Run Through the Ringer and Proud of It

Sheesh, here I go again.  Exhausted.  Puzzled.  Pleased.  Not quite fulfilled, but very satisfied.  And if that doesn't make a lot of sense then I am describing it well.  That's kind of how our race went.

The sailing was great all weekend and I am really proud of our our team.  Huge effort from each of us to get the boat ready, commit the time, energy and money to make this happen.  

I think it is hilarious that part of me is grumbling about finishing second, and for those of us who might also be doing this, stop, laugh at yourself, and then remember what a great race we had.  We led all boats overall on corrected time at the mark.  Um, Icon, The Car, Braveheart?  In sight at the Bank, after something like 90 miles of upwind work in a wide range of conditions.  Upwind the boat was more dialed in than I can ever remember especially considering how varied the sailing was.  

And when Drummer got away from us we did everything humanly possible to reel them back in.  20 sail changes executed flawlessly and usually with a grin that said "what's next?"  Ridiculous spinnaker peels that we ought to have caught on video.  The boat was fast, the sailing was fun, and our team is firing on all cylinders.  Everyone drove, trimmed, did pit, cooked, washed dishes, made cookies, offered peanut gallery comments, laughed, and struggled together as we gutted out a tough race.

No, we didn't win.  But we didn't do many things wrong either.  Al might say that we should have covered our fleet, but he is pretty tough on himself.  And we were in the hunt for the overall win, so going to the USA-side when we were (unanimously) sure it was the safer bet was a call that we would (and probably will) make again.

I couldn't be happier with our progress and I am excited to begin the final phase of our preparations.  Lots of work between now and Hawaii, but as a team, we are ready.  

Thanks to everybody for your hard work.  I hope you had as much fun as I did!

PS. Even the delivery was great.  Wickedly fast spinnaker reach across the straits.  Customs clearance in Port Townsend was easy and painless.  Thanks to Customs in PT/PA--not sure if you guys read sailing blogs, but if this is the kind of welcome you give our foreign guests when they show up in a sailboat, then you are doing great things for our country.  Thank you for giving up your Memorial Day to help us come home!

From the Swiftsure Home Page:

Who to watch

Winning boats from most major races in the Pacific Northwest will be lining up in the hopes of adding a prestigious Swiftsure trophy to their collection.  Boats to watch include My-Tai and Braveheart who took trophies from the Round Salt Spring race this weekend.  Braveheart, a TP52, holds the record of 15 hours and eight minutes for the fastest monohull in the Swiftsure Lightship Classic Race set in 2007.  The top three boats from the Oregon Offshore Race (Astoria to Victora) Kotuku, Time Bandit and Riva should also be in the running.  Other top contenders include Westerly, who recently won the Lipton Cup and Mad Max, who triumphed in the Southern Straits last month.

This year, the Swiftsure Inshore Classic will finish in Cadboro Bay, with celebrations at the Royal Victoria Yacht Club.  There is a large multihull division in the fleet which always put on a great show.  However, one of the fiercest rivalries will be the Commodores versus the ‘First Ladies’ on identical J80′s.  Commodores from Seattle, Victoria and Vancouver Yacht Clubs will race aboard Swish, and their wives aboard Joyride.

You can follow your favourite boats live in real time on the Swiftsure Race Tracker.

Visit www.swiftsure.org, Facebook and Twitter for all the latest news.

A Bit of Luck and Some Seriously Tough Crew

Wow.  Exhausted.  Elated.  Amazed.  Oregon Offshore was one of those races that burns itself into your memory bank.  The brilliant moon rising like a huge orange spinnaker.  The dagger like teeth of Graveyard of Giants south of Flattery.  Kotuku doing what she does best, blasting off to weather, running down faster boats when they least expect it.  Parking.  Slatting sails in the sun.  Watching Time Bandit escape leaving us in our own private hell.  For hours and hours.  Talking about a westerly that never came.  Until it did.  A last gasp push inspired by Nick Bannon who said "We Will Get to the Bar by Closing."  The kite filling.  The tide changing.  The speed building, 8knots, 9 knots, 10knots+.  Nick, buddy, I think we are going to make it.  And we did.

Truly inspired by the quality of the people we sail with.  Grit, toughness, confidence, resilience.  Thank you Al, Alex, Nick, Eli, Matt, Emily, Elishia and Kevin.  I have never sailed with better sailors, or better people.  When you put this much energy and talent and passion on a problem, any problem--you have a fighting chance.

I have only one regret.  You all bailed out of town and left me to carry home all the hardware we won.  Nice party, beautiful yacht club.  But where was Team Kotuku...?

This one was so heavy I couldn't get it home.  But the food was great, and the people were friendly.  It was really fun.  Thanks to all the folks at Portland CYC and Royal Victoria YC for putting on a great event.  And thanks to everyone who followed us on the tracker.  If you went to sleep before 10:51PM you might have missed one of the great come-backs I have experienced.  For us, it was a night to remember.

Results and Race Reports are here:

http://oregonoffshore.blogspot.com

Kotuku arrives in Astoria for Oregon Offshore

Well, the Bird has landed.  Apparently she hit 13.2 knots as she rolled south on delivery.  Sounds like the ride was mostly pleasant and fast.  Thanks to Alex, Ted, Elishia, Emily and Kevin for doing the delivery.  Hope you had fun!  (The rest of us roll into town this afternoon.  Thanks to Tom and Marie for offering up their beach house, as well!)

The Oregon Offshore starts tomorrow.  You can track us via the blog at http://Oregonoffshore.blogspot.com  or directly on the tracker page at http://oregonoffshore.swiftsure.org/

Should be a great race.  Hope everybody can avoid the whales this year!