to practically nothing just as the 11:00 am start arrived – and with a very high tide, the water was rushing into the Cove at great speed creating large bow waves on the Race Committee boat and crab pots. Sailing in light airs against the current was almost impossible. Faced with a 3:00 pm cutoff for racing, the Race Committee called for the boats to move to Saratoga Passage where a light southerly seemed to be filling in. The southerly continued to hold at


about 5 knots and just before 2:00 the boats were off on a windward-leeward course, in light airs with darker ripples off to the east. Return again started well and slowly moved ahead of the fleet, turning the windward mark ahead of Skamokawa, which was ahead of Ekono Juan. Grauer Geist got squeezed at the start between Skamokawa and Return, and tacked out to the south, barely crossing behind Snappy Tom – and then ran over a boat-stopping crab pot, the only boat of the regatta to do so! The question was whether there


would be one more race that would allow Skamokawa an opportunity to catch Return and the other boats to settle the fight for third place. The warning signal went off about 2:50 in the same light southerly, with Skamokawa having a great start at the boat end and soon leading Return, Magic Juan and most of the fleet to the east. Just as the leading boats were closing in on the windward mark, a nearly 20 knot wall of wind suddenly rushed in from the northwest, hitting the boats on the west side of the course first and changing the order of boats around the windward mark significantly and turning what was planned as a run into a tight rails-in-the-water jib-stretching reach.


Shortly the Race Committee called


an “Abandon Race” – and Return had won the 2011 San Juan 24 North American Championship. Following the racing, Mark Bradner


thanked his crew, noting that Return had good starts during the entire regatta and was able just to sail her course after that. “We just concentrated on finding a clear lane at the starts and boat speed, and tried not to worry about where other boats were. After that we had clear air and were able to extend. My crew really focused, and we were able to quickly overcome all the things that go wrong while racing.”


At the Awards Ceremony, in addition


to recognizing the winners and the many rounds of applause for Shannon and Denise Buys in organizing the regatta, David Steckman for designing hats and shirts, and the Oak Harbor Yacht Club staff for hosting the regatta – especially Jeff Campell, the Club manager and Val and Vicka, the caterers who handled all the last-minute dinner orders with grace, the Race Committee awarded a number of important prizes to great applause and laughter.


by Ken Johnson


1 Return


2 Skamokawa 3 Snappy Tom 4 Magic Juan 5 Tumbleweed 6 Ekono Juan 7 Grauer Geist 8 Renaissance


11 Sweet Jesus 12 Wiki Wiki 13 Separator 14 Ibis


15 Sirocco 16 It Is What It Is


Mark Bradner, Seattle


Mitch Rinella, Oak Harbor Gil Lund, Seattle


Shannon Buys, Oak Harbor Jon Seestrom, Bellingham Ryan Forbes, Orcas Island Ken Johnson, Seattle


9 Manhattan Transfer 10 Merlin


Dave Steckman, Oak Harbor Mike Irish, Seattle


Dave Klingbiel, Bellingham Chris Phoenix, Edmonds Steve Felton, Tacoma


Keith Andrews, Oak Harbor Fritz Anthony, Bellingham Adam Spencer, Seattle Brad Henderson, Everett


De J e n ein Rgta a l es p n Oe Dsg eat


September 17th and 18th, 2011 On Bellingham Bay


Come for the Party Stay for the One Design For Information Please email BYClaserfleet@yahoo.com 48° NORTH, AUGUST 2011 PAGE 59


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