Haiku and High Noon share honors

The inaugural Spirit of Admiralty race was close down to the wire.  High Noon, Smoke, and Haiku fought through light winds and slatting seas to complete the 213 nautical mile race.  The race was so close that it came down to the last hours of the grueling week long event.

On Saturday, June 20, 2009 10:00, the three boats began the race in Auke Bay in very light air.  As the boats proceeded south down the backside of Douglas, the fleet stayed very close.  It wasn't until 30 miles into the race that the boats began to separate, with High Noon getting out in front.

However, Haiku took advantage of very light wind during the dark hours to catch up to High Noon just north of the Brother Islands.  The breeze then filled in, and High Noon increased her lead over Haiku and Smoke.  As High Noon was finishing at Warm Springs Bay, Haiku was rounding Yasha Island, a mere 11 nautical miles behind.  However, the wind died to near nothing leaving Haiku a choppy sea, and no wind.  The last 11 miles took 7 hours to complete, putting High Noon firmly in first place after the first leg.  High Noon finished after about 35 hours of sailing, Haiku took 44 hours and Smoke came in 54 hours after the Saturday start time.

A New Adventure Begins!

In celebration of the 50th Anniversary of Statehood, SEAS is sponsoring a race around Admiralty Island.  The longest inland water sailboat race on the west coast just got longer.

Three boats will be gathering at Battleship Island in Auke Bay on Saturday June 20, 2009 at 1000 to begin the race around Admiralty.  The boats are:

• S/V High Noon, a 41' Doug Peterson designed sloop, owned by Mike Rentel and Karen Schmidt 
• S/V Smoke, a Cascade 29 sloop, owned by David Pichard
• S/V Haiku, a Yamaha 33 sloop, owned by Brian Lieb and Liz Agnew

After the start the boats will proceed south down Stephen's passage past the Brother's Island and enter Frederick Sound.  The first leg will continue southwest to Yasha Island, a small island a couple of miles south of the southern tip of Admiralty Island.  The boats will round Yasha Island, keeping the island to their starboard, and enter Chatham Strait.  The 120 nm first leg ends at the entrance to Warm Springs Bay on Baranof Island.

It was a great weekend of sail boat racing in Juneau. The Marmion Island starting line turnout was impressive with 10 boats.  A group of 5 boats from Auke Bay joined the racers in Admiralty Cove bringing the total number of boats to 15, and the 50 or so sailors proceeded to have a lot of fun barbequing and conversing on the beach.  Brand new members of SEAS joined the crew and skippers in ignoring the bugs well into the evening.  

The racing on Saturday was great with a southerly breeze pushing the fleet down the west coast of Douglas to the finish line just off Admiralty Cove.  (Saturday Results)  The return leg of the racing was plagued with light winds and contrary tides which moved most skippers to douse their sails early and motor home. (Sunday Results)

The Seas Cup is off to a great first season of racing. Round 3 June 13-14 will find a group of sailors ready to take on the challenging , fickle air of the south side of Douglas Island to gather in Admiralty Cove. This race often brings out a large number of boats because of the great beach party and skippers have finally got it together with boat repairs and finding a crew. Another notable aspect of this round of the SEAS Cup is the advantage for slower boats to keep up if a south wind develops on leg one.  Take a moment and review the course and race description here and plan on a Skippers meeting Friday June 12^th 5:00 pm at the Squire's Rest.

Well, the weekend was a gigantic success, with two great days of sailing, and three great days of weather. 

The boats left Mayflower Island at 10:15 on Saturday and raced upwind all the way to Graves Point, and had consistent breeze and speed the entire way.  The race marked the racing debut of Cetus, a Columbia 8.3 sloop sailed by Ati Nasiah, one of the newest sailors in the fleet, and she and her all woman crew did fantastic.  To see the results of this race, go here.

The boats tied up at the dock.  The barbeque's fired up, the beer and wine began to flow, and lies were told.  The end of a long day and great day.

Sunday dawned, another glorious sunny day in South East Alaska.  And 5 boats (Lyric, Mess Around, Cetus, Smoke, and Seychelles) braved the sun and light winds for the race to Twin Points and back.  Unfortunately, with Twin Points only a few hundred yards away, the wind died completely and all the boats were forced to fire up their engines and head back for another night of yarns, food, and fun.

Memorial Day Weekend, the beginning of summer, and the first SEAS cup overnight set of races.  Traditionally, one of the best attended races, it has something for everyone.  The first of three races begins 10:15 at Marmion Island, and proceeds up the channel, into Stephen's Passage and finishes at Graves Point.  This race is generally and upwind battle up the channel, with a close reach past Pt Arden, finishing with some tacking to Graves Point.

The boats then tie up in Taku Harbor, for a night of revelry. 

The start time for Sunday's race is to be determined by the skippers and crew based on exactly how much revelry was had the night before.  The fun-o-meter can be read by determining how late the Sunday race begins.