Whidbey Island Race Week regatta final day report

by Liza Tewell on 20 Jul 2009 Sunny 75-degree weather ushered in the warmest day of the fourth and final day of racing in the five-day ‘Ohana Harbor Coffee Whidbey Island Race Week regatta.

Two solid races for each of the 10 classes were run by the Corinthian Yacht Club-Seattle race committee Friday afternoon in a 8-14 knot westerly. The committee’s big, red boat lead the fleet to the race course in Penn Cove on Friday morning blaring the Pat Benatar song, 'Hit Me With Your Best Shot' while decked out in yellow caution tape, a not-so-subtle taunting of the Cookson 12 Meter, White Cloud, who had attempted to impale herself on the committee boat’s bow while barging the P0 start of Thursday’s first race.

The final outcome of the hotly contested P0 class wouldn’t be known, however, until the finish times of Friday’s two races for the nine PHRF-rated boats in class P0 were calculated and announced at the results party Friday evening in the rum tent of the grounds of the Oak Harbor Yacht Club. Once the throw-out was factored in, it was Greg Slyngstad’s beautiful blue J/125, Roxanne, taking second for the day and first for the week with a total of 22 points. Even without placing among the top three for the day, John Hoag’s relentless 1D35 slid into second place. Edging out the Cole family Melges 32, Ballistic, for third place was Geoff Longenecker’s San Diego-based Melges 30, Nemesis, which had made the drive up the coast for their first Whidbey Island Race Week.

For some of the 94 competing boats, Friday’s gybe mark was set close to the Coupeville dock, much to the delight of the spectators lining the rails. Well-performed gybes earned loud cheers from the crowds – or jeers for those maneuvers that 'earned the ugly award' according to one energetic fan.

A definite crowd favorite was class P1 as the seven Flying Tigers had a tendency to round the marks in a cluster and whose asymmetrical spinnakers allow them to knock out quicker gybes, adding to the suspense. Eric Nelson’s Gardyloo, the lone Henderson 30 in the level-rated class, nipped at the heels of the FTs, as did David Cohen’s J/90, Eye Eye, but by week’s end it was all Flying Tigers on the podium: Chris Winnard’s Dangerous When Striped (aka, Tigger) in first; followed by Kirk Leslie’s Navy named Prowler, down from West Vancouver; and Mark McCuddy’s Tiger Lilly, up from Portland, Oregon.

The top three spots in the 12-boat P2 class proved that solid sailing can overcome challenging ratings. Race week veteran, Wayne Berge’s J/35, The Boss, took third place for the week, behind Stuart Burnell’s J/109, Tantivy. But it was Charlie Macaulay’s familiar black-and-yellow 1-Ton, Absolutely, that scraped her way to the front the fleet.

The firefighters aboard What? A Tripp! also fought hard to climb to the top of their class, P3. Over recent years, the deep blue-hulled boat has ridden the learning curve in the right direction to become the boat to beat. Gary Morgan and Chris Yob’s Tripp-designed Peterson 37 squeaked out a win over Don Will’s Peterson 40, Shoot the Moon, by just half a point, no small feat as the smart money every year has been on Will’s venerable red boat. Tom Kerr’s J/33, Corvo, landed in third. This year’s Broken Bone trophy, fought over like dogs between two Baltics campaigned by local orthopaedic surgeons, Byron Skubi and Mac Madenwald, was snatched up by Skubi’s 37-footer, Skookumchuck.

Class P4 was one of two one-design classes at this year’s Ohana Harbor Coffee Whidbey Island Race Week. Nine J/105s scuffled all week, with Erik Christiansen’s Jubilee winding up in third behind JP Peterson’s Last Tango, and in first, with five bullets, Mike Schlitz at the tiller of his Money Shot.

In the event’s other one-design class, nine Melges 24s spent the week swarming Penn Cove. Top spot was dibbed early in the contest by Seattleite Dan Kaseler’s pTeron, which finished the week 25 points ahead of the next closest boat. The remaining two slots in class P5 remained a mystery until the finish of race 12. Rod Buck’s Myst came up from Oregon to take second place, followed by Bill Checkley’s newest boat down from Canada, Bula Bula.

The P6 class raced with a 31-second ratings spread but it was the 'slow' boat in class that took first for the week. Jim Meteer’s handbuilt 6 meter, Fokus 3, sliced an elegant line through the water while relishing the perfect conditions for the narrow, pinched stern boat. Former race week Boat of the Week winner, Pat Denney’s J/29 Here and Now, took second. One of two Rocket 22s in the class took home third, Mike Mechaelis’ South Lake Union Trolley.

Dennis Muri travels from his home in Montana every summer to call tactics on Ken Chin’s Olson 911, Kowloon, in class P7. By the end of Thursday’s racing Kowloon was so far ahead, 'we don’t even have to race on Friday,' said Muri. 'But what fun is that? We’re going to go back out there and kick some more butt!' And kick butt they did. Kowloon and her loyal crew earned bullets in both of Friday’s races, as well as taking top honors for the week in class P7. On top of that Kowloon took home for the second year in a row the Performance 30 pennant, one of several in-class trophies, ranging from rum bottles to bones to love pigs, for personal vendettas run renegade-style in addition to the officially sanctioned races. In class P7, Frank Roger’s Santana 30/30 took second, while the S2 9.1, Rubicon, held on to third.

More renegade shenanigans were evident Friday morning when many of the racing boats showed up on the course sporting imaginative new names. Those that can be mentioned on a family website include Doug Ullmer’s Laser 28, Imzadi, trailered from Eugene, whose moniker for Friday was 'I’m Dizzy,' to George Brown’s Martin 241, Skookum Too, which competed Friday in class P8 as 'Scoop the Poop,' to Adam Korbin’s J.109, Astral Plane, which for Friday was simply known as 'Bob.'

With 14 registered entries, class P8 was the largest in the fleet. Four Moore 24s added their unique competitive nature to the mix, including Anthony Devita’s Frecklebelly Madtom, Chris Rosinki’s Moore-On and Ray Poorman’s hot rod, Amore, with Ben Braden’s Moore Team Uff Da taking second. But it was the two Hotfoot 27s in the class that took spots one and three. Not surprisingly, though, it was Moore 24 sailor Andy Schwenk at the helm of Steve Trunkey’s Hotfoot 27, Egress, who took the lead. Mick Corcoran’s Blackfoot secured the number three position for the week.

Event organizer Gary Stuntz, of Clear Ahead Marine Productions, bestowed Boat of the Week honors on Bill Stange’s 40-year-old Columbia 26, Tuesday, which earned straight bullets in class P9. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree when it comes to sailboat racing in the Stange family. Bill handed the helm on Friday to his teenage son who, like his father, managed to put the boat in the right place on the race course and earned Tuesday two more bullets. Duking it out for second and third all week were Shannon Buys’ San Juan 24, Magic Juan, and Oak Harbor locals Jim McAlpine and crew aboard McAlpine’s J/24, Lucky Jim.

Mark your calendars and start preparing for next year’s ‘Ohana Harbor Coffee Whidbey Island Race Week, scheduled for Sunday, July 18 through Friday, July 23, 2010

Full results and more reports available at http://www.whidbeyislandraceweek.com/