Anacortes Race Week preview

Race Week Anacortes © Race Week PNW

The fabled reincarnation of the old Whidbey Island Race Week is happening this weekend, much to the delight of the large numbers of J/sailors in the Pacific Northwest. Commonly referred to as "adult sailing week" in the past, due to the extraordinary number of party revelers, it will be a welcome return to fun-loving activities for many.

"The Port of Anacortes is extremely excited about hosting Race Week in 2021 at Cap Sante Marina in Anacortes," shares Commission Board President Ken Goodwin. "Race Week has nearly four decades of history in our area on Whidbey Island, and this partnership offers strong support for our local economy, while highlighting what a great boating community we have in Anacortes."

Dan Worra, Executive Director of the Port of Anacortes adds, "During these unusual and challenging times, we are thrilled to bring another great event to Cap Sante Marina. We are committed to safely providing the venue for a world-class regional sailing event. Race Week will spur our local economy and further defines the maritime excellence of our community."

Answering the siren's song are seventy-three teams to race both ORC and PHRF and one-design classes of J/70s, J/80s, and J/105s. In total, there are thirty-eight J/Crews attending- 52.0% of the fleet! The half-dozen J/70s include Stephanie Arnold & Ken Machtley's Aha!, Chris White's Cloak & Dagger, Mike Breivik's Taz, Nick Hanauer's Fomo, Christina Wolfe's Mossy, and Boris Luchterhand's Riff.

The seven-boat J/80 class includes Ryan Porter's Jollly Green, Emre Sezer's Reckless, David Schutte's Taj Mahal, Rick Demmler's Tastes Like Chicken, Lek Dimarucot's Underdog, Morris Lowitz's Uproar, and Julian Croxall's Jouster.

The eleven-boat J/105 class sees many of the leading teams returning after nearly nineteen months of very little sailing. Those teams include Tom Kerr's Corvo 105, the trio on Free Bowl of Soup (Doug Schenk, Matt Davis, Eric Hopper), Chris Phoenix's Jaded, John Aitchison's Moose Unknown, Sara Billey's Peer Gynt and Vince Townrow's Kinetic.

A trio of J/111's will be contending for class honors in PHRF 3 Division- Tolga Cezik's Lodos, Kevin Welch's Recon, and Cathy Van Antwerp's Valkyrie. Joining them will be Chris Johnson's J/120 With Grace.

Similarly, there's a trio of J/35's sailing in PHRF 4 Division- Eric Johnson's Flicka, Brian White's Grace E, and Walt Meagher's Sunshine Girl. Hoping to keep them in the distance in the rear-view mirror will be Stuart Burnell's champion J/109 Tantivy.

There's a mix of J's sailing PHRF 5 Division. They include Tom Kelly's J/88 Jam Jam, Dave Cohen's J/90 Eye Eye, and Dave Miller's J/99 One Life. Three fast boats, three good crews, that will be a hard trio to handicap at the betting parlours!

Twin J/30s are racing in PHRF 6 Divisions- Jim Bottles' Celebration and Melissa Davies' Ghetto. The lone J/29 will certainly give them headaches on the race track, at least that's the hope of co-owners Christine Nelson and Paul Grove.

CScoring and results information for all classes here. More Anacortes Race Week sailing information here.