Racing in Seattle
by Jon and Linda Kumin
Williwaw, Finngulf 41
Many Alaskan sailors have commissioned boats in Seattle for the delivery north. This spring we took advantage of the active Seattle racing scene while commissioning our new boat. It was launched Friday March 19, the start of Anchorage’s school spring break. Linda and I flew down that night and the next few days were a blur of activity, stepping the rig, hooking things up, and yes – trips to the chandleries.
By Friday our WHSYC crew started to arrive – Mike Jens and Bill Howitt of Sweet Baboo, Pat McDevitt of Makua and Ralph Clampitt of Sea Wench. That afternoon we moved from Lake Union to Shilshole and got the sails up – for maybe 30 minutes. The race start the next morning was an experience……85 boats including rocketships like Santa Cruz 70’s and a Formula 40 catamaran, all milling around. Slower classes started first so we got to see the big boats come flying through on the beat.
The breeze built to 20+, with big shifts and lulls. With the reverse starting order the fleet telescoped together and the weather mark rounding was intense. The leg home started with 20 knots apparent on the beam so many chose to jib reach. We were curious to see our spinnaker so up it went. Predictably we got to practice round-up recoveries but as our crew work coalesced we started zipping along, with bursts to 11 knots. Result – 2’d in class of 9 boats and 21st overall. The big boats tended to fill out the top ten in those conditions. The race report in 48 North quoted one racer as saying the seas were “huge”. Maybe, but they looked smaller to us than an average Resurrection Bay southerly chop. We came back a month later for the 85 mile Smith Island race on April 24. We were hopeful – this time the rig had a preliminary tuning and we’d seen the sails before. Our Anchorage crew included Terry and Martha Schoenthal and Boyd Morgenthaler (proud owner of a new Valiant 42). It was family style racing, our daughter and nephew came too, plus local pickup crew.
We suffered in the very light air at the start and 4 hours into the race were well back in our class. As the tide changed we were racing Seattle style, short-tacking the beach, going in till there was only 4’ of water under the keel. The tide ran in streams – at one point we were in a 4 knot adverse current. A boat to our right was streaking by so we cracked off to get over there and the current dropped abruptly. A J120 to our left stayed there and was flushed out the back, not to be seen again. We don’t see current like that in Resurrection Bay. At sunset we rounded Smith Island and the breeze filled in to 12-14 true for a wonderful 40+ mile spinnaker run home under the stars. Twenty miles out the tide changed again and we fought a 2 knot current to the 3:30 am finish.
It was classic Kumin family style racing. At mid-afternoon good smells started wafting up from below, followed by platters of hot hors d’oeuvres. Linda and Leah baked fresh bread for dinner while the jambalaya was cooking. At 1 am they felt the crew needed a pickup, so whipped up a pan of brownies and handed them up warm with fresh coffee. Our Seattle crew said they’ve raced on 70 footers and never been fed like that. No granola bars on the rail for Alaskans. The results weren’t bad either. First in class and 4th overall. We were beaten by three big boats rating negative PHRF numbers that finished ahead of the tide change. We made most of our gains at night – it must have been the brownies.
We highly recommend Alaska sailors commissioning in Seattle take advantage of the racing. They offer short course options where the competition is less intense. We have found the people open and friendly. Great way to learn your boat and if you find something to adjust there are resources readily available. If anyone is interested please give us a call and we can help explain the possibilities.
Jon and Linda Kumin
s/v Williwaw (formerly of Cirrus)