Southern Straits 2009 Race Report

SEA WEASEL's 2009 Crew -minus Niko



Our GPS course.



Donald Crowhurst aka Ed

Mid Strait

Off point Atkinson.

Reaching under A-kite.

Niko as intense as ever

Sailor Jerry's Rum has its effect.

A boat load of iPhones goes by.

I was at the skipper's meeting the night before the race. On more than one occasion someone would ask me what boat I was sailing on; and when I said that I was taking out my boat, SEA WEASEL they responded "oh good for you". I felt like someone's special cousin. I was taking out an old, slow, small boat out in one of the toughest races in BC.

The weather report stated that their would be light winds from the NW/W switching in the afternoon to light SE building overnight into a moderate SE wind. We met at the docks at 0800 and readied the boat. By 0830 we were motoring out to the start line off Dundas Pier in West Vancouver. We practiced a MOB drill when Dave dropped his strobe over the side.

While I have seen more boats at last year's English Bay Scramble, I have not seen a more impressive collection of boats. As we all formed up waiting to go we sailed past some giants: NEPTUNE's CAR, ICON, GLORY, BRAVE HEART, and STRUM. There was also a large collection of other thorough bred race boats. We greeted our TCYC comrades, and I was beginning to get excited. We saw Ed in DUSTY MAUCH doing it "Donald Crowhurst Style" single handing his boat. He would be the only other boat that rated over 145 and would be our only real competitor. DUSTY MAUCH in fact rated the same as us.
The Start 1053hrs:

Getting to the start line we immediately began to feel the effects of the strong current river blasting out of Burrard Inlet. Close to the shore there was a strong back eddy that was sucking us back from the line. Further out the tide pushed us forward at a few knots. We decided the smartest thing was to come at the line on a port tack out at the committee boat end of the line and use the current to our advantage. We would tack over the line just after clearing the committee boat. The only fear was that we would drift over early and not be able to sail back over again.

It worked perfectly and in the light airs we began to beat out of the bay. We went on short takes trying to keep in the current river blasting out of Burrard Inlet. This appeared to work and as the fleet spread out I was not disapointed in our position. DUSTY MAUCH rated the same as us and was not too far ahead.

Leg One - Entrance Island:

Nearing point Atkinson we had a decision to make: go south and try and catch the SE that was supposed to fill in that afternoon or go North and take advantage of the current conditions. We went South; after last year's Silva Bay Layover I had seen this tactic work. However this year the light air and the current coming around the North Arm of the Fraser by UBC proved our downfall and we began to slow painfully. Finally after waiting too long we tacked and headed North. At that time the wind picked up from the SE and we put up the A-kite and began to blast over to Entrance Island. It looked perfect we were making from 5.5-6.5 knots in the building breeze. Niko had made an excellent call to go with the A-kite in these conditions. Perhaps our plan had worked out after all.


We closed entrance island and rounded at 1922hrs. The kite came down flawlessly and we had a great rounding. The only catch at this point is that we discovered that I had entered the GPS coordinates into the chartplotter wrong. Ron was able to point this out with the use of his hand held GPS. I quickly reprogrammed the course.

Niko living the dream off North Flat Tops.

Leg Two North Flat Tops:

The light was fading as we began to beat up the North side of Gabriola Island heading for the mark off of North Flat Top Islands. We were debating going inshore with the current now flooding or staying out and taking advantage of the wind. Since we had six people on the boat we opted to go out and use all the weight we had on the rail. It was a great ride averaging 6-6.5 knots as the breeze built up.

We hoped to be able to round the mark and hoist the kite in some light. This was not going to be the case as e tacked in towards the mark we were in the dark. It is amazing how bright it can be out there. Even though the moon was completely obscured all of the various communities lights allowed you to see a fair bit.

