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R2ak 2019

Philpott

Philpott

Cal 2-27 Dura Mater
Up here in the Pacific Northwest the paddleboarders and canoe ers are just finishing up the 70/48 race from Tacoma to Port Townsend. Across the public park at the waterside people are collapsed or sleeping after participating in the pre-R2AK race. They now have 24 hours to recuperate and start all over - on to Victoria BC and maybe even (if they dare) to Ketchikan.

And who else is up here? Nathalie and her crew on Envolee, Team Shut up and Drive. They passed the safety inspection this afternoon because, although the race is billed as "No Rules" the organizers are not stoopid.

Nathalie2.jpg

Port Townsend is a really fun place to be this week. Lots of stories, lots of happy people. More tomorrow.
 
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I'm making lots of new acquaintances up here, walking the docks. I suppose the phrase is: dockrat. All it takes is a smile and people start talking, and they all have a story.

Here is a photo of the favorite: Dragon, a custom multi hull with a very experienced crew. Guy, Tom and Duncan. The sailors are from the Bay area, the boat is from up here. It looks very fast to me.

IMG-5465.JPG

And stern to bow is this small wooden boat

IMG-5466.JPG

That's the Race to Alaska for you. All types of ambition, all kinds of boats, all sorts of every type of sailors, everybody loving being on the water. What's not to like?
 
Team Yankee Peddlers, three young men who attend the University of Vermont together. They are freshmen. They pooled their money together ($250 each = $750) to buy a Santana 20 somewhere up here in the Pacific Northwest, drove an "old" Subaru out from the east coast once classes ended and they've been sleeping and working on the boat together ever since.

Are they fully conscious of the enormity of this undertaking? "Not really."

The boat's name? Lola. Like the Kinks song?

"Yeah. That one." They laugh a lot. And yes, I have a video. For later.

Lola crew.png
 
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And here is Russell Brown's space ship, ready to fly up to Victoria.

IMG-5486.JPG

The wind is picking up and the R2AK starts tomorrow morning at 5am. The forecast?

PZZ131-030645-
Central U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-
240 PM PDT Sun Jun 2 2019

GALE WARNING IN EFFECT THROUGH LATE TONIGHT

...GALE WATCH IN EFFECT FROM MONDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH LATE MONDAY
NIGHT...

TONIGHT
W wind 30 to 40 kt easing to 20 to 30 kt late. Wind
waves 4 to 7 ft.

MON
W wind 10 to 20 kt rising to 20 to 30 kt in the afternoon.
Wind waves 1 to 3 ft building to 3 to 5 ft in the afternoon.

MON NIGHT
W wind 25 to 35 kt easing to 15 to 25 kt after
midnight. Wind waves 4 to 6 ft subsiding to 2 to 4 ft after
midnight.

TUE
W wind 5 to 15 kt rising to 15 to 25 kt in the afternoon.
Wind waves 2 ft or less building to 2 to 4 ft in the afternoon.

TUE NIGHT
W wind 15 to 25 kt. Wind waves 2 to 4 ft.

WED
W wind to 10 kt. Wind waves 1 ft or less.

WED NIGHT
W wind 15 to 25 kt easing to 10 to 20 kt after
midnight. Wind waves 2 to 4 ft.

THU
W wind 5 to 15 kt rising to 15 to 25 kt. Wind waves 2 ft
or less building to 2 to 4 ft.

FRI
W wind 10 to 20 kt rising to 20 to 30 kt. Wind waves 1 to
3 ft building to 3 to 5 ft.
 
The first boats crossed the start line at 5:05 am this morning, accompanied by a brass band and Wagner over the loudspeakers of the Northwest Maritime Center. The start of this race is a real crowd pleaser, with friends calling out to friends on the water.

Six big-sail boats were right there together, as well as all the sundry small craft and paddleboarders who had gauged the strong ebb. A serious ebb, and anyone below the line suffered. That's a lesson best not forgotten for next time.

Russell and Ashlyn Brown were right there, PT Watercraft flying past everybody else in home waters.

overview.jpg

Dark Horse/Team High Sea Drifters was right there next to PT Watercraft at the start with Shad Lemke and his own crew. His crew includes Steve Hocking, shown here in the cockpit at 4:15 am calmly drinking coffee. Everybody on Dark Horse knew what they were about.

Steve Hocking.jpg

Steve told me he used to sail doublehanded in the SSS races on his Beneteau Ohana. Shad sailed with him in the bay years before the 2018 Singlehanded Transpacific Yacht Race.
 
