Monday, May 14, 2012

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


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5 comments:

  1. BurkeMay 14, 2012 at 12:05 PM

    OUTSTANDING JOB, everyone!!

    The tracker showed the hours of misery (there should be an autoplay .mp3 of slatting sails when the indicated bsp is 0.8kts.!), some great tactical action, and the magic of Kotuku down the Strait.

    Fantastic work. Miss you all!

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    Replies
    1. GraemeMay 15, 2012 at 6:43 AM

      Come join us one of these days! Take care of yourself!

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  2. Janna Cawrse EsareyMay 15, 2012 at 9:47 PM

    Congrats, Team Kotuku! We were riveted by the tracker throughout the weekend--in between naps and beach walks, of course. Somehow, though, Graeme's mom and I got into a very interesting conversation right around 10 pm and MISSED THE FINISH. Ack. These are the pitfalls of truly enjoying your mother-in-law's company.

    Can't wait to wave you out and in for Swiftsure. Look for the little people in red shirts flapping wildly--and the big people in red shirts flapping too! Go, Kotuku! Go, go, Kotuku!

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  3. AnonymousMay 16, 2012 at 7:28 AM

    Great summary, and great run up/around the coast by team Kotuku. Lots of Offshore amongst are gang, this was a tough one. Congrats on the win, and look forward to seeing you guys up at Swiftsure. -J/105 - Free Bowl of Soup

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  4. GraemeMay 18, 2012 at 10:05 PM

    Thanks! You guys too!

    Races like these always teach you a little about yourself and the people you sail with. Reminds me of Northern Century a couple of years ago. Took us 3 days and two nights to go 100 miles, in part because I wasn't listening carefully enough to my crew.
    I had a flashback of that moment as we were drifting around in the Straits and my logic was saying "get to the beach" while Al was thinking "get out of the lee of the island." We did what Al suggested, and off to Race Rocks we went.

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