PNW Offshore Update 3_23_21 (from Google Group)

Pacific NW Offshore Racers, Crew, and Support Teams,

OK, well we now have 20 boats registered!! Well, technically, we only have 19, but if you round up and you count a boat that is sorting out an SER concern before he registers, we have 20! That was our first goal. Now it's on to our Stretch Goal of 25! Who do you know that wants to do the race? Put them in touch with me. This race is gonna happen, and it's gonna be a good one.

In other news, the 19th boat to register has two hulls! Yep, we have our first multihull in the race who will be handling "safety boat" duty and will act as a test case for multihull SERs for a division next year and as a direct link to the multihull community here in the PNW. The owners are Joe and Sue Dazey with their Chris White 48 named Presto. Here's a bit of their sailing bio:

We started sailing multihulls in the mid-1970s. In 1981 we made a voyage to Alaska and couldn't stop going back so we started commercial trolling for salmon. In 2014 we retired from fishing. We bought our 48' Chris White catamaran in Florida, sailed to the Chesapeake, sailed to the Caribbean a couple of times with the Salty Dawg Rally (13 days and 9 days), crossed from Antigua to Panama (12 days), went through the Panama Canal, cruised the coasts of Panama, Costa Rica, and Mexico. In June of 2019, we left Ensenada and arrived 17 days later in Sitka. We're based in Poulsbo, WA. We did a bit of racing in Puget Sound in the 1970s/80s, and raced more recently in the Chesapeake. We enjoyed good success in the 2016 and 2017 Cape Charles Cup.

More details:

• For folks thinking about hotels and such in Ilwaco/Long Beach Peninsula, the Visitor's Bureau will be updating their site shortly with information and we'll include links on our PNWO website.

• The Port Angeles Yacht Club has worked with Westport Yachts to provide 195' and 205' of dock space for us in addition to the space the marina is making available.

• Boats have started registering for moorage in Ilwaco using the link on our site. If you haven't registered, here's the link. https://www.portofilwaco.com/2021-pacific-nw-offshore-reservations/

• An updated inspection guideline will be published later today on the Regatta Network site through www.sailpdx.org notice board and inspections will be starting soon.

• The registered boats are going to start showing up on the website and in social media with photos and commentary from Eric Hopper and Lilli Matzke. Check 'em out.

• We are locking in a volunteer that will likely do video interviews with skippers and crews for posting before, during, and after the race. Cool, no?

• Sailing Instructions are being drafted and will be posted most likely within a few weeks.

• We have signed an agreement with YellowBrick to do race tracking this year. It should be cool.

So you can see, the race is on! I'm shooting for weekly posts from here on out. Look for us on Facebook and other social media.

See you in Ilwaco.

Denny

Dennis Damore

CYC Commodore, Pacific NW Offshore Race Captain

1960 Offshore Mystery Solved

A year or so ago I posted a question about whether any readers knew about an Offshore race that happened around 1959. John Vynne at a Safety at Sea seminar told me that he helped bring a boat down from Seattle to Astoria and then turned around and raced it back up north. I’d never heard of such a race. He didn’t have any other information about the race that he could recall, and so I reached out with no success.

Last week, Nicole Sirois passed on from Tom Tenney a Seattle Daily photo of the “NORPAC” race from Astoria to Port Angeles from 1960 (included below). From the photo it almost looks a bit like a mizzen mast one design fleet. Other than the caption, there was no other information about the race. Filling in the missing pieces, our partners at the Port Angeles Yacht Club, including Commodore Erika Hansen-Dahlin and their club historian, Carla Bamer, were able to dig up the attached article from the Port Angeles Evening News that covered the race. History repeats itself. So, in one sense this race began in 1976 with a race to Newport, Oregon, but in another more significant sense it began in 1960, up the Washington coast and down the strait to finish where we’re going to finish again this year. Pretty cool. Enjoy.

Denny Damore
CYC Commodore, Pacific NW Offshore Race Captain

PNW Offshore Update March 10

Pacific NW Offshore Racers, Crew, and Support Teams,

Time for an update. First, we now have 16 boats registered for the race! Our goal is, as it was in 2020, 25-30 participants. We’re more than halfway to our stretch goal with 4 more boats that I know about who will be signing up shortly. Can you say, “pent up demand?” If you are on the bubble, know that we are pulling out all the stops to make sure this race happens. I note that Transpac just published an open letter saying that they are full speed ahead. And, with Covid numbers improving and the fact that we moved the date back a month, we are seeing much more optimism from skippers and even our own Board Members that we’re on track to have the race.

Second, we are beginning the coordination between skippers and inspectors relating to SER compliance. If you have any SER questions either as a registered boat or as a prospective participant, reach out to me and either I or Craig Garrison will get back in touch.

Third, we will be updating the website more frequently that we have been doing including adding photos of boats that have entered with squibs about their perspectives on the race – check back often.

Finally, we have neither published Covid Guidelines or Sailing Instructions for the race to this point given the shifting sands of all things pandemic related. As either of these documents are ready, we will post here and on the website.

Denny Damore
CYC Commodore, Pacific NW Offshore Race Captain

2021 Pacific NW Offshore is On!

Pacific NW Offshore Racers

2021 Pacific NW Offshore is On!

It’s taken some rework of the logistics because of the Canadian border closing and the cancellation of this year’s Swiftsure, but CYC and our title sponsor Schooner Creek Boat Works were determined to make this year’s race happen. And so it is that THE RACE IS ON!

A few bits of news: You will recall we changed our host city last year to Ilwaco, Washington, but never got the chance to experience their great port and the Long Beach Peninsula because of Covid. Well, we’re taking another shot at it this year, and they are excited to host us once more. The other great news is that we’ll be finishing in Port Angeles with the tons of help from the Port Angeles Yacht Club and the city. They are pulling out all the stops to make the finish just as great as it has been in Victoria all these years.

And, we’ve moved the race dates to June 10-13 to allow for more time for Covid recovery. We hope these dates work better for everyone and that you’ll hike up your boots and join us. To register follow this link: Pacific NW Offshore Registration.

Dennis Damore

CYC Commodore, Pacific NW Offshore Race Captain