Seattle Yacht Club Grand Prix
T
hirty-seven boats braved the gloomy weather forecasts for the extended
weekend of Seattle Yacht Clubs’ annual “invitation only” regatta October 21 thru 23. The Friday afternoon race arrived
with a solid, showery and sometimes gusty southerly, that allowed most of the big boats to stretch their legs, and leverage the nuances of the only time- on-time scored major event in the Northwest to their advantage. Playing the west side on the way
to Blakely Rock paid well uphill for the fleet, and the run home became a parade as the building southerly settled. A second beat up to West Point and return to the leeward mark before the short buck home left crews smiling, tired and happy at the loud CYC clubhouse where a pizza party ended the first day of what was to become an epic weekend of racing. Saturday dawned light
and grey, with an ominous forecast of solid building southerlies and late day gusty breezes. After an
48° NORTH, NOVEMBER 2011 PAGE 48
Top: “Voodoo Child,” “Eye Candy” and “Tachyon” charging off the start line just after the wind filled in.
Bottom: “What a Tripp!” getting ready to set their chute at the weather mark.
Next page right: The start of Class 2. Left: “Trophy Wife” (Melges 24) to weather of “Grafix” (Soverel 33), bearing off around the top mark.
Photos by Jan Anderson.
appropriate delay, Brian Watkins and his stellar RC managed to get off a couple of interesting, closely fought buoy races before the looming, but stalled, front compelled a blow off of the last race, maintaining a fair result for everyone. The last race of the day was beset by an unusual localized convergence zone, which allowed for some yachts to be heading at the finish, pressing hard with full kite sheets, whilst others languished at the leeward mark, still waiting for pressure. A difficult decision by the RC to abandon the last race on Sunday ensured, which kept the results, going into Sunday, close in most divisions. Once again, CYC was
taken over by smiling and relatively dry racers regaling tales of puffy southerlies, enough shifts to keep the racing interesting, and enough moments of drama on the course to keep everyone engaged. Depending on your class, and the subsequent timing of your start, Saturday could qualify as one of the most consistently
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74