The blow horn sounded Saturday, signaling one minute until the sailing race in Gig Harbor Bay. It wasn’t the traditional season for this kind of competition hosted by the Gig Harbor Yacht Club and Thunderbird Fleet No. 1. Temperatures were considerably colder than a Thursday night race in May or August. But after conducting harbor series races in May for the past 20 years, the yacht club and Thunderbird Fleet switched to a winter series “frostbite” race.
It ended up being a change everybody enjoyed.
“It was a lot colder than the summer ones,” said Andrew Nelson, who won the lasers competition in 13 minutes, 59 seconds and is an instructor for the Tacoma Yacht Club juniors racing team. “But it’s nice to have a breeze, because summers don’t always have them.”
Nelson said he’d take breeze over temperature any day.
The winds were described as puffy, common during chilly January days. Winds blew approximately 5 to 10 mph with gusts reaching 20 mph.
Thunderbird No. 9, dubbed “Fandango,” won the frostbite series in 14:12.31. Skipper Jamie Storkman, Stephen Mordue and Ryan Storkman were manning the craft.
“This is pretty low-keyed stuff, but it’s a great way to push off in the harbor,” Storkman said.
The J35 “Wildflower” that featured skipper Tom Mitchell and his crew of John Gagnon, Dennis Clark and Andy Vance crossed the 3-mile finish line first. But because the race was timed, they placed second in 14:11.28.
“This is historic,” Mitchell exclaimed about having the first winter series race in Gig Harbor.
Although the race wasn’t as extreme as some sailing regattas around the South Puget Sound, locals believe it’s important to keep the tradition going.
“We’re more like Mariners than sailboat racers,” said Clark, who has been sailing boats for nearly 50 years.
The dynamics of making a sailboat travel fast were demonstrated in the winter series race, despite its fun-spirited nature. Jim and Judy Arbogast navigated an Olsen 25 named “Mirage.” They said it was nice to go out on the water this time of the year.
“It’s nice to have one (race) that’s not so serious,” Judy said. “It’s just a fun group of people.”
Chance Busey, 14, who attends Gig Harbor High School, tied for second in his laser in 14:01.59.
“I’m looking forward to more winter racing,” he said, adding that, during the summer, there are times when the wind simply stops blowing, making it difficult to have a good race.
Nelson said that the weather shouldn’t stop any sailor. Winter races are another way to keep the sport growing, he said.
“It’s good to get some youth out there,” said Nelson, 22. “We’re keeping it alive, and people can observe it.”
The GHYC used the same rules it employs during the summer. Spinnakers were not allowed, and the object was to have a good time.
Because of popular demand, the clubs added the third series in the winter.
Boat Type Finish
Fandango T-Bird 14:12.31
Wildflower J35c 14:11.28
Cuatro Vientos T-Bird 14:19.16
Frisk C&C34 14:19.34
Snowbird T-Bird 14:22.04
Mirage Olsen 25 14:25.43
First race
Sail Time
174274 13:59.0
187670 14:01.57
187400 14:01.59
Second race
Sail Time
174274 14:27.49
187400 14:30.57
187670 14:31.13
Print
E-Mail