RACING SHEET
Center Sound Series: It’s Here! Words: Doug Hansen // Photos: Jan Anderson When walking around the boatyard this time of year, it is easy to tell that winter is coming to an end. Boats are being moved out of sheds, final coats of paint are left to dry, and shiny new hardware is waiting to be installed. All this preparation is
centered on spring and summer racing, which is just around the corner. Kicking off the season is the Center Sound Series, hosted annually by Corinthian Yacht Club. Marking the official start to the spring sailing season, most skippers and crews are
eager to get out on the water after a long hiatus and historically this series host some of the best attended races of the year. The series attracts all the usual suspects from the well-stocked galleys of the cruising class to the carbon fiber sleds of the big
boat fleet. The Casual Class invites those who are new to the sport or with less racy ambitions to enjoy a day on the water and sail an alternative course that returns them to the marina in time for the party. Kicking off the 2017 racing season in style, Blakely Rock is Saturday, March 4, and has consistently delivered great sailing over the years. The course alternates with the wind, providing sailors with an upwind start regardless of the conditions. On a northerly breeze, racers start in Shilshole Bay heading south around Blakely Rocks, up to a temporary mark set to the north of Meadow Point, and then back to Shilshole Bay to finish at the Corinthian Yacht Club committee boat. This short course is a welcome shakedown and a great opportunity for many teams to blow off the dust or, at times, shake off the rust. While the rocks have claimed many keels over the years, a clean rounding and exit from the bay can mean the difference between a win and a loss for the tight matched racing fleets of today, and starting off the series with a win is a great beginning to the racing season. Perhaps one of the most important traditions within the Seattle sailing community is for the racers to drop yellow daffodils when rounding the rocks into the water in memory of Kelly O’Neil Henson, a beloved
March Racing Events
Above we see the tight-quarters racing around Blakely Rock from 2016. The rocks have scarred many a keel. 80 NORTHWEST YACHTING || MARCH 2017
DATE
ORGANIZING CLUB
EVENT
March 4
Corinthian Yacht Club
CSS #1: Blakely Rock Benefit
March 4
Corinthian Yacht Club Tacoma
March 5
Seattle Laser Fleet
March 5
Corinthian Yacht Club Edmonds
March 11
Corinthian Yacht Club
Scatchet Head CSS #2
March 18
Gig Harbor Yacht Club
Islands Race SSS #4
March 18
Shilshole Bay Yacht Club
March 19
Seattle Laser Fleet
March 19
Corinthian Yacht Club Edmonds
March 25
Corinthian Yacht Club
March 25
Port Orchard Yacht Club
Harbor Series #3 Seattle Laser Frostbite Series Frostbite Series
Snowbird #5 Seattle Laser Frostbite Series Frostbite Series Three Tree Point CSS #3 Spring Shakedown WSSA #2