An interview with Schelleen Rathkopf about the 2018 Whidbey Island Race Week
by David Schmidt 16 Jul 2018 08:00 PDT
July 19-22, 2018
J/105s hard on the breeze at the 2017 Whidbey Island Race Week © Jan Anderson
When it comes to serious fun afloat in the Pacific Northwest, it’s tough to beat the annual Whidbey Island Race Week (July 19-22, 2018), which has proudly earned its local reputation as “summer camp for adults”. In fact, the regatta’s motto, “Race, Party, Play”, pretty much sums up its overall vibe, however it’s important to put the regatta in the context of where it’s sailed to understand why this event represents a celebration of sunshine and good weather for local sailors. In fact, for some Seattle-area sailors, Whidbey Island Race Week (WIRW) could well represent the best weather window for sailing that they enjoy, year-on-year, given the area’s equally well-earned reputation for precipitation.
While the truly optimistic sometime refer to Pacific Northwest rain as “Seattle Sunshine”, the term tends to fade in its self-embraced brilliance the longer one sits on a dripping wet rail, getting lashed by Puget Sound’s winter wind. Not so at WIRW, as the regatta’s late-July dates typically ensure that the annual high-pressure systems have arrived, trading rainfall for sunshine and long days (hint: Seattle is at almost 48 degrees north latitude).
Situated to the north and west of Seattle, Whidbey Island is home to pastoral views, high bluffs on its weather-battered western flanks, Deception Pass State Park (if you’re racing in this event, don’t miss this amazing park and it’s views down onto Deception Pass), a Navy base, and more bald eagles than traffic lights. Camping is encouraged, as are crews comprised of family members, friends and the occasional ringer.
Racing takes place out of Oak Harbor, on the island’s eastern flank and is open to vessels that are 22 to 40 feet LOA; One Design fleets with six or more competing boats will be started as a class, and there will also be handicap (PHRF-NW) racing held for non-One Design classes.
Additionally, the race will offer a Kids Camp that provides responsible oversight of the short set while their parents sail, and attending juniors can expect Opti sailing instruction, island exploration and other fun-minded pursuits. (N.B., the Kids Camp is open to 20 juniors on a first-come, first-served basis.)
As of this writing there were 45 registered entrants, ranging in size and complexity from an International Folkboat to four Farr 30s, five J/105s, and a Jeanneau 42DS.
I caught up with Schelleen Rathkopf, event producer of the 2018 WIRW, via email, to learn more about this fun-filled four-day regatta.
How would you describe WIRW to a sailor from the other side of the country who has not yet experienced the event?
Now in its 36th year, WIRW is a longtime Pacific Northwest sailboat regatta that offers PHRF and OD racing.
And, its long been known as "adult summer camp" for its notoriously fun post-race parties.
How would you describe the level of competition? Is this a family-focused event, or is it more for polished racing teams? Or, does it cater to both audiences?
It has appealed to the polished racing teams for many years but when I took over in 2015, we wanted to start making it more family friendly so we started a Kids Camp program so kids could have fun and learn to sail while their parents were racing.
And, in an effort to start attracting the more casual cruising sailor, we're introducing a cruising-class distance race to the mix this year.
WIRW is sometimes lovingly described as “summer camp for adults”—can you tell us how the event earned this wonderfully admirable reputation and what, if anything, it does to cultivate/promote this free-spirited reputation?
What can I say? People love to get away and race and party hard! We use the tagline, "Race. Party. Play." because that's what people love about WIRW.
Oak Harbor is a quiet town that shuts down by 9 [PM], so racers have grown accustomed to creating their own fun and traditions at WIRW.
What kind of racing format will the regatta employ? Mostly windward-leewards, or will you also use some of the local islands and geography for longer races?
Mostly buoy racing in Penn Cove as the breeze is typically a westerly fill. However, on the rare occassions that we see a northerly or southerly, we run a distance race in Sarratoga Passage using fixed marks.
I note on the website the “New this year: 4 dates of racing!” notification…how does this schedule of racing differ from past years? Also, what was the impetus for this change?
For 35 years, WIRW had been a five-day, Mon-Fri event. But like many regattas across the country, numbers of participants are stagnant or dropping. So, in an effort to build participation, we're trying some new things.
And one of these new things is the shift to a four-day race event (with two of those days over the weekend). We hope this shift makes it easier for people to participate, as theoretically, they would just need two days off work instead of five.
We'll see how this goes this year. Is it working? Still too early to tell. Our registration numbers are down but of those that have registered, 16 are brand new boats to the event. So, it may prove to be the draw. If not, we would consider going back to the five-day format in future years.
Any advice for first-time competitors?
WIRW is great fun. The venue is gorgeous. The parties are epic. And racing makes you a better sailor.
Amelia Earhart once said, "The most effective way to do it, is to do it." Sometimes you just have to jump in and try something new.
What kind of evening/onshore entertainment do you and the other event organizers have planned for this year’s event?
We have some excellent regional bands playing live music every night including the Paperboys out of Canada, Kuinka, Jones & Fischer, Gertrude's Hearse. We have a pink party night to celebrate the efforts of the Susan B Komen Foundation and breast cancer research, and people love to don their pink togas, tutus - you name it.
We have a fun Gilligan's Island night and crews come dressed as their fave characters and some great awards, including the Philip Wise Sportsmanship Award and the Molly Kool Cub to recognize an outstanding woman skipper.
Can you please tell me about any recent steps that you and the other organizers have taken to try and reduce the event's environmental footprint?
We don't use straws. Our SIs prohibit the use of water balloons and trash in the water. The skipper bags are reusable bags. Currently, we're not in a partnership with Sailors for the Sea, but would like to be in future years.
Anything else that you’d like to add, for the record?
Given the history of this event in the PNW, we're doing everything we can to continue to offer up a great event that appeals to the longtimers (who build their summer plans around WIRW) and at the same time draw in new players to the sport.
With our reputation for superior race committee and race management work, combined with excellent post-party events, we want to see more fleets using WIRW's established infrastructure to conduct their own regional or NA Championships in future years.
And ultimately, we'd love to offer a dinghy and a big-boat race experience, and I've always wanted to add a youth-sailing component.
Penn Cove is an absolutely stunning place to sail but we're facing some very real challenges to grow the event in this venue, which may necessitate a venue change in the future. The hoist at the Oak Harbor Marina is no longer functional (and there are not plans to fix this) and the channel into the Oak Harbor Marina can be very shallow at the negative tides that hit in July.
These two challenges prevent us from appealing to those boats on trailers and also to the big boats who need more water to move about safely.
We're committed to staying put in Oak Harbor through 2019, but are seriously considering a new venue starting in 2020 that can deliver on what is necessary for us to include more sailors in the Pacific Northwest and provide a wonderful summertime destination that the entire family can enjoy.
Many thanks to Jan Anderson for the great imagery. More of her work can be seen at janpix.smugmug.com