Sloop Tavern Yacht Club Iceberg Race


Left: The crew of “Bravo Zulu” having a great time and taking first in Fleet 4.


Below: Graeme Esarey's Farr 1220, “Kotuku” takes third in class. Photos by Jen Braden.


owned by Tony Devita, came in on port tack mid line and was met by Nick Bannon’s bitchin’, primer grey Camaro, Katrinka Finklesplat, on starboard. Flop over onto port goes Katrinka, pinching the Moore off and forcing them to tack away into the breakwater. Fun start for the two boats that battled it out for the rest of the day. Class 4 crossed the line with cheers


Sloop Tavern YC's Iceberg Race,


on Saturday, January 29, began with 30 entries and a forecast 10 to 15 out of the south. The Race Committee, aboard the Yankee 30 Moonshine, opted for the long course option of this fun winter race. At 14.3 miles - the course takes you from the starting area off Shilshole, south to the West point buoy, across the Sound to a temporary mark just north of Skiff point on Bainbridge Island, then back across the sound to Buchan Buoy off Spring beach under the Highlands, and finally to the finish at Shilshole. A fun course with a few corners, but it was made all the more interesting by the slippery water running out of the Locks. The predicted ebb current wasn’t


going to get started until after lunch, but as the racers lined up on what looked like a nice tight starboard line with the committee boat slightly favored, they realized that the slippery fresh water was running strong to the north on the surface and found themselves a bit late and barely able to make the line on starboard. Eight boats started in Class 1, the No Flying Sails Class - and Duke Phan’s nostalgic old Q boat, Grayling, nailed the start on starboard, chased closely behind by the expert no flying sails skipper Bill Pirrie on his Islander 36 Whistling Swan.


48° NORTH, MARCH 2011 PAGE 54 Five minutes later the battle of the


flying sails 200+ raters began with Bill Stange’s retro Columbia 26 Tuesday, and the popular little tunafish, the Santana 20, Hitched, driven by Kevin Schwackhammer, starting on starboard tack with. Class 2 may have the slowest ratings, but it’s filled with some competitive boats driven by sailors with some impressive resumes. Class 3 lined up with most of the fleet


again opting for the starboard start on the short line, but with the water running north, the Moore 24, Frecklebelly Madtom,


from the committee boat as Denny Vaughn’s Beneteau 40.7, Bravo Zulu nailed the start on port tack followed very closely, literally on their transom, by Reinhard Freywald’s Farr 1020 Kiwi Express. “Bravo Zulu” stands for “Well Done” in maritime Flag speak, and as the crew of Bravo Zulu smiled and cheered “Bravo Zulu” to each other, the bowman looked back at the driver and yelled out “You were 10 seconds late!” As boats approached the weather


mark, they found that the water from the Duwamish was running north at an even greater speed than what they saw at the starting area. Those boats that were able to stay high and inside of the point until the last minute really made out on those that went outside and had to tack into the mark on starboard. What looked like an incredible over-stand on port tack, allowed boats to barely lay the mark after crab walking out from the point. The Catalina 350, April IV, didn’t


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