BYC Press Releases

The 2006 BYC Heavy Weather Predicted Log Contest will be held on Sunday, Feburary 19, 2006. The contest will be approximately 17 miles long this year to help in the conservation of expensive marine fuel. It begins at the Manette Bridge, passes by the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, leaves Sinclair Inlet and returns through Rich Passage finishing off Point Herron in Manette. The contest starts around 11:30am and generally ends around 2:00 pm. Good viewing places would be the Manette Bridge, Boat Shed Restaurant and Bachman Park at the foot of Trenton Ave. in East Bremerton. A variety of social activities are planned for this weekend before and after the log race for members of participating Puget Sound area boating clubs.
Committee Chair (Log Race): Leo Longenecker (Past Commodore)
Committee Chair (Social Activities): T.B.A.

Saturday dawned to pea soup fog, far from the ideal weather of the previous day. Considerable concern was expressed by the racers having early scheduled starts and needing reasonable visibility to find their aiming points. However, by mid-morning, the fog had dissipated and the race was an unquestionable "go".

The 47 contestants completed their pre-race check-in at the clubhouse during the morning, and departed with their crews and observers for the starting point in Sinclair Inlet near the small town of Annapolis. Again, the "heaviest" weather elements experienced were glaring sunshine, 5-10 knot northerlies and barely rippled seas. Most of the 22.3 nm course was run at cruise speed upon the waters of Port Orchard, in a northerly direction and then returning southerly with the last leg being run for about 3.5 miles up Port Washington Narrows at a speed of 7.0 knots or less. Guesstimating" current velocity through the Narrows presented the biggest challenge for most racers because of its unpredictability due to its length and narrowness and, particularly, since it was transitioning from an unusually long high slack tidal condition to the start of an ebb tide. All 47 contestants completed the race and were checked in by 4 o'clock.

Following the race, the social event schedule continued with an evening of skit presentations by three yacht clubs performing their nautical renditions to the theme "Cabaret"; Gig Harbor YC walked away with first place and the highly treasured winner's trophy "The Rubber Clam Gun". With the night being entirely too young to close the clubhouse doors at the end of the skit contest, the BYC hosts brought on the band for another evening of dancing followed by a midnight snack. Finally, time for bed. Bremerton YC club has a unique tradition of waiting until after the serving of a well-rounded hearty breakfast prepared by BYC membership volunteers on Sunday morning before announcing the race results and presenting the awards. Power Regatta Chairman John Rosendale recapped the race highlights, providing eloquent commentary wherever deserving individuals were considered worthy of "special note". With the assistance of the BYC Bridge Officers, he then presented awards for lowest error by leg, awards for the first three places in each of the five classes, awards to the top three overall finishers, to the best scoring US Navy entry and the trophy for best team score.

Taking overall honors was the team of Dick and Sylvia Timmerman on VAGABOND from Poulsbo YC with an extremely low error of 0.2526 %. Closely following in second place overall was the team of Bill Menees and Pete Werbelo on ALASKA HUNTER out of Port Orchard YC with 0.3174%. Lynn Montgomery and Larrie Chmela on LIKELY LADY from Queen City YC rounded out the top three slots with 0.4968% for third place. In addition to the class awards, a special award was accepted by BM1(SW) Ragsdale of the crew on OLD MAN IV for the top finishing US Navy entry. BYC's P/C Grady Barrentine Team Trophy for the best race team score was won by Port Orchard YC skippers Bill Menees, Fred Cole, Gene Neill and Darrel Wood. The Novice Award was won by Don Merritt of Meydenbauer Bay YC as a first time entry in the Heavy Weather Race.

With the race awards having been made and the contestants and other visiting boats having departed by Sunday noon, the BYC Heavy Weather Weekend social schedule drew to a close. Upon departing, many visitors were heard expressing their appreciation for the hospitality afforded by their hosts and vowing to return next February. It's apparent that the saying "LOG RACING IS A SOCIAL EVENT' accurately described BYC's Heavy Weather Race Weekend.

Mike and Billie Henry
Bremerton Yacht Club