Orcas Island Yacht Club and Friday Harbor Sailing Club ROUND THE COUNTY


IN


the 24 years of racing around the San Juan Islands, in what is known


as the Round the County race, there has not been a race quite like that of 2011. This year‘s race would be met with exuberance as well as great sadness. Each of us would experience something profound; whether it would be the excitement of a first heavy wind race in open water, the joy of blast reaching, the surprise of breaking a record or even the first frigid plunge into the icy waters of the Straits. We would all be left with a sense of what has made the Round the Country race such an amazing experience and test of racing skill. Hosted by the


Orcas Island Yacht Club and the Friday Harbor Sai l ing Club, the Round the County race takes sailors on a two-day tour de force around the breathtaking archipelago of the San Juan Islands. Amongst waters both challenging and treacherous with strong tidal currents and rocky shoals, competitors would find their skills of seamanship and boat


48° NORTH, DECEMBER 2011 PAGE 44


handling tested to the extreme. With a rest stop midway through the journey, the fleet would have the opportunity to rest, repair any damage incurred and take stock of the first day’s experiences. Each year the race changes directions, heading either clockwise or counter-clockwise around the islands. This year we would head north, counter-clockwise On day one, 65 boats in six divisions,


with boats ranging from Charles Burnett and Brian Huse’s ultra-modern Transpac 52 Braveheart, to Robert d’Arcy’s 100-year-old schooner Martha, rallied for the start in breeze that would build well into the 20’s. The first leg of the


race would take competitors north from Lydia Shoal, along the waters of Rosario Strait past Matia and Sucia Islands, then bearing away at the light house on Patos Island. As the winds shifted left, spinnakers began to fly and so did crew as boats heaved and broached in the heavy puffs of breeze. The crew aboard Jiri Senkyrik’s Chaos, had their hands full when one of their crewmates went swimming. From Patos Island, racers would bear off to the west down Boundary Pass to Turn Point at the northernmost tip of Stuart Island. The cold beat west would test the endurance of many crews. Once around Turn Point, racers would beat to weather in ever shifting breeze to the finish at the entrance to Roche Harbor. Roche Harbor


would serve as our safe haven midway through the race. The FHSC hosted a warm and welcoming tent with refreshment and all the fixings for teams to BBQ their dinners. The stories that filled the tent left all in awe and many anticipating day two.


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