Race Update 3/11 - Finish Destination, etc.

Pacific NW Offshore Skippers, Crew, and Supporters,

This is the first of routine posts as we close in on 2 months to the start of the PNW Offshore. We currently have 22 boats registered and room for more. If you are still on the fence or know someone who is, contact me, or have them do it, to discuss their hesitancy. There's more than enough time to get ready to race, and we are full speed ahead on all preparations.
As you may have heard elsewhere, we have changed the finish destination from Victoria to Port Angeles. I could detail the reasons, but suffice it to know that a lot of thought went into the decision and with still uncertainty about the logistical issues for a race such as ours relating to getting into Canada, we felt it was better to go to Port Angeles and have a race than risking cancellation. Besides, the Port of Port Angeles, Boat Haven marina, and most especially the Port Angeles Yacht Club did an amazing job last year and have welcomed us with open arms this year. And a further besides, given the race dates, you can still get over to Victoria for the Swiftsure with only few hours on the water. Win-win.

A couple of other quick points: If you are a crew member on one of our entries, please get your waivers to your skippers and all your emergency contact numbers. I'm going to be pushing hard to get paperwork tidied up in the next several weeks. Next, we're working hard with our partner, Coral Reef, to have the web connection up shortly so you can buy shirts, hats, other gear directly from them. Look for an announcement as soon as the site is live and then make your purchases in a timely fashion so you can have them before the race. We're not going to go through the crazy ritual of handing out gear at the pre-race gathering. Goods will be shipped directly to you from Coral Reef. Finally, we're on task to figure out pre and post race gatherings given the continually shifting Covid regulatory landscape. In that regard, more to follow.

That's it for now. Let's get 25 boats on the line.

See you in Ilwaco,

Denny Damore

CYC Commodore, Pacific NW Offshore Race Captain

CYC Sailing on Sundays and McCuddy's Food Drive

From Mark McCuddy

Thank you SOS Sailors for making Sunday's 3rd Annual Food Drive our most successful to date! You came through w/ lots of food donations and over $2,230. in donations to date! This is over double what we raised last year and is very much appreciated by the Oregon Food Bank!

Passing out beer after the race was a ton of fun for us on the Ranger Tug! Thank you for making it possible and thank you for forgiving us for some of our less than artful tosses!

As in years past we were so fortunate to have great conditions! The weather gods waited until we were back in our slips and had things put away before they decided we all needed a good rinsing!

We got a ton of good photos- they'll be posted to the McCuddy's Marina Facebook page if you'd like to check them out. You can also text me if you would like me to send them to you- just give me your boat name and description.

Thanks again, have a great holidays and see you next year!

Mark McCuddy

Safety at Sea

Pacific NW Offshore Racers,

I'm forwarding an email regarding this year's class put on by the Sailing Foundation. Follow the link in the note to get further information.

Denny Damore

CYC PNW Offshore Race Captain

Hi everyone,

We've finally got the pieces pinned down, wanted to give you a heads up to alert your racers:

The Sailing Foundation will be hosting a US Sailing International Offshore Hands-on Safety at Sea Seminar on Sunday, February 13, 2022 on Bainbridge Island. It will be a "hybrid" course; students will first complete online modules, then do the one day hands-on training. Once registration goes live, an update will be posted on our Safety at Sea page, and an email with a link to sign up will be sent out to the Safety at Sea mailing list (sign up to be on the mailing list on the Safety at Sea Page here: https://thesailingfoundation.org/what-we-do/safety-at-sea/) This course has filled up quickly in years past, and we expect this one to as well. If you want to do it, save the date, sign up to be notified, and don't wait to register.

