Gig Harbor Yacht Club LeMans Race
The often chaotic start of the Lemans Race. It’s Back! No, not a movie by a
former governor of California, but the Gig Harbor Yacht Club LeMans Race! Last year the race was cancelled due to construction of a new sewer line down the middle of the harbor. This year everything is back to normal, including the traditional “at anchor” start; where the crews wait below deck, then rush up to haul up the anchor and hoist the sails upon the start gun sounding. Excitement is high and often chaos results in the early moments. More than 20 boats showed up to race to Olalla and back. At the 10:30 start, the winds in the harbor were light and even the smallest anchor held as crews anxiously sat below decks for their start. In the harbor, the fleet sailed a close
reach almost to the mouth where a few tacks were needed to get through the
mouth. In the resulting traffic jam, two of the bigger boats suffered a collision, but they continued to sail the race. Once out of the harbor the fleet found a building southerly of 15 knots or more in Colvos Passage. Wildflower reported wind speeds of 18 knots with gusts to 22 knots. Spinnakers were set and crews hung on as boats accelerated for a quick 6.5 mile run to Olalla. The big boats water-lined ahead of the smaller boats, although the latter were having their share of the fun too. In the Thunderbird Fleet, the fun-meter surged past 8 knots. Four Cal 20’s, part of the TYC sailing program, showed up and sailed a great race in challenging conditions. In less than an hour, most boats
had rounded the mark and had settled in on the beat back. Fortunately a slight westerly tilt to the wind provided
Amidst a georgeous Fall backdrop, “Kuhuna,” “Special Purpose” and “Wildflower” head towards Olalla.
for a quick beat back to the harbor. As usual the final leg in the harbor was a race unto itself, and provided some tense moments as the time differential between many boats was 30 seconds or less. Indeed, Fandango, a Thunderbird, was only 28 seconds behind the overall winner, Wildflower. An extensive set of photos can be found at:
www.flickr.com/photos/ghyc/
by Ed Josberger CL OA Boat
Division 1 1 4 2 6 3 7 4 9
photos by Sheila Schultz Mordue Type
Gardyloo Henderson 30 Eric Nelson Jeopardy
1D 35 J-109
J-35 J-35-C 5 10 Grace E Wildflower Brian White
6 18 Korina-Korina J/N 42 J & K Knudson Division 2 1 1 2 3 3 5 4 8
Sidewinder Olson 30 M & B Jones Perfect Ten Tarten ten Dulcinea
5 11 Slick
Division 3 1 2
J-105 M Gardner-Brown J-29
Tom Mitchell Alex Wigley Pat
6 15 White Squall Cal-40 Fandango
2 12 Snowbird 3 13 Swan
7 17 Special PurposeOlson 30 Steve Wagner 8 19 Dessert First Eric 34
Roger Dietz Don Rees
Tbird 26 Jaime Storkman Tbird 26 Tbird 26
4 20 Raindrop Precision 23
Ed Josberger Gary Davis Joe Salz
5 21 Wild Thing Sant 525 Edmund Jacobs Division 4 1 14 Willie Tippit Cal 20 2 16 Cheap Date Cal 20 Mark Lindeman dnf dnf
Fos #1 No Name 48° NORTH, DECEMBER 2011 PAGE 48
Cal 20 Cal 20
results courtesy of
gigharboryc.com Skipper
Jack Rabbit CM 1200 Chester Hibbert Kahuna
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