Strait Shooter

I'd rather have the spin up flying down the strait right now than sitting in the hole near the entrance fo sho. Rage made their move across the channel and is passing Sheringham Point towards Race Rocks. Riva is dodging commercial traffic at 8.3kts with Hana Mari catching a plane at 10.2 kts!

Tuff break for the rest of A Fleet, Rain Drop and Turnagain fighting to make 1 or 2 kts over ground just to enter the strait. Will Journeyman, Taku, Abstract and Back Bay make up some ground as they all average 5-6kts?

AND don't forget Soufflé cruising at 6.1 kts... although I have a sneaking suspicion they might have a boost from their "cruising class" motor rights. I'm just waiting for a McGregor 26x enter with a 50hp and abuse the cruising class rule LOL!

Tactics Watch: Salient’s move, America vs Canada

From the Tactics Corner brought to you by Passion Yachts: Yacht Sales and Sailings Lessons

Looks like Salient's move to stronger Ocean breeze has paid off as they are expected to cross Fortuna and left Abstract behind.  Rain Drop has made some great decisions on the course and has caught up to the A fleet.  Rain Drop is leading the B fleet and is rivaling for First Overall.

Taku is looking great for the C fleet and is sitting in 1st place at the moment.

Hana Mari and Riva slowed while rounding the mark into the Strait and setting their spins for a nice ride.  Big decisions to be made by the competitors on whether the US or Canadian coast looks better.  Winds can often be uneven and favor either side.  Boats need to chose a side for current relief and to stay out of the way of commercial traffic.  Looks like Rage is running the outside edge of the inbound shipping channel near the US side.  Watch their tactics when they decide to make their move across the strait.

Racing the Straits


Data Buoy 46087  mid channel, Straits of Juan de Fuca shows wind direction 90 degrees (East), speed 4 knots, gust 6 knots,wave height 2.8',  dominant wave period 7.8 seconds, mean wave direction 276 degrees (West)...

Where would you go?

Tracker update 8:10 5.11.18

Tracker update 5.11.18  8:10 AM



The report from Craig Garrison in Victoria is that the wind has lightened and the fleet is compressing.
with the tide changing from Flood to Ebb.... it will be a battle.

Depending on wind with the ebb which side? Oregon or Washington...will be interesting to see who goes where to avoid the biggest battle of the ebb tide. Stay tuned!!!!

Thank you to our Silver Sponsors for supporting the Oregon Offshore International Yacht Race.! North Sails, A Mazon, New Era Insurance, Passion Yachts, Hayden Island Canvas, Blue Heron Chiropractic, Fisheries Supply, Hot Tub boats, Yeti.

Rage on Rage

There is nothing more frustrating than light, shifty winds while trying to round the mark. Oh wait, yes there is when the rest of fleet has wind behind you! Rage's lead may diminish here as they fight to round the buoy outside of the straight in light winds. They have two more hours before high tide and winds are not predicted to pick up for a few more hours as well... just in time for the other yachts to round...

Sent from my iPhone

Tactics Watch: Abstract, Salient, Fortuna

From the Tactics Corner brought to you by Passion Yachts: Yacht sales and Sailing lessons.

As of midnight last night Fortuna, Salient and Abstract were all taking a starboard hitch out to the Ocean less than 2 miles from each other (that is close in Ocean racing).  Fortuna took the first tack and passed both transoms followed by both Abstract and Salient around 0120.  In a change of tactics Salient decided to take another hitch out to the Ocean as the Fortuna and Abstract followed the lead boats closer to shore, making a wide gap on the race course.  We will see is Salient's decision will pay off as the boats converge at the rounding to the strait or if Ocean breezes did not favor the bold.


Victoria Harbor

                                           Victoria Harbor at 6 AM from Craig Garrison


Thank you to our Sponsors: Schooner Creek Boat Works, Columbia Crossings, and West Coast Sailing! Support this companies as they are our lifeblood! Thank you so much for believing in the Oregon Offshore International Yacht Race!

Rage is nearly at the turn! Riva and Hana Mari are about equal! Then Velocity coming up!