Margaret
~~~~~~~_/)~~~~~~~~~~~~

Please support The Sailing Foundation; For the Advancement of Sailing in the Pacific Northwest

This Year's Race Shirts (2021) are available again

Pacific NW Offshore Racers,

If any of you missed the opportunity to get a shirt from the race, Coral Reef has opened a web page so that you can order again. Not sure how long it will be operational. Here's the link: http://stores.coralreefsailing.com/2021review/shop/home

You will need to scroll down to our listing. A screen cap is below.

Denny Damore
CYC Pacific NW Offshore Race Captain

Pacific NW Offshore Registration is OPEN!

Pacific Northwest Offshore Racers,

From the entire Corinthian Yacht Club of Portland and Schooner Creek Boat Works, our title sponsor, we'd like to extend a heartfelt invitation to register for the 2022 Pacific NW Offshore International Yacht Race. Here's the link: https://www.regattanetwork.com/clubmgmt/applet_registration_form.php?regatta_id=23509.

We also want to extend a heartfelt "Thank You" to those of you – skippers, crew, support teams – who participated in last year's race (24 boats) that finished in Port Angeles. You helped us keep the unique history of this race alive during a time of dramatic uncertainty. In that regard. we so appreciated the Port Angeles Yacht Club for stepping in as the substitute finishing club and for all their hospitality. This year, baring any extraordinary new drama, we're headed back to Victoria. We're also back on the usual dates of two weeks before Swiftsure, May 12-15. We hope you all will continue to support this race as you have in the past and sign up today. Since registration has just opened, you can actually be the first to register and then be the first boat we profile on the entrant's page of the website. Cool, no?

While there still may end up being some logistical hurdles that we'll all have to jump over, know that all of us here at CYC will do whatever it takes to make the process easy for you. Moreover, the folks in Ilwaco are already preparing to up their game from last year, which any of you who were there for the start will attest was already an incredibly supportive performance.

So, sign up today. If you have questions or concerns, send them directly to me at: race.c...@cycportland.org.

See you in Ilwaco.

Denny Damore

CYC Pacific NW Offshore Race Captain and CYC Commodore

A quick update Saturday June 5, 2021

Pacific NW Offshore Racers, Supporters, and Fans

Yeah, well, ah, I know I said back in March I would post routinely, but...uh...OK, no excuses. But, we have been busy getting this race to 24 boats off the ground with Covid concerns and uncertainties all around. We promise to do better next time. 

For now, here's where we are:

• 24 boats are registered with a double handed class for the first time and a cruising fleet of 5 boats. Cool. See: https://www.regattanetwork.com/clubmgmt/applet_registrant_list.php?regatta_id=21846&custom_report_id=2&SORTBY=HANDICAP,ORC_PLD

• Boats are arriving now. Start is Thursday at 10. 

• A tracker page is now on the website. It will go live on Thursday. http://yb.tl/pnmwr2021

• A Coral Reef Sailing Apparel link is now on the site to buy T-shirts and Hats. https://stores.coralreefsailing.com/pacific-nw-offshore/shop/home

• The link to hotels and restaurants in Ilwaco and the peninsula is: http://pnwsailingdays.com/

Unfortunately there will not be a crew party and raffle this year because of Covid, but the boats will be there and if you come down the skippers will welcome your visit. 

We will be posting here and on FB and Instagram during the race. 

Here's to a great race. 

Denny Damore

CYC Commodore, Pacific NW Offshore Race Captain

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

A Bunch of Bums

Mark McCuddy has entered his Cascade 36, Bums Rush.  While the PHRF number of 178 might make this one of our slower rated boats, it’s unlikely that this group will be bringing up the rear.  Mark has assembled quite an ensemble of “Bums” to see how fast they can make this boat go. In Mark’s own words the crew consists of the “almost embarrassing” group of:

• Joby Easton-legend

• Bill Huseby - legend

• John Colby - Single Handed Legend

• Keith Marco - never sleeps and can drive forever legend

• Piper Easton - youngest Offshore winner legend

• Skipper Mark McCuddy - Has good crew

With all of that experience, look for Bums Rush to do will in this race!

Haven

The cruising class is strong this year with another entry, Haven, joining in on the fun.  Haven is a Wylie 48 skippered by Kevin Flanigan.  While Haven may not have done Offshore previously, Kevin has plenty of experience on the Offshore and beyond.  Haven looks pretty fast just sitting at the dock and is likely to be a formidable competitor, even if they don’t elect to utilize the motor allowance.  However, Kevin is used to getting to Victoria quickly, so we won’t be surprised when the diesel is fired up if the wind dies. 

Balderdash

Balderdash is a Dash 34 out of Tidy Cove Yacht Club in Vancouver, BC. She is campaigned by her four owner partnership of Jeff Curry, Simon Kaulbach, Bob Dewald and Kevin Van Hullebush. This group does many of the local (to them) buoy races as well as Vancouver Island events. Southern Straits is a favorite, probably especially so with a division win in 2016.  They also circumnavigated Vancouver Island in the 2017 VanIsle 360 and say they are looking forward to adding the PNW Offshore to the list.  We are glad to welcome this addition to the already strong contingent of Canadians.  See more about the Balderdash team here.

Defiant

Defiant, the striking C&C 115, campaigned by Rich Ackerman and Teresa Coleman out of Island Sailing Club is coming back for their second Offshore. They claim to have been training hard through the winter in the prestigious CYC Sailing on Sundays race series in Portland.  Don’t let that fool you though, this team has experienced a combined 20 Offshores between Defiant and Cool Change. With all of that experience they report having high expectations of being the fastest home in the race!  I don’t know what to say other than that’s one cool house with those fancy black sails. See more about Defiant here.

Westerly

Our third 70, joining Rage and Pied Piper, is Stuart and Joy Dahlgren’s, Sidney, BC based Santa Cruz 70, Westerly.  Westerly is an actively campaigned race boat, both locally and offshore, having done two Van Isle 360s, Vic Maui in 2016, Pacific Cup in 2018 and is registered for the 2020 Vic Maui. They report that they are looking forward to competing in this race for the first time.  It sure will be an interesting year to watch these 70s fight for line honors.  It is fortunate to have moved the host city to Ilwaco where there will be room for these 70s along with the rest of the fleet! 

Pied Piper

We are excited to welcome another 70 footer, this time it’s Jack Jenning’s Santa Cruz 70 hailing from Niles, Illinois.  The beautiful boat, however, has been here in Oregon for a few months.  Pied Piper created some buzz when she arrived as we don’t get too many 70s in the “ditch”. Rumors were that she is here temporarily, but that they would do the Offshore and other west coast races – and we are happy to see those rumors proving true (at least the Offshore part). Jack describes the foundation of this year's Pied Piper crew as “a bunch of Midwest 'has-beens' that have been sailing SC70's since 1986 who look forward to the sailing challenges of the ORR and the Pacific Ocean.”  My bet is that these “has-beens” will put their extensive experience and impressive race history to good use and will be one to watch for line honors and other results. 

Another Cruising Class Entry - Swift

George Kapllani has entered his Catalina 400, Swift, in the cruising class. We’ll have to wait and see if Swift lives up to her name, but she certainly appears to be comfortable with more creature comforts than some.  Comfort paired with the motoring allowance in the cruising class could make this a pretty desirable ride.  It’s easy to see why Swift has attracted an experienced crew consisting of a Canadian, an Aussie, a New Yorker and a North Carolinian. This well-travelled group has built their combined 35 years of sailing experience in the Great Lakes, the East Coast, the Aegean, the Bahamas and of course Portland.  Welcome to the Offshore Swift!

Entry Momentum Remains Strong

Scott Campbell’s spectacular J/121, Riva, was the 11th boat to register back in December.  11th is, however, not indicative of where anyone should expect to see Riva in the final results, especially after their overall win last year.  When Scott gave up some of the comforts of the old Riva for this new rocketship, everyone expected them to be fast and they definitely proved that to be true.  With a very experienced crew, another year in the boat and with a Pacific Cup on the horizon, expectations are high once again. 

Velocity

Tom Keffer reports that the J/42, Velocity, is always glad to get off the river, and on to the Pacific where she is most at home. Having observed the powerful and solid Velocity charging though the waves in the open ocean, I would agree with this assessment.  This will be Velocity's 11th Offshore and Tom modestly reports “always a bridesmaid, never a bride, she has placed 2nd twice, 3rd once, but never won her division or the race. Good thing we race for the companionship and fun, not fame and money.”  While racing for money would be a losing proposition no matter how well Velocity and her crew perform, some of us have noticed Velocity consistently getting faster and faster and this could be her year to top the podium.  You can learn more about Velocity here.