May 5-6, 2007

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'Round Whidbey 2007
Race Report - by Joe Geck, from BoB #59746

I was joking early Sunday morning to the ragged eyed crew on BoB that my race report was going to be titled "Hopelessness and Heroics." We saw plenty examples over the weekend....

Delivery trip up was pretty uneventful, yet typical wind on the nose whenever motoring. Dennis and Joe made Cornet Bay at 4:30 and got a sweet tie up spot with no rafting. Only difficult part was the last mile heading into the Deception Pass current and wind. First casualty of the race was Joe's hat as it succumbed to his lack of a recent haircut and the gusting winds. Dennis asked about turning back to pick it up, but since we were ahead of Circe (both motored up together) Joe wanted to start the trend of "first-to-finish" even if it was just the delivery trip.

Soon Jim and James showed up at the park and the BBQ was in full swing. A couple of cold beers and some very nice food passed the time until the skipper's meeting at 7:00. Jim was going to drop his car at Oak Harbor and catch a ride back with crew from Circe. Turns out he was shanghaied as their entire crew found some biker bar and sat and drank half the night away. Jim was very gracious and obviously much better at controlling his mouth than Joe, as he arrived back at BoB around 10:30 without having made any further silly bets on the race outcome. (This race was a grudge match between the Milltown J-30s Circe and BoB where Debbie and Joe bet a kiss on the transom and some beer.)

Saturday morning had some wind and no rain predicted. We got off the dock a bit after 7:00 and Dennis took us for a roller-coaster ride through Canoe Pass - the really narrow northern passage! Squirting out of that we hit the standing rollers and had fun(?) bucking and wallowing until we cleared the current line. Thirty boats were registered for the race and we got to watch all of them work through the pass. Thirty feet is not too long, but compared to the US 25, Lady L, we were stable as a rock!

Little bit of dancing around at the start and we nailed it right at the boat end and in clear air. Protested Lady L for barging but that was just gravy on a good start. All of a sudden we were leading the fleet with a newish Benetau Veloce. Couple tacks to stay in the wind lane and draw the favorable current and we soon had made huge leaps on the fleet. We were in the front with Grins, an O-30, the pace boat - a Benetau - Veloce, a B-25 Sheninigans and Heart-of-Gold. By the time we hit Partridge Point we had 1/2 mile on Cicre. We went out too far and poked our nose into the current rip. All of a sudden we were going from 6 VMG to 1.5 VMG. Angst and stupefication were rampant as we watched one boat after another fetch the buoy and head into the shallows to get out of the current. Discomfort turned to pain as Cicre passed us by and squirted ahead, making up the 1/2 mile with ease. We crawled out of the current and were on their tail. Circe had recruited Duane Emnott (from T-Bird Kalua) to do some of their driving, and we had to watch as they made one good maneuver after another. We followed them all the way to Admiralty Head where they ducked around the corner while we held to our game plan of crossing over to Marrowstone Island with the O-30 Grins.

Being out of direct contact with Circe helped alleviate the pain of hopelessness. Had a very pleasant sail across the inlet with all on board snoozing in the mid-morning sunshine. Nice little lift as we approached the island. We were dialed into VTS channel and there was a freighter pilot screaming at the "Race to the Straights" boats who were filling the lanes with spinnakers. Soon the freighter passed by us and we got a good look at the 120 or so spinnakers running up the inlet in the sunshine. Very enjoyable!

Dennis and Jim took over from here as Joe and James went below for a rest. By the time they popped back up around 4 pm, we were at the mid-channel marker near Scachet Head and were able to read the names on the transoms of the lead boats! Back to being heroes as we had recovered that 1/2 mile lead on Circe too! While the rail meat was commenting on unique design features of the parade of cruise ships passing by, Dennis snuck his way past Scachet Head buoy and over to Possession Point buoy in light to non-existent winds. We were able to hold with the lead boats up the center of Possession Sound and had made the Clinton ferry boat landing right around 9. In the fading light Circe was just a speck of white against the dark shore of Whidbey Island. However, with the fading light came the fading wind....

By the time Dennis woke back up a bit after midnight, Jim and James were tired of Joe ranting and weeping about seeing Sandy Point for the third or fourth time. This was the only time of the race we had a negative VMG as the current was ebbing out of Saratoga Passage at about 2 knts. The rest of the leaders had got a vein of wind and had disappeared into the blackness and we lost their stern lights against the background. We could only see one green light from behind us and it was assumed to be Blade Runner. With Dennis back on watch he brought his refreshed demeanor and a re-fresh of the wind. Up with the spinnaker for the first time and the boat began to pick up speed and head in the right direction. Joe went down for a nap and after a couple hours of ear-plug enhanced sleep was awoken with a spinnaker in the face as the watch crew had found a bit of new wind and had caught back up to the lead boats. With the bunk still warm, James took a well deserved dive into slumber, while the rest were keeping weight to leeward.

Next thing we know, Mistral appeared from below us with a spinnaker. She had snuck along the Whidbey shore and picked up a whisper more of air. Time to call the crew to action and back up with the spinnaker. This was a god send as we could see Oak Harbor lights and the wind was starting to freshen. Pretty good angle and we steadily pulled away from Mistral and Heart of Gold. As the light began to build we could pick out the rest of the lead pack and found ourselves neck-and-neck with the Benetau and the O-30! Five miles to go and we were in great position to finish first across the line and second on corrected time to the B-25! With the wind now consistent, Grins had overtaken us and we were following her into the finish line. The closest competitor to us (Lissa) was across the bay and they owed us about five minutes. All we had to do was keep ahead.

Alright...if it is not Chris calling to cover the fleet, it is Jim. Sunday morning Jim must have been just too tired to remind us to think about cover. With all four on deck and bleary though happy looks on their faces, we took a jibe into a wind hole and took too long to pull out. We watched as the locals jibed into the Oak Harbor entrance and figured out too late about their local knowledge on the wind and current conditions. At 6:29 am, we ended up first Milltown boat to finish just ahead of Heart-of-Gold and missed second place in class by about 1 minute. Hey we were still heroes!

Race Goals:
1. No one hurt
2. No equipment damage
3. Not last
4. Beat Circe
5. Beat Milltown boats
6. First third in class, probably fourth overall. (Lady L got
second in B fleet behind Magic Juan)

Dumped Jim and James off at Oak Harbor - they were going to drop by Cornet Bay and place the "Beware of Dog God" sign on Circe's windshield that we had displayed on the transom for the race. Return trip back was more wind on the nose but a nice current push, arriving at Everett a bit more groggy but basking in the sense of accomplishment! Now for that bet payoff from Circe....

P.S. Talked to Jeff Ravenberg from Circe. They had quit after 10:30pm off of Clinton. Too much drinking, too many crew, too small of a head, the hook on the bottom, rain starting and a bored crew. Debbie was asleep so we can not be too hard on her. Jeff noted that Mistral and Sorcerer were right with them when they bailed...too bad!

        Joe Geck
        J-30 BoB #59746

Race Committee: These folks deserve a big THANK YOU!

• Race Coordinator:
• Primary Race Officer:
• Crew:
• Strat Line Boat:
• Finish Line Boat:
• Bar-B-Q:
• Trophies:
• Photography:
• Awards Ceremony facility: