race committee boat and swept MAVERICK and MELUSINE to one side. Little SLOW FLIGHT began losing its lead because, by nature, it was not built to keep up with the bigger boats. MELUSINE, a comfortable cruiser, worked itself into the steady lope of a long-range traveler. MAVERICK, a racer, couldn't stand being in slow company and began a furious chase after the leaders.

By the first turning point -- 12 nautical miles down the course-- the tacticians were showing their differences. The thoroughbreds pulled right up to the Whidbey Island beach and took advantage of an extra-strong current. Three plodders avoided time-consuming tacks by heading straight south to the Olympic Peninsula before tacking to the east. SLOW FLIGHT took the middle course and tacked back and forth through the shipping lanes.

Within two hours -- 18 nautical miles down the course -- SKOOKUMCHUCK, HEART OF GOLD, MISTRAL and MAVERICK had ridden the currents past Admiralty Head.and were no longer seen by the laggards. They were well on the way to the finish line. One-tack BLIDEVIND, MELUSINE and DIVA turned east near Protection Island. The three of them met up with SLOW FLIGHT near Bush Point.

At 24 nautical miles Jim McAlpine checked MELUSINE's anemometer and found the wind piped up to 30 knots. The waves hammered at the four boats in short, choppy crests. DIVA hugged the far shore of Marrowstone Island while the other three boats beat south with a series of tacks. Skip Meisch was asleep in the cabin oblivious to the mounting storm. He dozed even when his crew tacked and threw him to the opposite side of the cabin.

When the wind steadied at 40 knots, Skip crawled out into the cockpit and decided to reef the main. McAlpine had reefed considerably before.

At 32 nautical miles, the wind dropped to zero knots within seconds. In front of Useless Bay, MELUSINE and DIVA stopped dead in the water. They rocked on dying waves in a total absence of wind. McAlpine and Jeff Hugret couldn't believe that they were in a hole while BLIDEVIND was still heeled over and SLOW FLIGHT was clawing itself away from the hole. Within an hour they were by themselves off Useless Bay with nary a boat in sight.

At 38 nautical miles and into the home stretch in Saratoga Passage, the four leaders wallowed in light air. SKOOKUMCHUCK, way in the lead, got caught in a windless hole that let the other three slowly catch up. About the same time, MAVERICK and DIVA called in saying that they had troubles and were abandoning the race.

BLIDEVIND let SLOW FLIGHT chase it to the southern tip of Whidbey Island where she stayed over a mile ahead. At dusk both boats were in Saratoga Passage and began heading home on 10- to 15-knot winds. This was the same area where, two hours earlier, the four leaders had crept along in light winds.

Near Langley -- 53 nautical miles from the start -- BLIDEVIND's spinnaker accidentally wrapped itself around the mast and required the crew's full attention to free it. With no one minding the helm, currents dragged the boat three miles over to Camano Island before the crew regained control of the sail. That mishap let SLOW FLIGHT sneak ahead by a few minutes.

BLIDEVIND and SLOW FLIGHT then surfed through Saratoga Passage to Oak Harbor in perfect spinnaker winds. Later, MELUSINE reported 30-knot winds that required dousing its spinnaker.

Luck was the key to the 2003 Round Whidbey race. Skill, preparation and attention were necessary, yes, but Lady Luck blessed her favorites. Last year, SLOW FLIGHT was not blessed. She got locked in a windless hole and never crossed the finish line. This year, Lady Luck sprinkled SLOW FLIGHT with her holy water.

In summary, the 2003 Round Whidbey turned out to be fast and challenging. The last boat, MELUSINE, crossed the finish line at 2:00 AM, 12 hours before the official end of the race. It was the earliest the race committee got to go home in years.

-- Keith Kinnebrew