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.
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.
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!
Screenshot 2018-05-10 at 8.56.17 PM
Tracker update 8 PM
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!
Corino Marine Services offers full mobile service and repair,
serving the boating community in Portland and all surrounding areas in
Oregon and Washington. We come to your location and our technicians are ABYC
certified. We repair: Gas and Diesel engines, DC electrical, plumbing,
steering, and most other systems!
503-686-3673 www.corinomarineservices.com
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.
Headed out to start the race
Gathering at the Rogue
Skippers meeting at Rogue
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.