Finding the mark sparked some passionate theories on where the mark was. The SI said that the mark would be a yellow mark with a blinking light or the Steveston Lifeboat with a anchour light and a blue strobe. As we closed to the mark area my GPS had identified that one of the two white blinking lites was the mark. The closest one had to be it as the other was obviously Thrasher Rock. Despite the GPS telling us one thing there was a debate with some convinced the "blue" (I thought it was green) flashing light was the life boat. I have had it proved to me time and time again that the GPS is always right. We followed it and it proved itself correct again.

Leg Three - Halibut Bank:

As we rounded the Mark we headed downwind to Halibut Bank. We had the symmetrical kite rigged and went with it. The breeze was building and like a sling shot we blasted downwind. We picked up speed flying at 7.5-9.5 knots. This was a "white knuckled" ride if I have ever been on one as we overtook waves and surfed down them. It was all I could do to keep the boat from rounding up violently (thank you skedge). Curtis manned the sheet and Dave had the main. Niko, Graham, and Ron had gone down below and were trying to get some shut eye. As we blasted through the night we saw the ghostly shapes of the big sleds go by silently heading for North Flat Tops and then passing us on their way back up to Halibut Bank.

Trying to keep the boat under control we headed down a few points off of the mark. Closing with Halibut Bank we needed to go to whites to close reach around the mark. Shockingly we doused perfectly and had the shoot down and were right on target without a hitch. We rounded the mark and here our troubles began.

Leg Four - Point Atkinson:

The wind was now blowing around 20 knots right in our teeth and we began the beat up wind for Point Atkinson. The wind was going against the current ant the waves were sharp and bashing through them began to take their toll on our progress and the crew. With waves hitting us on the chin our ground speed slowed to 4 knots and we crawled along.

The crew was suffering too. Two were knocked out by sea sickness, and two more were exhausted and half sick. The two that were throwing up couldn't go below and soon were huddled in the cockpit stirring only to puke or tack. Our competitiveness was gone.; We did not have our weight on the rail or light on our tell tails we were sailing by feel and GPS. Soon the GPS was shut down as we could see the light of Point Atkinson.

One of the most depressing things when your cold and bashing into a head wind is the feeling that little progress was being made. This was exasperated on this leg by the fact that the light's of Gibsons are quite visible and even though you are making progress it feels like you never move.

Ron came up on deck and took the helm from me for the last half off the leg. Graham was resurrected and Curtis and Dave came to life as we closed on Point Atkinson. As we neared the finish line the wind was bending around the point and even though we were on the same tack close hauled we swung around almost a hundred and eighty degrees. Finally we crossed the line at 0618. As we motored in to the safety inspection dock the clouds opened up and rain dumped on us. We were back at our home marina by 0930 exhausted, but successful in completing our first Southern Straits.

Looking Back:

I was quite happy with the race: technically our sailing was quite good with no mistakes. The course we choose did not pay off as much as we would have liked but I think was perfectly logical. We had great crew and everyone got along just fine.

There are however a few things I would change. Having 6 crew was a lot of people on a little boat and 4 is probably the magic number for my boat on this race. In addition there was a lot of food and gear brought onto the boat. We had way to much and none of it was touched except for some of the food. We also stowed this gear in the main cabin and kept the V-berth empty for crew. This location in heavy weather was making people sick. Even Niko who never gets see sick turned green. In the future I would put all of the gear in the V and keep the main cabin free for crew. Our schedule fell to pieces; this was mostly due to sea sickness but we needed to have a more formal and structured schedule. Sea sickness was a known issue but the crew waited too late to take their meds. Next time they will have to be taken before stepping on the boat for a race like this.

If you asked me right after the race if I enjoyed it I would probably have been a mumbling wreck. If you asked me if I would have done it again I would probably have said know, but as the days have gone by I look back on it and think more and more that I would do it again and that I actually enjoyed it.

Acknowledgments:
I would like to thank the following people for making this possible
The Crew: Curtis, Dave, Niko, Ron, Graham
The partners who put up with us leaving on a long weekend
Ian Lloyd for all of his advice
Rob Murray for the use of his hand held VHF
Niko again for all of his gear I borrowed
West Vancouver Yacht Club for hosting the race