David Pickett's Seattle Yacht Club Blake Island


Nelson Marek “Strider,” gliding by the


West Point Lighthouse. Photo by Jan Anderson.


Another beautiful day on Puget


Sound. Conditions were as nice as the Vashon Island race sailed last May. A pleasant day with a soft 5-8 knot westerly, made for an exciting downwind start. After decent starting conditions,


off Shilshole Marina, the fleet coasted on zephyrs along the West Point beach and closely around the bottom at the point. Very nice breeze in Elliott Bay and absolutely no wind down the Bainbridge Island shore. The entire fleet stayed bunched up in Elliott Bay sailing the westerly across to Blake Island. Icon and Flash jumped out to an early lead and set the track for the fleet to follow. The sailing instructions allowed competitors


to round the island in either direction, however, due to currents, leaving the Island to starboard seems to always work best and did again this year. Just like Vashon Island, the south end


of Blake Island is usually a slow spot for wind. This year the wind and currents got the racers around the island easily. The large boats got around, then parked at the northwest corner of the Island with no wind. The fleet stacked up and waited for the northerly to make its way down the Sound. After an hour wait, the fleet was off and running again. For many boats, the time that they had built over competitors had to be built again, this time in distance home.


Left: Paul LaMarche's


“Neptune's Car” caught enough wind to fill the spinnaker... for a while.


Right: “White Squall” working the shore. Photos by Jan Anderson.


The route back to Shilshole was


straight forward. A long port tack hitch from Restoration Point to Magnolia Bluff and into Shilshole Bay. As the afternoon wore on, the northerly began to fade back to the earlier westerly direction, helping many of the smaller boats to speed to the finish line. Once again this year’s Blake Island


Race had light winds at the Island and a challenging re-start. It's encouraging that Seattle Yacht Club is considering new courses for next year to add some variety and better sailing conditions for all. Congrats to all the winners for Blake Island Race and overall Tri-Island Series.


by Derek Campbell


48° NORTH, JULY 2010 PAGE 54


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