And what about the boys on the sailing vessel Lola? They were awake and eating breakfast at 0400, their sails were up at the start and they were on the right side of the start line.

Lola at 0420 am.jpg

I heard people all around me saying, "There's that 20' Santana." Small boats and young people are crowd pleasers up here, where people know boats and respect the effort.
 
Tom Patterson has told me that the small wooden boat stern to nose with the favorite to win, Team Pear Shaped Racing, is "a Lyle Hess 24' Bristol Channel Cutter. A copy of the rather famous SERAFFYN of Victoria that I owned for 8 years." Did you know that? Well, now you do. Tom raced Seraffyn in the bay without an engine before he and Sue bought Cloud. Maybe he'll post a photo of Cloud with her new, glamorous paint job?
 
At 0700, the four leaders, TEAM PEAR SHAPED, SHUT UP and DRIVE, ANGRY BEAVERS, and PT WATERCRAFT are sailing upwind in 20-25 knots, in the east entrance to the Straits of Juan de Fuca. They are being helped by big ebb current. All four are making 8+ knots SOG... It will be a fast ride for them to Victoria. Not so much for the slower, less weatherly, main body of the fleet.

Here's the tracker. PEAR SHAPED's tracker isn't working.
http://tracker.r2ak.com/
 
At 0730 am the tracker is showing Pear Shaped Racing and High Sea Drifters eating breakfast here at the Hudson Point Cafe. But I know they are not because the Cafe doesn't open until 8 am. I know this because I'm sitting here outside (in the windy windy) with my latte, waiting.

Notice my boys are keeping up with the grownups. With their $750 boat. Very impressive, fellas. Bring what ya got and sail the hell outa it.
 
This is awesome. The only thing that would make it better would be having Philpott aboard one of the boats. Maybe next time?

My AyeTides app shows the end of the ebb in Victoria is around 1000. That's in metric since Victoria is on the whoopie side of the lake. The remaining ebb should help Team SHUT UP AND DRIVE, even if they never find their pointing chops.

Team ANGRY BEAVERS has that swingy thingy so they like this stuff. Team PT WATERCRAFT will always and forever be the bomb.

Productivity will suffer this week...
.
 
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Thanks for the play by play Dura Mater.
Are you heading to Victoria for the follow up?
Did their tracker stop working or High Sea Drifters turn back?
 
Not unexpectedly, TEAM PEAR SHAPED has led the fleet into Victoria. Nathalie and crew are making an excellent showing, and looking to finish 5th boat for boat (2nd mono-hull) in Victoria. Entering Victoria Inner Harbor ENVOLEE is sure to have their 4 bicyclists pedaling full tilt for the finish bell. The finish is at the dock behind the flag pole at this live webcam view of Victoria. https://royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/about/explore/rbcm-channel/web-cam The fleet will be tying up on the docks to the right, in front of the Empress Hotel.

PHILPOT will be crossing to Victoria tomorrow, Tuesday, for a full dockside report.
PT WATERCRAFT should be finishing second about 9:25 a.m. PDST
 
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Daydreamer said:
Thanks for the play by play Dura Mater.
Are you heading to Victoria for the follow up?
Did their tracker stop working or High Sea Drifters turn back?
Click to expand...

Oh no no, Greg! They were right there at the start w the other cool kids. Maybe sailing under the radar?
 
Meantime my sentimental favorite, OLD FART IN A WINDSTORM, is around Point Wilson and is making 2.3 knots, like a boss.
 
A minor correction on Team Pear Shaped Racing: The boat is of Canadian registry. It is owned and sailed by Duncan Gladman, a Canadian and a great guy to talk over a beer with. It was purchased in NZ and then brought to Victoria where modifications were made to upgrade the aspects of the boat. Duncan and I went out for a spin to tune up the autopilot. In 18 to 20 knots of breeze we were scooting around the bay near Sydney BC at 25 knots at a TWA of about 120 deg. With the TWA at about 60 degrees we were hitting about 12 to 15 in similar winds. Jacky you should plot those two data points on the polar plot for your yacht as a reference.
 
Thanks, Brian. Yes, I will have my tactician run those numbers. Those fellas were very nice. I introduced myself And watched them tweaking and adjusting everything over and over. Complete familiarity w your boat is part of what you need to win. Great showing. :-). Lots of R2AK hats and tshirts on the 8:15 am Coho ferry from Port Angeles to Victoria. There sure are alot of trees up here. And big sky to rival Montana. Which reminds me that Kallie will be driving Shad’s truck up from Port Townsend to Ketchikan, so I’ll ( unfortunately) miss her. Which is a loss because she lights up a room. Oh well.
 
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