The 2001 NW Regionals at Cowichan Bay

Or; "Seconds!  It's About Time"!


Mark Harang and his crew on Rev must have felt that their chances of actually winning another Regionals since their first victory in 1995 must have been jinxed by the onslaught of various Victoria boats over the past 6 years.  A second coming appeared more likely for this very talented and deserving crew.  Rev had garnered a close fought (often 1 point separation) second place finish in 5 geographically and tactically diverse Regionals - an amazing record actually.  The other winners in the intervening years were all present at this years NW Regionals being held in Cow Bay, BC.  Alex Fox (twice) was there with new sails on Scooter; and Vidas Stukas (twice) in Owl; and, Bob Britten/Hugh Owen in Hocus. Moreover, a hot, ex Olympic sailor, Jeff Eckhard, had rebuilt Kluane with a perfectly faired, 'Owl'-type of keel, and a bridle type of mainsheet system somewhat like that on Scooter.  Jeff had shown that he was quick right after their launch.  And to add even more spice, Lynn Flint/Joe James had come up for the event on Thatuna.  This previous Regionals winner has often been in the hunt.  The start line had more blue and red 'Birds than you could shake a stick at.  This breathless anticipation of who's who and the great anticipation of the venue at Cow Bay made for a great buildup to this years' event.

Unfortunately, the word breathless was applied in another meaning.  Typically, the first week of August produces beautiful hot weather which warms the Cowichan Valley at the head of the Bay and draws in fresh winds ranging from 10 to 20 knots -- ideal T-Bird and T-shirt weather.  The wind, affectionately called "The Doctor", tends to arrive at 11 am, thus sparing any sailors that had indulged too much at the previous night's Margarita party.  Well, this year the Doctor was breathless leaving a heavy overcast and intermittent rain, which occasionally turned into a soaker on the upwind legs.  I personally invoked curses on all those who didn't vote for the loose-footed main proposal, as we tacked with a shelf full of water.  You can guess where the water landed!

Aside from the nontypical weather and holes, which turned dreams into ashes, it was a pretty good regatta.  Some 19 Birds had made the trip to Cow Bay with 4 making a 100-mile trip from Seattle…. The pre regatta hype was that good!!
On the Friday, only Birds were racing.  When the Doctor is present, short tacking the beach to the weather mark is the favored (by skippers, not crew) strategy.  However, this year, the beach only seemed to work about half the time as I can well attest - we were closest to shore when a big lefty gave one of the races to those in the middle.   In the first race, Rev ran away with an easy win, leading from start to finish.   The second race saw Jeff Eckard win in his newly rebuilt Kluane,  #1060.  This boat has been in John Booth's shop for some time where Jeff has restored it and produced what is probably the smoothest keel that I've seen.  It was hard to tell what Kluane's upwind speed was like ( same or less point but more forward speed??), except that she always did well downwind.  Rev who is no slouch for speed again won the third race.  By Friday evening, Rev was in an enviable position with 4 points for three races.  Bob Britten had Hocus in second place with 7 points, Jeff Eckard was third with 12 points and Lynne Flint was in fourth place with 17 points.  Then came the free margarita party.

That evening, the Birds were joined by 80 more boats ranging from Tasars to Santa Cruz 50s.  The welcoming party featured complimentary margaritas and some boisterous people.  This helped soothe those who had been trampled by the wind gods.

Saturday morning the wind was blowing nicely in the 15+-knot range, and seemed to herald a new day.  The committee set up their start line at the head of the Bay with a very long course for the PHRF classes and shorter courses for the Birds.  This would ultimately be the undoing of the racing.  The first beat was one of the best of the entire regatta as we found that perhaps we could still actually sail, much to our amazement.  Hocus had a nice lead at the weather mark and progressed well towards the leeward mark near the start line.  Then the big hole in the final quarter mile to the mark saw the entire fleet of Birds parked in no wind.  It was amazing as to what rules were invoked as various boats spurted forward in the odd puff towards a congested leeward mark.  Jeff Eckard was the one who was able to get around the mark first and disappear on the second leg.  The conditions were so bad that Bob Britten went from first approaching the leeward mark to next to last at the next weather mark, but did recover incredibly.  Jeff Eckard held on for a first with Mark bringing Rev in second.  

The final race held in the depths of the Bay saw the Birds split into two groups by the holy weather, with one group of seven finishing several hundred yards ahead of the remaining Birds.  Ouch!!  Jeff Eckard again won this race.  At the end of the day, Mark had a one-point lead over Jeff.  

Mark's string of seconds in the preceding Regionals was threatening to engulf him once more.  However, we all drifted around in next to zero wind and a light drizzle on Sunday, with the Cow Bay Regatta being shortened for the first time.  It was about time that Mark and his long time crew had ended the string of seconds.  I can't imagine anybody more deserving.  And, Kluane will likely keep us all on our toes.

The fleet voted on a new trophy that had been carved by Dan Johnson (ex Windbreaker, now Yippee Kay Yay with newcomer Claude Sachs ).  This Sportsmanship award went to Ged and Celia McLean on 1058, Euphoric.

            2001 Thunderbird Pacific Northwest Regional Championships
                               August 3-4-5, 2001
                                 (1 throw-out)

1 -- Rev ----------- Harang --------- Seattle --  1 -- 2 -- 1 -- 2 -- 6 ->
5.50
2 -- Kluane -------- Eckard --------  Victoria -  4 -- 1 -- 7 -- 1 -- 1 ->
6.25
3 -- Hocus --------- Britten/Owen --  Victoria -  2 -- 3 -- 2 -- 6 -- 3 ->
10.00
4 -- Scooter ------- Fox -----------  Victoria -  3 - 12 -- 5 -- 4 -- 7 ->
19.00
5 -- Owl ----------- Stukas --------  Victoria -  8 -- 8 - 13 -- 3 -- 4 ->
23.00
6 -- Thatuna ------- Flint ---------  Seattle -- 10 -- 4 -- 3 -- 7 - 13 ->
24.00
7 -- Heartbreak ---- Whipple -------  Barbados - 15 -- 9 -- 4 - 10 -  5 ->
28.00
8 -- Zig Zag ------- Stamper/Provan - Victoria -  5 -- 5 - 19 -- 8 - 10 ->
28.00
9 -- Invader ------- Godsil -------  Seattle --  5 - 15 - 15 -  9 -  2 ->
31.00
10 -- Euphoric ------ McLean --------  Victoria -  9 - 10 -- 8 - 21 -- 8 ->
35.00
11 -- Thunderstruck - Yardley -------  Victoria - 11 - 11 - 12 -- 5 - 11 ->
38.00
13 -- Boreas -------- Lott ----------  Nanaimo --  7 -- 7 - 11 - 13 - 16 ->
38.00
13 -- NoName -------- Mumford -------- Gabriola - 12 - 16 -- 9 - 11 -- 9 ->
41.00
14 -- Time Out ------ Compton D ------ Nanaimo -- 16 -- 6 - 10 - 17 - 14 ->
46.00
15 -- Nahanni ------- Compton G ------ Nanaimo -- 14 - 13 -- 6 - 22 - 20 ->
53.00
16 -- YippeeKiay ---- Saks ----------- Victoria - 17 - 18 - 17 - 12 - 12 ->
58.00
17 -- Raptor -------- Lane ----------- Seattle -- 20 - 14 - 18 - 14 - 15 ->
61.00
18 -- Reflection ---- More ----------- Victoria - 13 - 17 - 14 - 18 - 18 ->
62.00
19 -- Cahoots ------- Wade ----------- Nanaimo -- 19 - 19 - 16 - 15 - 17 ->
67.00