Sailing Schedule 2010

Hola Ishtar Amigos!

Spring has come, and gone again. It is time to shake the spiders out of our foulies and get busy. After much deliberation followed by a strong arm move by me, we are ready to set the season's schedule. Set it in jello, actually, but what the heck. It is a starting place--these are the races we would like to do, time/crew/schedule/work/family permitting.

Bold races are the most important ones, naturally.

The Schedule:

• March 21 Sail Trim seminar by North Sails at the seattle yacht club. A few of us have signed up, if you are interested, check out http://www.northu.northsails.com/Seminars/RacingTrim/tabid/1460/language/en-US/Default.aspx
• April 2-3 Southern Straits. Currently have Brandon, Graeme, Eli, Scott, and the Decker family as crew for our first overnight race on Ishtar.
• April 10, Blakely Rock Benefit. Always lots of fun and prizes. Party at the Sloop after.
• April 24. Smith Island (Tri-Island 1)
• May 1-2 Race to the Straits. Graeme and Janna try to defend their overall title in the only race we won last year. (Doublehanded. Sorry boys!)
• May 14-16 Seattle NOOD. (Pronounced "nude". 3 days worth. Nuff said.)
• May 29-30. Swiftsure. We'll do the shorter course, but it is still 90 miles, night time finish.
• June 5. Blake Island (Tri-Island 3)
• June 12 Leukemia Cup
• July 18-23 Whidbey Island Race Week. We have a place to stay, but this is a maybe...
• August 7-8 Down the Sound
• August 28-29 Northern Century. Our 3rd distance race. 100 miles. Duh.
• Sep 18-19 Star and Bar
• Oct 9-10 Puget Sound Series Championship
• Grand Prix (if we qualify)
• November 6-7 Round the County. (2 day Race around the San Juans)

You will notice more distance racing. This is because Brandon and I want to sail to Hawaii, but didn't buy the right boat for it. So we are going to do longer Sound/Strait racing instead.

In other news, Ishtar has been thoroughly dried out, stiffened up, and readied for war. Weeks of suction on the core to pull water out. 1000s of dollars in repairs to the hull to keep the water from getting back in, fared keel, prop and rudder, a new race bottom, engine work. Lots of time put in by Scott, Brandon, and yours truly to make the boat as ready as she can be. Scott worked so hard we had to sign him on as a partner, by the way. So give the man a little respect next time you see him.

Race Practice schedule coming soon. Let's get ready to rumble!

Photos from 2009

Here are a few good ones from the year.

Sailing goals 2010

The List of Races we want to do in 2010:

Seattle Area:

1. Tri-Island Series
2. Center Sound Series
3. PSSC (Spring)
4. Ballard Cup
5. PSSR
6. Grand Prix

Distance Races:

1. Swiftsure
2. Southern Strait
3. Northern Century
4. Round the County

We don't have dates yet for these races, but as soon as the 2010 race calendar comes out we will pot them!

Next Race, Saturday 4/25 Possession Point.  Race #1 of the Tri-Island Series.

Hey Ishtarians!  Time to get ready for the next race.  We will be doing the "Short Course" for the Tri- Island series, and so far there are only three boats in our class.  That should get us a third, just for showing up.  Please email me if you are planning on racing!

9 races make for tired crew

We had 2 fine days of racing at the PSSR regatta.  5 Races on Saturday, 4 on Sunday.  Most races were short, with two upwind legs and one downwind leg, or three upwind legs and 2 downwind legs.  We had lots of practice with sail hoists and drops, and didn't manage to make too many mistakes.  We bumped a mark, nearly hit the race leaders, and made a few other small blunders, but didn't break anything.  We didn't win any races but the crew (Graeme, Brandon, Brad, Scott, Shauna, Mike, and Dick) got a ton of practice, and by the end we were as close to a we are likely to get to a well oiled machine.  For photos, check out Borrowed Light images, and search either under Ishtar, or our sail number, 76993.