T37 Regional Championship Regatta

Hosted by the Seattle Yacht Club

April 14, 2018

model sailboat regatta

Report Written by Ron Knight, Commodore, PNMYC

The weather predictions weren't ideal, but the reality was better. There was no rain for set-up, start, and early racing. All were well-outfitted for the rain, which, when it started, was not very heavy.

model sailboat

The southerly had some shifts, but we stayed with the same start line and windward marks thoughout. It was predominantly a windward-leeward course, but we added a mark five boat-lengths below the windward mark as well as offset marks to the left of both windward and leeward marks. These seemed to nicely separate upwind and downwind boats. We think the extra mark below the windward mark kept port-trackers from converging at the true mark, but, with the wind shifts, we all still manahed a few pile-ups.

wooden sailboat model

As he has done before, Dave Ferguson served as PRO and ran a smooth event. He was ably helped by his older daughter, Sheridan, who noted finishes, entered them in the Sailwave program and even took excellent photos. We completed 15 races by 2:30 and then covened for drinks and awards at the SYC clubhouse. I'd also like to thank the other volunteers and club members who helped run things: Dan Mathews, Will Lesh, Laurie Ive, Cindy Gossett, and Allan and Barbara Van Ness.

modelsailboat

Nine of the fairly regular skipped had pre-registered, but one last minute arrival joined us. Craig Ross has just finished an older kit boat, with wood spars even, the night before. Even so, it showed good upwind speed and he no doubt will do well with more modern rigging and sail trim adjustments. Six of the other races had at least one bullet. The winner, Chris Brain, was the most consistent, with 3 firsts and never finishing below fourth. (A month ago, he had a scheduling conflict, but he's glad he resolved it!).

rc sailboat

The second place finisher was last year's winner of the Nationals, Peter Conze, with 5 firsts and a net score of only one point behind. He had some transmitter issues, apparently due to condensation inside his rain cover, ended up with some unintended circles. The third place finisher, Dan Darrow, the only representative from the Olympic Peninsula (part of the newly named "Quimper Peninsula" Fleet), had 3 bullets and a net score only 3 points behind Chris. Fourth was Dan Mathews and fifth was Ron Knight, only 1 point apart, but several points from the first group. Derek Storm, John Ive, Allan Van Ness, Will Lesh, and Craig Ross made up the final five. Will Lesh, the talented designer and producer of our T37 kits, had major problems with a newer model radio.

remote control sailboat

It appeared to be radio interference, which has been a n occasional problem at this venue, Portage Bay, but was strikingly worse for Will this time. We have thought that cars on an elevated highway only about 100 yards away may suddenly arrive on a boat's channel and compete. Previously, if a boat lost control, turning the transmitter off and back on seemed to recapture on a new frequency. However, this didn't work for Will this time. He thus was well off his usual competitiveness.

RC boat

We again thank the Seattle yacht Club for their facilities, help and cooperation in staging this event. Thanks again to Dave Ferguson for his cheerful and skillful PRO performance. We look forward to when he and his daughter finish their T37's and can join us.

The next big T37 regatta is the Larry Shorett San Juan Regatta on May 19, 2018, just west of Friday Harbor at Sundstrom Pond. It's a wonderful venue with usually good racing, followed by awards and a salmon dinner hosted by Peter Shorett and Chris and Catharine Brain at the Brain's home near Roche Harbor. Make plans to join us. A detailed notice will go out soon. Remember to make ferry reservations soon.