Victoria Harbor

                                           Victoria Harbor at 6 AM from Craig Garrison


Thank you to our Sponsors: Schooner Creek Boat Works, Columbia Crossings, and West Coast Sailing! Support this companies as they are our lifeblood! Thank you so much for believing in the Oregon Offshore International Yacht Race!

Rage is nearly at the turn! Riva and Hana Mari are about equal! Then Velocity coming up!

 
Buoy Data
Buoy 46087 says Wind Direction 50 degrees
Speed 3 knts
Gust 4
Wave height 2.9
Wave period 8.3

The View from a Warm Bed is Nice

The first night can be a tough adjustment on Oregon Offshore with all the excitement from an early morning start. By now most boats have sent their first crew shift down below for some Zzz. Since racing is around the clock, boats work in a crew shift to stay fresh and in the race zone. Crew will rotate out on a timed schedule through out the day and night to sleep for a 3-5 hours at a time. Crew management and health is a very important aspect of offshore racing. Since this sport can be physically and mentally demanding, strong, black coffee can be your best friend.
As we retire for the night we wish the racers the best from our warm, dry and stable beds.

Day 1 Recap

Boats set off from buoy 2 at 0900 this morning with a great start! Wind conditions have been stable all day from the W/NW at 15-17kts shifting N. Most boats pointed straight up the coaston Port tack. Spar Trek hugged the closest to the coast and made great progress until an afternoon tack to join the fleet. Many years you can see boats up to 25miles offshore but westerly breezes told the boats to head straight north.
In the last few hours we saw two great crosses between Anam Cara and Hana Mari with Anam Cara crossing 500 meters in front. Salient and Abstract seem to be playing nice and are less than 200 meters apart! Wow!
If breeze continues over night we should see progress from the fleet up the coast with the A fleet passing Neah Bay into the Straight de Juan de Fuca Friday morning.

Goodnight Moon, Goodnight Destruction Island



Anyone that has raced OO knows this small land mass located just SE of Oil City.  Destruction Island may sound like a deadly landmark for shipwrecked sailors but was actually named after the death of British explorers killed by native peoples on the Hoh River.  (Look it up, I read it on the internets).  For racers, they know the island as the common landmark of nightfall for Oregon Offshore.  Many have often been greeted in the morning by the same view of the island as the night before. DUH!

Tracker update 8 PM

Rage is in the lead, Westerlies at 13, gusts to 15, 5' swell at 10 seconds.
Not the fastest point of sail so it looks like they have slowed a bit.
Anam Car and Hana Mari.

Battle of the Blue Hulls




One of the things that I love about racing is we will do anything to gain any speed advantage. After all, we are using physics to fight the laws of physics.  However, this begs the question, 'does a blue hull make a boat faster?'

I have heard the drunken rant of a sailor spout how the heat absorption of a darker hull will allow it to react with the water molecules differently and therefore less friction through the water blah blah blah.  I am not sure I buy into that, but I do know they look mighty pretty and Maria Swearingen sure knows how to shoot them!  Thanks for the beautiful shots of Riva and Anam Cara!

Free Bowl of Soup Stays Home




If you have not heard the news about Free Bowl of Soup, unfortunately ran over a river log on the way to Astoria.  They sailed into Astoria Wednesday for an emergency haul out to inspect the damage and found both prop blades sheared off!  After a last ditch effort to borrow a prop from a fellow J105 in Portland, the fit was not right.  We wish these guys the best and and expect them to return to reclaiming their glory in 2019.  Enjoy the warm beds and dry clothes boys!

Race start video


Just a note, there is a great race start video on Oregon Offshore International Yacht Race on Facebook!


Spar Trek is on a Trek

Maybe Spar Trek didn't get my memo earlier about a long port tack up the coast. After some great movement up the coast and possibly some a push from shore currents, they had to tack out. The wind shift to the North will help, but starboard ride is going to be discouraging as they take a number of transoms out to the ocean. Hey boys, hope the crabbing was good close to shore!



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Rage is ahead!
Corrected time at the finish changes everything!
Outside Willapa Bay..... This is 5.10.18 at 1:40 PM
Moderate seas
Wave height 5' at 9.9 sec
Wind Speed 7.8, gusts to 11, northerly
50 degrees


Long Port Tack



Looks like a steady windy velocity from the East/Northeast doesn't leave room for much tactics. Just point the nose up the coast and head North.  This could change later in the day and evening as wind is expected to switch North with an increase in velocity.    We could see a split of the fleet based on tactics.  

Change in the Sailing Instructions

The start time has changed from Thursday, May 10th 0800 hours to 0900 hours. This changes the printed Sailing Instructions. 

Schooner Creek to the rescue

Schooner Creek Owner Kevin Flanigan and Eric thought he was just coming to race, instead he came to save the day! Rage, a Wylie 70 built at Schooner, got a slight ding on her bow. The race must go on!