‘Ohana Harbor Coffee Whidbey Island Race Week 2009
Day One – Monday, July 13
By Liza Tewell
Oak Harbor, WA, USA (July 13, 2009) — Monday, July 13, 2009, 94 sailboats congregated in the waters of Washington State’s Penn Cove in anticipation of ‘Ohana Harbor Coffee Whidbey Island Race Week XXVII. Unfortunately, the wind was left off the guest list. Regardless, enthusiasm remained high as the approximately 500 racers looked forward to the remaining four days of competition. Indeed, this annual regatta, which attracts entrants from across North America, is one of the last true race “weeks.”
In spite of battling a dampened economic climate, racers from as far south as San Diego and Canada to the north chose to spend their time and racing budget at what is affectionately called Adult Summer Camp. And though 2009 is both a Transpac and Van Isle 360 year, which traditionally lure away some talent as boats and crew must decided where and when to spend their sailing vacation, several first timers made the trek across Deception Pass to race in the waters off the third largest island in the contiguous United States.
By Saturday, prior to the Sunday evening kick-off party on the lawn of the Oak Harbor Yacht Club, many of the sailboats had already arrived, securing not only their pre-assigned berths but also coveted tent spots at the end of the docks. Those that did choose to spend their Saturday traveling by land or sea to the Oak Harbor Marina were treated to a day that was sunny, breezy and hot, with temperatures reaching the mid 80s. Also taking advantage of the weather were Hobie racers who staged their two-day HCA Area Championship in the waters outside Oak Harbor on Saturday and Sunday. Many of those partaking of that regatta simply stayed on, hopping aboard bigger boats Monday as crew transitioned between the back-to-back regattas.
When the largest body of water on earth is just a stone’s throw away, however, the weather is a tease at best and a fickle temptress at worst. By Saturday night, the skies between Whidbey Island and Camano Island lit up like the Fourth of July as a low ushered in a summer thunderstorm which rolled noisily in from the west. Sunday dawned cool and damp, with grey skies obscuring the Navy jets that roared overhead.
The Navy presence is a race week tradition, as the nearby Naval Air Station Whidbey Island makes Oak Harbor truly a sailor’s town. Prior to 911, a Thursday night barbeque at the Navy’s Crescent Harbor was a much-anticipated event. Race week organizers have worked together with the Navy to resurrect the tradition and for the second year in a row the public is once again invited on base to the dinner and dance on the docks. The Navy has also again opened up the base for free camping, with the distance between the campsite and the docks being about 50 yards.
Tension had plenty of time to build on Monday as the racers drifted around the waters of Penn Cove waiting for wind to arrive. Two horns at the noon start time signaled what everyone already knew: postponement. About an hour later, a whisper of a breeze skipped across the water, prompting the race committee to send the mark boats west toward the head of the cove, just in case. The breeze was fleeting, however, lasting no longer than a sigh. By 3:00, the fleet was on their way back to the marina, race-less.
“It is what it is,” says racer Richard Hargreaves, of the lack of wind on Monday. Hailing originally from England, but now calling Canada home, Hargreaves is crewing aboard Simon Walmsley’s 1D35 Carrera. “I kind of like it when the first day doesn’t really happen,” he says philosophically. “It kind of deflates all the tension so by the time it really starts everyone’s ready to just race.”
Carrera is one of five 1D35s competing in class P0. Their PHRF rating of 36 pits them against the fleet’s scratch boat, Greg Slyngstad’s J/125, Roxanne, who rates a 6. Rumor has it that Olympian Jeff Madrigali may join the Roxanne crew later in the week. Rounding out class P0 is the Cookson 12 Meter, White Cloud, who comes in at an 18, and two Melges, Geoff Longenecker’s Melges 30, which made the trip up from California by trailer, and the 2006 Whidbey Island Race Week boat of the week, Brad Cole’s Melges 32, Ballistic.
This year, just two classes qualified for one-design status, the Melges 24 class and the J/105 class. Both attained the magic number of nine entries. That’s six boats less than the previous year for the Melges 24 fleet, but 2008 was the Pacific Coast Championships for the Melges 24, as well as for the Moore 24. Sailmaker Gary Stuntz, owner of Clear Ahead Marine Productions and the event organizer, forecasts that Whidbey Island Race Week will continue to attract fleet championships.
Though not attracting enough to qualify for a one-design start, the Flying Tigers actually saw a year-over-year increase in entrants, up three to seven. They’ll be flying around the course with the lone J/90, David Cohen’s Eye Eye, which made its annual trek from Idaho, and Eric Nelson’s Henderson 30, Gardlyoo, whose trip up from nearby Tacoma is slighter shorter. Though both Cohen’s and Henderson’s ratings are each 54, for the regatta the entire P1 class will be level-racing at 57.
No regatta is without controversy, however, and race week 2009 is not an exception. Decisions made by management to adjust ratngs based on numerous factors, including venue conditions, did not sit well with the J/109s in class P2, which consists mainly of J/109s and J/35s. Those familiar with the boats can readily identify the differences with the older style J/35s and their newer cousins. The shaving off of a few seconds from the J/109 PHRF rating to 69 may, or may not, make a difference to the results.
In the end, it’s all about the racing, though those who came to race are willing to put up with a little fun while waiting for wind to arrive at the party. Sunday’s live band kept the sailors dancing for hours, and Monday’s band let crews shake off the anticipation that built up earlier in the day. Monday was also the first of two Penn Cove mussel nights hosted by the Oak Harbor Yacht Club. For only $11, one could feast on an entire pound of the moist mollusks (harvested just hours earlier from just around the corner), fresh green salad, plus garlic bread to sop up the savory nectar. Throw in another buck and you’d get an ear of sweet corn on the cob. The volleyball nets, this year brilliantly cordoned inside the rum tent, saw action until it got too dark to see the balls. In the dying light, Catherine Pica, who is doing race committee duty for Seattle’s Corinthian Yacht Club, offered a tentative prediction for Tuesday’s races.
“I think we’ll have a race or two,” says Pica. “The low (that arrived Saturday night) has finally come and hopefully gone, and now,” she says with more of a wish than a conviction, “the high-ish is here.”
