We are not sure if this falls into the "lucky omen" or a new "backyard wildlife habitat" category, but check out the following pictures of eagles co-habitating on the masthead of a well known AYC vessel.

Surely this should be sufficient to qualify for a dramatic rating increase to account for the added weight and windage of the happy couple... Now lets hope they don't start building a nest up there!

From a distance...

Now close up...

At long last the anchors for our fixed race marks are being set. Each concrete anchor weighs approximately 500 lbs and has a u-shaped hole through which the line to the float is connected. The anchors will be set in pre-determined locations as specified in our permit.

We thought about using the club boat to set the anchors, but in the end decided to let Jim & Robin Roser use Frog to set them in case something went astray...

Marks Up Close On Ramp


Frog Loading Each Anchor



Frog Hauling Each Anchor

At our November 14 annual meeting, the following were elected to be our 2009 board of directors:

Commodore -- Jerry Vander Veen
Vice Commodore -- Ed Kennedy
Rear Commodore -- Phillip Case
Treasurer -- Charles Webb
Secretary -- Joe Gleason
Director at large (2 yr) -- Kevin Welch
Director at large (1yr) -- Vince Sellen

The additional 2009 directors will be: Cynthia Backlund (serving out her 2nd yr as at-large-director), Chuck Tidrington (past commodore), Andy Schwenk (race chair), and Warren Walz (cruise chair). The race and cruise chairs are appointed by the commodore.

According to our bylaws, the directors shall take office on January 1st and shall be installed at the annual Commodore's ball, scheduled for January 17 at the Hope Island Inn.

Here are a couple of videos that recently surfaced from the 2008 Round the County Race that give you a little perspective about what happened:

This first video was put together from the crew of Declaration of Independence and covers the race from the lumpy start to the drifter finish:

Here is another video snippet taken by Joy Brown on Icon blasting down Haro Strait at near 25 knots with just a kite up:

BREAKING NEWS - BREAKING NEWS - BREAKING NEWS

Steve Orsini's team representing AYC and the Seattle NOOD Regatta took a 2nd overall in the 2008 Sailing World NOOD Regatta Championships held in the Britich Virgin Islands.

The regatta was attended by 7 teams of NOOD winners from different cities across the United States. Steve's team won 3 bullets in 6 races, losing at the end to a tough team from San Diego. Steve's team consisted of Steve & Ginger Orsini, Garett & Tracy Johns, Colin Orsini and Lisa Acomb.

Congratulations to Steve and his team - well done!

The 2008 Round the County Results are in - congratulations to the AYC fleet who took two first places, two second places, a third, fourth and a 3rd overall...

Division X Results
Icon - 3rd place / 3rd overall

Division 0 Results
Teddy Bear - 4th place / 10th overall
Ula Koa - DNF (blew main out before start)

Division I
Grafix - 1st place / 21st overall

Division II
Crazy Ivan - 2 place / 25th overall
Pangaea - 4th place / 28th overall
Alakazam - 8th place / 47th overall

Division III
Thumper - 1st place / 16th overall
Celebration - 3rd place / 19th overall

Note that Celebration's finish position has been revised due to an adjustment in the amount of redress given them because of their assistance to Betty Boop who lost their rudder near Cattle Pass on Sunday. Initially Jim Bottles requested and the race committee granted 36 minutes to Celebration. However after further review Jim Bottles recalculated his estimate of time lost and submitted a request that requested that his redress be reduced to 16 minutes due to forward progress made during the time they were towing Betty Boop. The race committee granted his request for a reduction in the redress time and have rescored the race.

I don't know about you - but in my book Jim and the Celebration Team get a Corinthian First Place for their actions both on the water and with the race committee! Well done!

Check out the following link for the updated race results...

http://oiyc.org/race_book/race_book_2008/RTC/RNDCNTY2008Scoring.pdf

The 2008 Round the County started with a wild ride on Saturday followed by a drift fest on Sunday. It was so rough that several boats couldn't make it to the starting line because of the weather or gear failure.

The race started with a beat down Rosario Strait from Lydia Shoal in 30-40 knots and lots of big chop. The fleet quickly separated with some dropping out and taking the inside route to Roche Harbor while the bigger & heavier boats quickly left the smaller ones to suffer. The thumpn' continued to build around Davidson Rock with monster 8-12 footers sweeping in making it very difficult to maintain a consistent course. Some boats launched their kites in this mess only to suffer gear failure and multiple knockdowns. One boat was dismasted and another lost their rudder. Many boats set new personal speed records in the blast. Most boats then had to jibe and then put headsails back up to fetch the finish line.

At Roche Harbor the carnage rolled into the dock over the afternoon - most soaking wet but with a big grin on their face!

Sunday was a completely different game - light winds and calm seas. One boat lost its engine after backing out of the slip and had to sail out of the marina to the start. The start was a typical light-air downwind event, with most boats launching their kites after clearing the line. The fleet didn't separate as fast as Sunday, with all fleets being mixed together until Turn Point on Stuart Island. The winning move appeared to be to head over to the Canadian Side and short-tack the beach in maximum favourable current. The wind continued to shut off and in the end only three boats had sufficient horsepower to cross back over to the new breeze on the US side and made Patos Island (half-way point) before the race committee called the race.

Great fun was had by all - in 2007 it was counter clockwise with less followed by more. This year is was clockwise with more followed by less.

Check out these great pictures taken by Sean of http://www.pacificfog.net/ before he lost his gear over the side!

Thumper taking a Thumpn'

Time Bandit making waves down Rosario Strait

Launching Multi-Hull

This Wednesday Nov.5th the doors open at AYC at 1800. Downstairs race planning meeting let's set dates, times, courses. We need your input. These meetings are where ideas like Run for the Rum, doublehanded race, night race, come from and why not a singlehanded race? Let us know what series you'd like to sponsor and how we can get consistently talented RC work... Then @ 1900 migrate upstairs for the Anacortes Brewery tasting soire featuring Kevin Pearce. (or you can just come @ 7pm have a few delecious brews and relive the adventures of the Viti Rocks Race!) All are welcome! No drinking or racing experience required.