Winter Shaw Race 2017

The delivery over to Orcas the day before was exceptional weather!

Know When to Hold, Know When to Fold

The Shaw Winter Classic sends the fleet on a course that rounds Shaw Island, the smallest of the four San Juan Islands with ferry service in the Pacific Northwest. At about 12 nm, the course offers a scenic afternoon sail in good winds. But the 16th edition didn’t have good winds.

It was a race of ‘know when to hold, know when to fold’, as Eric Sorensen learned February 18 while racing his Catalina 42 Jah Mon in the PHRF event:

“We had a great start and killed the fleet for about a half mile, but then the lightness set in and the 30,000 pound rule came into effect. We backward zoomed and were now about mid-fleet, a position we held for about half of the race course.

“Our opportunity soon came as we creeped up to the leaders who were anchored on the Shaw shore behind a rock. There was about 2 knots of adverse current on the nose and NO wind. We got back into first place, but sensing the conditions weren’t going to allow for a finish by the17:00 deadline, we pulled the plug and dropped out.

“We were the first to drop out, a decision all the boats eventually made. This was the message from the race committee: ‘The race was a non-finishing race. The awards were brilliantly handled; the last 3 boats to quit received the awards!’

“I guess that gives us a brand new classification of finishing: DFF (Dead F#cking First).”

Click here for a great 1:42 video showing the start and finish for this race!  Credits to A. J. Love!

The crew were 10 in number, Count Enrico, Cousin Ev, Patrick, Joy, Bettina, Lucky Dave, Colleen, Kamela, Merick, and Juan.  No one fell over and all had too much to eat!

The mighty Jah Mon waiting for the start at West Sound Marina on Orcas Island.

Here is what we did while the the other racers hiked on the rail on other boats!

The start of the race shot  from the Orcas Island Hotel deck.
Jah Mon is behind the Chinook in the shot. She is the boat out in front with the big white asymmetrical chute.

The look from Jah Mon about the same time.

A minute or two into the race.

Near the end of the race in San Juan Channel.

These guys were too far from shore and were being swept backwards at a couple of knots.