The SYC Smith Island race is one of the few true long distance races available to Pacific Northwest sailors, and the only one still run on Puget Sound (since Protection Island is no longer run). At 86 miles, its almost the same length as the Swiftsure Cape Flattery course, but with tricky currents and alot if geographic variation thrown into the mix. While I have sailed the short course a number of times, including on my own boat, I had yet to sail the long course.

White Cloud was in the PHRF Fleet A, a division that included Icon (2nd in Sydney-Hobart), Neptunes Car, Jetio (J145), Pearl (J125), a 1D48, and Flash Gordon 2. We started at 9 under grey skies and with a 10 knot Northerly. The beat up the Sound to Point No Point saw us very slowly fade - our boatspeed was just not up. The beat to Admiralty inlet was uneventful, but rounding Pt Hudson was going to be...interesting.

From a few hundred yards back we saw Flash round, then hoist a spin..and stop. Pearl and Flash were completely parked. Had they run around? Was there no wind past the point? We short tacked the shore on Terremoto's transom. We ran aground briefly when we tried tacking in 9 feet of water, but got unstuck quickly. We rounded Pt Hudson and .... wow, 4 knots of current stopped us instantly! For the next 30 minutes we fought for every inch. There was just enough wind for 4 knots of boatspeed with the spinnaker up. There were 4 knots of current. Finally, we broke free and proceeded low across the bay towards Pt Townsend, behind some of the smaller boats that had caught up to us just like we had caught up to Flash. Restart.

How often does this happen? Dead even with Neptunes Car 30 miles into the Smith Island race.

Approaching Pt Wilson, we were a little apprehensive and got the anchor on deck. Up ahead, the 1D48 dropped their jib and started motoring home. Coruba, also bit ahead, dropped their sails and quit shortly after. Why? We watched amazed as Icon got swept rapidly backwards. We watched horrified as Flash, on port pole trying to work the light westeries, got swept first a few hudred yards, then suddenly a few miles, down Admiralty Inlet. They dropped their sails and quit. Pearl, who had been covering them, quit. A J120, Swept Away, quit at the same time. The mass defections made us question our own motivation, but also gave us some: half our fleet was gone, that made it more likely for us to do damage.

Now it was our turn. We rounded in 10 ft of water and tried to stay on the beach, just off the light house. We did ok, then suddenly we were slipping backwards again...drop the anchor! Drop it NOW! Depth went from 40ft when the anchor hit the water, to suddenly 80 ft, to 150 ft, to 200 ft in seconds. We were not anchored, we were caught in 4 knots of current and were being handed the same treatment that Flash, Pearl, and other boats received. Only 1 boat, a J120, had escaped the tide and was in the Straits, sailing to Smith Island. Two other boats, Declaration of Independence, and Diversion, had successfully anchored in the lee of Pt Wilson. But We were swept along for some time, trying to get out of the flood, then gybed over and worked our way over to Pt Townsend again. The rest of the fleet had caught us by now. Restart.

In the Straits of Juan de Fuca, chasing Jeito and Terremoto to Smith Island.

We worked our way back up to the entrance, and after these few hours of trials, the current was finally easing. We broke free in a crowd of boats that included Icon, Neptunes Car, Synergy 1000s, and all manner of boats from other divisions. It was a tight spinnaker reach to the island, and the sun was going down. Over the next 10 miles there was some separation, but not alot.

You can round clockwise or counterclockwise. Jeito, ahead, had chosen counter-clockwise. We chose clockwise. Though we didnt know it, this was a critical decision. Rounding Smith island with a dying, red sun low on the horizon, the snowcapped Olympic mountains overseeing the Straits, the vast flocks of noisy seabirds in the air, the parade of backlit spinnakers sailing East down the back of the island was perhaps one of the most beautiful moments in sailing I have ever had. Whatever we did now, we would finish this race for that moment.

"Rounding Smith island with a dying, red sun low on the horizon, the snowcapped Olympic mountains overseeing the Straits, the vast flocks of noisy seabirds in the air, the parade of backlit spinnakers sailing East down the back of the island was perhaps one of the most beautiful moments in sailing I have ever had."

It was reachy back to Pt Townsend, but with the gathering darkness our boatspeed was finally up. We had lost track of Jeito, Icon, and other boats. Neptune was offshore, they rounded counter-clockwise like Jeito. We were going home. Come on, wind! The wind fingers we were riding suddenly peetered out under Partridge Point. There were some boats parked just ahead of us, short tacking the shore. Who was that? Icon! Terremoto! We had cuaght up to Icon, who had rounded 45 minutes ahead of us. Other boats coasted in and stalled. It was 11pm. Restart.

We short tacked the shore, looking for current relief. The flood would start in just a few hours. Offshore, one boat suddenly started zipping past us, who was it? Atalanta! They had been 30 minutes behind us, and had just passed us! But Terremoto and Icon were here, and so by inference Jeito not far away..? The Westerly was coming in again! We gybed and went offshore for all we were worth, ignoring the current. We needed that Westerly. We got it. On the building flood, we started moving again, beating in a Northwesterly past Pt Wilson after midnight.

In the dark, our driving and boatspeed were perfect. With a set of binoculars, we identified and kept track of all the boats we could. Around Pt Hudson, things started sorting themselves out. Neptune was behind us. Jeito, behind us. Terremoto, behind us but breathing down our neck. Declaration of Independence was tacking along Marrowstone Island. Icon, just ahead of us. Atalanta had sailed too close to Pt Townsend and had missed the now flooding current, and was getting left behind. The B35, Presto, was right next to us. It was a pure drag race up Admiralty Inlet on a beautiful, full-moon night. We would spot for wind and tack on headers, sailing smart.

"It was a pure drag race up Admiralty Inlet on a beautiful, full-moon night. We would spot for wind and tack on headers, sailing smart."

At Pt No Point, there was a tide line. Several large boats were tacking around Pt No Point just ahead of us, who were they? By this time we were fairly certain who the key players were now. Neptune, Icon, Jeito and Terremoto were sitting there, all four a little too close to shore, while we sailed a little farther out and got flushed up next to them. Then we all started moving again in unison. Restart.

Dawn. We have had great tacks and great boatspeed from Pt No Point down the sound. Terremoto has fallen a little behind us. Jeito is about a mile and a half ahead. Neptune is a ghost in the mist in the distance. The sun is rising, we are just a few miles to the finish. Will the sun break the breeze? We have to finish before the breeze evaporates! But the sun is still low and cold, and the light southwesterly doesnt completely fail. We execute several quick tacks and finish 24 minutes behind Neptunes Car and 20 minutes behind Jeito. Atalanta is nowhere to be seen. We finish first in Division A!

Results:
http://www.seattleyachtclub.org/Race2002smithresults.htm