The first IPBA South Sound Section contest was Bremerton YC's Heavy Weather Race held on Saturday, February 16 with "heavy weather" nowhere to be found, only sunny skies, flat water and no wind - a great Pacific Northwest cruising day. 26 contestants showed up to accept the challenge of a 22.0 nm course on Puget Sound waters which included predicted currents to about 3 knots in a couple of places. Unfortunately, while the boats showed, the currents didn't and the scores reflected exactly that. Taking Top Overall honors was Dick Timmerman of Poulsbo YC on a borrowed boat NAUTI GAL (his VAGABOND was still being repaired) with a score of 1.5355%. Mike Henry of Bremerton YC on PEACHY KEEN finished in Second Place with 1.6640% followed by Ray Gorski of Bremerton YC on GREAT BEAR in Third Place with 1.7764%. Team honors went to Bremerton YC. Socially speaking, the weekend was total entertainment. Wine tasting was enjoyed in the BYC clubhouse Friday evening. After the Saturday afternoon race, a "Country Jamboree" theme greeted the guests arriving at the clubhouse which included a country fried chicken dinner followed by skits performed by the visiting YCs, further followed by dancing to a country western band. Race awards were presented Sunday morning following breakfast in the clubhouse. BYC Race Chairman Chuck Silvernail deserves mention for coaxing 16 BYC skippers to enter this race.

The Gulf of Georgia Section ran their Hot Toddy Contest also on Saturday, Feb 16. The initial report indicated that five contestants competed. However, scores were not available at press time.

The next IPBA North Sound contest was the Boomerang Race hosted by Meydenbauer Bay YC on Saturday, March 1. This was a 16.9 nm course again run on Lake Washington. Fortunately, the winds subsided significantly from the 20-30 mph blow across the lake on Friday afternoon to a slight breeze by race time on Saturday. The weekend festivities started with a gathering in the clubhouse bar Friday evening where MBYC outdid themselves with an hors d'oeuvres table literally heaped with marinated prawns, crabcakes, barbecued ribs and more - what a great start for a good racing weekend. 26 contestants checked in Saturday morning for the "tour" around the lake (local knowledge might have helped when you were trying to find the house with the red roof or the beach house at the park). After the race, all gathered for a social hour and MBYC's special salmon and prime rib dinner followed by contest awards. Bob Lindal of Queen City YC on SUZIE Q took First Place Overall with a score of 0.5983%. Rounding out the top three finish places were Dean Lentgis of QCYC on KALOS FILOS with 0.9534% in Second Place Overall and taking Third Place Overall honors was Bill Grady of Seattle YC on THOR with 1.1563%. Team honors went to Queen City YC. MBYC Fleet Captain Ken Case deserves credit for persuading 13 MBYC skippers (including one sailboater) to turn out, most of whom are in their first year of log racing. The weekend concluded with a very nice breakfast in the clubhouse prior to embarking for home.

Please remember - Log Racing is a SOCIAL EVENT.

Mike Henry
IPBA Secretary