Little wind but lots of fun during Round the County Regatta

The two-day Round the County Regatta kicked off Nov. 8. Sponsored by the Orcas Island Yacht Club, racers lined up at the starting line at Lydia Shoal, off Obstruction Pass. The temperature was warm for November, and the rain held off, but unfortunately so did the wind, at least on Saturday.

The Yacht Club’s website stated, “We could have wished for better, but what we got was still fun.”

The winners were:

ORC first overall: “SENTRI,” skippered by Peter Dennis.

PHRF overall: “TC,” skippered by Hoag and Nelson.

ORC A division: ” Rosebud,” skippered by Pedlow and Holt.

ORC B division: “Maelstrom,” skippered by Dan Kaseler.

ORC C division: “Setri,” skippered by Peter Dennis.

PHRF I division: “Hana Mari,” skippered by Ged Mclean.

PHRF II division: “TC,” skippered by Hoag and Nelson.

PHRF III (J105) division: “Mazu,” skippered by Nick Wilkerson.

PHRF IV division: “Blue Shift,” skippered by Turner and Turner.

PHRF V division: “Jolly Green,” skippered by Ryan Porter.

PHRF M division: “Mahana,” skippered by Gabe Mills.

According to Betsy Wareham, one of the original instigators of the regatta, the race began with just a handful of participants in the late ‘80s.

“We started in 1988 with 13 boats, but we made two divisions, thinking this event would grow. It did,” Wareham said, explaining that her parents, Mike and Peggy Wareham, donated the perpetual trophies for the two divisions, silver wine coolers. Islanders Bank donated the overall winners’ trophy, a silver punch bowl.

This is officially the 34th year of the race, taking a year off during COVID. “We actually had a self-run race that year called Rogue the County,” Wareham said.

Wareham started the race on her father’s suggestion. He and friend Sunny Vynne had talked about such a regatta over a lunch meeting. “It stuck in my head, so when I was fleet captain of the Orcas Yacht Club, and I asked the Board if I could try it. They gave it the ok.” Word got back to Hugh Lawrence in Friday Harbor, Wareham continued. Lawrence was involved in the Friday Harbor Sailing Club, and he told Wareham that they would like to help. “The joint clubs put on a race, and it has grown to a 125-boat limit,” Wareham said.

The two major classes of boats, the Offshore Racing Congress and the Performance Handicapped Racing Fleet, are broken into divisions by speed. The J105 Division III is somewhat unique, Wareham explained; all the boats in that category are the same type, size and sail area.

The M category covers multihulls, including catamarans and trimarans. These boats have different sailing characteristics from monohulls, the rest of the racers; therefore, they are grouped separately.

The racers went clockwise this year, from Lydia Shoal around Davison Rock, at the southern tip of Lopez, headed west through the Strait of Juan de Fuca, past the Salmon Bank Buoy, then up the west side of San Juan Island. Sailors overnighted at Roche Harbor. On Sunday, the wind was slightly better as they headed back out into the Salish Sea. This time, they sailed toward Turn Point on Stuart Island. From there, it headed northeast to Boundary Bay, then turned southeasterly toward Peapod Rocks and back to the finish line at Lydia Shoal.

To see the full list or learn more about Round the County, visit https://roundthecounty.com/. For those interested in participating next year, registration typically opens in September.