Whidbey Island Race Week

The City of Oak Harbor, the Oak Harbor Yacht Club, the Oak Harbor Junior Sailing program and the Whidbey Island organizers welcomed racers to sailboat racing in Penn Cove and in the Saratoga Passage. For 32 years, sailors have convened in Oak Harbor, Washington for ‘Adult Summer Camp’ to enjoy a spectacular sailing event in the Pacific Northwest. Surrounded by snow-capped mountains, predictable breeze and an occasional Orca sighting, Whidbey Island Race Week has earned the reputation for offering some of the best racing in the region. Under the management of the talented couple Charley and Schelleen Rathkopf, they have managed Race Committee at Whidbey Island Race Week for over a decade and have a highly experienced race committee team. The Whidbey is a ‘must-do’ for Pacific Northwest sailors and it attracts a broad range of boats from the Seattle, WA area as well as Victoria and Vancouver, British Columbia. This year’s racing featured J/105 one-designs as well as PHRF handicap racing. The J/105s had a half-dozen boats on the starting line and after winning 7 of 9 races sailed, it was pretty clear that everyone knew who was #1 in the J/105 fleet: Jerry Diercks and crew on Delirium. While they gave it their all, the trio of Cohen, McKinnon & Rummel who sailed Inconceivable strung together a series of seconds and thirds to take second. Robert Blaylock’s USAWI took whatever thirds that were left to also finish third for the event.