The 3 Buoy Fiasco

A Perfect Morning in Seattle

The morning of the race was absolutely spectacular—one of those rare, idyllic Seattle days. Clear skies with a few high clouds, temperatures around 80°, and a steady northerly breeze blowing at 10 to 15 knots. It was the kind of day sailors dream of. We got the boat in the water early, with plenty of time before our 11:23 AM start. As the time approached, we realized we were a bit too far from the starting line. Not disastrously so, but enough that we ended up crossing the line about 20–30 seconds late.

Lining Up Our Race Plan

Our race strategy was straightforward and aligned with the rest of the fleet. We planned to head north to Meadow Point, cross over to Jefferson Point, set the chute, and run downwind to West Point. From there, we’d take a short windward hitch back to the finish. Given the flood tide that lasted all day, heading in any other direction would’ve meant fighting the current on the long leg between West Point and Jefferson Point—something nobody seemed willing to do.

Upwind to the First Mark

The quick ride to Meadow Point was smooth and uneventful. We rounded it cleanly and began our upwind leg toward Jefferson Point. The wind held steady around 10 to 12 knots, with occasional gusts up to 13 or 14. By the time we neared Jefferson Point, we were leading our fleet. Of course, in classic fashion, the mark wasn’t quite where it was supposed to be, and we had to do a bit of searching before we found it. But we rounded cleanly and moved into the next leg.

Spinnaker Set and Speed Run

After the rounding, we had a few minor hiccups getting the spinnaker up, but we managed—and just in time to hit a bit of a wind hole. Thankfully, the entire fleet got stuck there too. We were lucky and managed to punch out of it quickly, heading back toward the center of the Sound. What followed was one of the most glorious spinnaker runs I’ve ever experienced. The reach back to West Point was fast, steady, and exhilarating. At one point, we hit 9.5 knots—far beyond what I expected on such a mild, sunny day. The whole run was smooth, with no need to jibe. We just flew downwind with Rainier beckoning on the horizon.

Final Leg to the Finish

We slightly overshot West Point (oops!) but adjusted quickly, dropped the chute, and transitioned to headsails. It took about 20 minutes to sail the final stretch back to the finish. We crossed the line ahead of much of our competition, though at the time we had no idea how we had placed. After putting the boat away, we grabbed lunch, still buzzing from what felt like a nearly flawless day. The entire race had taken us only about two and a half hours to cover about 11-12 nautical miles.

A Surprising Finish

What made it even more extraordinary was that we raced with only three people onboard, including me. Thankfully, the course didn’t require many complex maneuvers, and we managed just fine.

Later that afternoon, I found out we had actually finished first in our class!

All in all, it was a fantastic race, a beautiful day, and a memorable win—proving once again that sometimes, less crew means more fun.