J/111 dominates Southern Straits Double Race
by J/Boats 25 Apr 2022 11:19 PDT
After a two-year hiatus, one of the Pacific Northwest's classic (tough!) overnight distance races, Southern Straits, was back in action for 2022. Even better, travel requirements eased between the US and Canada, and that meant a fleet of American boats could make their way to West Vancouver Yacht Club for some competitive racing over Easter weekend.
The forecast for race day didn't look too inviting with rain, maybe snow, hours of no breeze, and Cold temperatures, but does one ever fully trust a forecast? Yes, it rained a little, but it was also blowing 20-25 from behind at the same time, so we hardly noticed. There was a wind hole, but it was sunny, and didn't last that long. Then, the forecast totally missed the big full moon and clear skies that made the night sailing just magical. Okay, there was snow just a few hundred feet up the mountains on both sides of the race course, but come on, how beautiful was that?
While the medium course was essentially 49.0nm out and 49.0nm back, the fleet experienced a variety of conditions from 0-25 knots and every wind angle.
Coming out on top, after crossing the finish line at 3:30am was the J/111 Raku sailed doublehanded by Christina and Justin Wolfe, besting a fleet of 29 fully crewed boats and 2 other doublehanders. This was a great result for Raku, coming just 3 months before they tackle the Pacific Cup doublehanded from San Francisco to Hawaii.
The J/109 Diva (Jim Prentice) landed on the podium in 3rd overall, while the J/99 Dash (Ken Machtley & Stephanie Arnold) finished 2nd in Division 2, also racing doublehanded and preparing for Pacific Cup.
In the long race of 145.0nm, Alex Smyth's J/111 65 Red Roses II took the silver medal, while another J/111, Tolga Cezik's Lodos, took 6thin class.
In the PHRF 8 Inshore division, Andre Dessau's J/22 Catch 22 won her division quite handily, followed by their colleagues in fourth place- Mardy Grossman's J/30 Desperado.
More Southern Straits Race sailing information here.