J/30 Class Association Forums J/30 Districts Pacific Northwest District Nice Mention of Round the County in Seattle Times Today

From the Seattle Times:
Big wind, big parties and big wipeouts draw who's who to Round the County regatta

More here: Big wind, big parties and big wipeouts draw who's who to Round the County regatta

Any of the J/30s in the PNW doing this event? If so, any volunteers to write up a post-event story to post here?

- Jeff

Thanks for the heads-up about the article in the Times. I've sailed it a number of times in Grasshopper, but no matter how hard we push, we just got waterlined by the bigger boats.

Last time we raced we finished around 4:30PM which is pretty dark on a cloudy night at this time of year. We motored in to Roche Harbor, and as we tied up, the storm really hit. If we'd been a little later to the finish we'd have been out sailing in that. I don't have a good enough crew to handle those conditions.

The race has started to attract a lot of the bigger boats from Seattle, Anacortes and Bellingham. It does go around the entire County, except for Henry Island.

That sounds like a blast Gary. And - yeah - that's like sailing Swiftsure on a J/30... Big boats just walk away.

However, there's fun in numbers. Maybe we could get a few J/30s up there some year. Looking at the results from Day 1, it appears Celebration (don't recall the hull # - an '84, I believe - I crewed on it for many years and helped template the keel) finished the first leg with a 10th in just under 6 hours.

Just thinking what the bar at Roche Harbor must be like right about now... ;-) With the temp and breeze today, I'm sure most are trying to warm up.

Cheers,
- Jeff

Here's a update on Round the County. A link to the Orcas Island
Yacht Club will connect you to results and pictures from: RTC. http://www.oiyc.org/race_book/race_book.htm

A J-30 entered: "Celebration", but I don't see any mention of them in the results. i received an email from Jan Anderson that has a very nice set of pictures at this web site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/75869001@N00/sets/72157622640983401/show/
And for the J-30 fans you will see a couple of shots of Celebration. Also notice the clothing: wet and cold! You'll need a good internet connection as there are a lot of pics.

I would'nt be suprised if some folks didn't bail after Saturday's race, as today it's Storm Force winds, and a very nasty trip back to Seattle.

Hope that fills your desire for RTC info, and fall racing in the NW.

Gary
Grasshopper