 
Buoy Data
Buoy 46087 says Wind Direction 50 degrees
Speed 3 knts
Gust 4
Wave height 2.9
Wave period 8.3

The View from a Warm Bed is Nice

The first night can be a tough adjustment on Oregon Offshore with all the excitement from an early morning start. By now most boats have sent their first crew shift down below for some Zzz. Since racing is around the clock, boats work in a crew shift to stay fresh and in the race zone. Crew will rotate out on a timed schedule through out the day and night to sleep for a 3-5 hours at a time. Crew management and health is a very important aspect of offshore racing. Since this sport can be physically and mentally demanding, strong, black coffee can be your best friend.
As we retire for the night we wish the racers the best from our warm, dry and stable beds.

Day 1 Recap

Boats set off from buoy 2 at 0900 this morning with a great start! Wind conditions have been stable all day from the W/NW at 15-17kts shifting N. Most boats pointed straight up the coaston Port tack. Spar Trek hugged the closest to the coast and made great progress until an afternoon tack to join the fleet. Many years you can see boats up to 25miles offshore but westerly breezes told the boats to head straight north.
In the last few hours we saw two great crosses between Anam Cara and Hana Mari with Anam Cara crossing 500 meters in front. Salient and Abstract seem to be playing nice and are less than 200 meters apart! Wow!
If breeze continues over night we should see progress from the fleet up the coast with the A fleet passing Neah Bay into the Straight de Juan de Fuca Friday morning.

Goodnight Moon, Goodnight Destruction Island



Anyone that has raced OO knows this small land mass located just SE of Oil City.  Destruction Island may sound like a deadly landmark for shipwrecked sailors but was actually named after the death of British explorers killed by native peoples on the Hoh River.  (Look it up, I read it on the internets).  For racers, they know the island as the common landmark of nightfall for Oregon Offshore.  Many have often been greeted in the morning by the same view of the island as the night before. DUH!

Tracker update 8 PM

Rage is in the lead, Westerlies at 13, gusts to 15, 5' swell at 10 seconds.
Not the fastest point of sail so it looks like they have slowed a bit.
Anam Car and Hana Mari.

Battle of the Blue Hulls




One of the things that I love about racing is we will do anything to gain any speed advantage. After all, we are using physics to fight the laws of physics.  However, this begs the question, 'does a blue hull make a boat faster?'

I have heard the drunken rant of a sailor spout how the heat absorption of a darker hull will allow it to react with the water molecules differently and therefore less friction through the water blah blah blah.  I am not sure I buy into that, but I do know they look mighty pretty and Maria Swearingen sure knows how to shoot them!  Thanks for the beautiful shots of Riva and Anam Cara!

Free Bowl of Soup Stays Home




If you have not heard the news about Free Bowl of Soup, unfortunately ran over a river log on the way to Astoria.  They sailed into Astoria Wednesday for an emergency haul out to inspect the damage and found both prop blades sheared off!  After a last ditch effort to borrow a prop from a fellow J105 in Portland, the fit was not right.  We wish these guys the best and and expect them to return to reclaiming their glory in 2019.  Enjoy the warm beds and dry clothes boys!

Race start video


Just a note, there is a great race start video on Oregon Offshore International Yacht Race on Facebook!


Spar Trek is on a Trek

Maybe Spar Trek didn't get my memo earlier about a long port tack up the coast. After some great movement up the coast and possibly some a push from shore currents, they had to tack out. The wind shift to the North will help, but starboard ride is going to be discouraging as they take a number of transoms out to the ocean. Hey boys, hope the crabbing was good close to shore!



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Rage is ahead!
Corrected time at the finish changes everything!
Outside Willapa Bay..... This is 5.10.18 at 1:40 PM
Moderate seas
Wave height 5' at 9.9 sec
Wind Speed 7.8, gusts to 11, northerly
50 degrees


Long Port Tack



Looks like a steady windy velocity from the East/Northeast doesn't leave room for much tactics. Just point the nose up the coast and head North.  This could change later in the day and evening as wind is expected to switch North with an increase in velocity.    We could see a split of the fleet based on tactics.