Center Sound Series

[Vincent DePillis]

Well, we scratched for the second race of the Center Sound Series, because the gust forecast was kind of threatening, but we did do the last of the three race series, up to Possession Point.  The race started in quite a bit of wind from the north, maybe 18-20 (we have no wind instruments), enough that we felt fully powered up with one reef in the main.  It was a rough ride, wind against against a big ebb, but we held on, and by Edmonds, we were ahead of everybody except the TP 52s.   

We were sailing up the east side of the course (because I had a good feeling about the east side).  The TP 52s were also on the east side.  But as the wind dropped, we saw that the TP fleet was on a tight reach west.  Discussion ensued.  Certain persons on board thought maybe I had misread the sailing instructions, and that the course actually went to the Scachet Head buoy.  Consultation of the sailing instructions definitely showed that person to be in the wrong.   

We concluded that all four of the fancy boats in front of us, with their B&G instruments, professional navigators, and vastly experienced skippers, were in fact a bunch of morons, and that the correct thing to do was to stay east in the middle of the outflow from Possession Sound rather than climb up on top of the Possession Bar in search of current relief.  

So then the wind died.  As predicted.  And we sat for a good two hours while a parade of boats came in from the west, eeked their way east under the bluff, rounded, and set off south in a light northerly (which never reached us).  

We did finally manage to round, and had a sunny if somewhat crestfallen spinnaker run back to Shilshole.  We finished in time, not DFL, and called it a moral victory.

Lovely day on the water!

[Northwest Multihull Association Membership Officer]

Great report! I was on J/99 One Life - I wasn't watching the instruments closely before the start but between the start and well after Kingston we were still seeing gusts up to 15kts and never less than 11kts. 

I'm not sure you made the wrong call per se - we were also confused by what the TPs were doing up there. But their wind was quite different from what we got when we arrived (staying West) or saw over in Possession. It took a very long time to round approaching from the West but we did succeed and made it in the time limit...but without much time to spare.

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Paul English

Membership Officer NWMA

membe...@northwestmultihull.org

[Ginnie Jo Blue]

I love this. Do you have a pic to share? Feel free to blur the face of whoever can't read SIs accurately 😆

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[Andy Inglis]

Ahh, Vince!

Keep these reports coming! I really needed the chuckle!

Andy Inglis 

On Mar 23, 2026, at 2:18 PM, Ginnie Jo Blue <ginnie...@gmail.com> wrote:



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[Vincent DePillis]

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[Eric Lindahl]

nice write up Vince.  Thank you.  Send it and a few sunny, crestfallen,  spinaker pics to our website gang for posting. 

Eric 

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[Paul E]

That's sailboat racing.  When in doubt, go to the bar!

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