by Fred Hoeppner

Special to the Sounder

The Round the County sailing race on Nov. 6 and 7 proved to be a wild one, with lots of wind. Most of the time, the crews were sitting on the weather rail.

The annual race, hosted by the Orcas Island Yacht Club and the Friday Harbor Sailing Club, is one of the most popular sailing races in the Northwest, with this year counting 71 boats ranging in length from 26-foot sloops to the 84-foot schooner Martha.

All of the boats looked great, especially with their colorful spinnakers flying. Some of the big boats, with 18 or so crew in uniform sitting on the rail with legs outboard, were impressive, but none as beautiful as Robert Darcy’s “Martha,” rail down under full sail carrying jib, fore-staysail, fisherman above the main-staysail, and mainsail.

The Round the County race is conducted over two days, with one half going clockwise from Lydia Shoal Buoy off Obstruction Pass to Mitchell Bay, and the second half from Roche Harbor, around Patos Island to Lydia Shoal Buoy. The course is reversed every year. The Saturday night dinner at Roche Harbor is hosted by the Friday Harbor Sailing Club and the Sunday night awards dinner is hosted by the Orcas Island Yacht Club.

Here are the results by divisions, place, boat and skipper.

M (Multi-hull) Division

First: Makika, Jude Stroller

Second: Blue Lighting, Gumley & Stroller

Third: Freda Mia, Vincent Depillis

X Division

First: Icon, Kevin Welch

Second: Madrona, Carl Buchan

Third: Flash, Stan Travis

O Division

First: My Tai, Daryl Homan

Second: Sly D Away, Stroble & Poire

Third: BRAVO ZULU, Denny Vaughan

I Division

First: Kotuku, Graeme Esarey

Second: Astral Plane, Adam Korbin

Third: Illusionist, David Steffen

II Division

First: What? A Trip!, Morgan & Wareham

Second: Karma, Shorett & Brzycki

Third: Shockwave, Mike Kirkland

III Division

First: Wild Rumpus, Schwenk & Schwenk

Second: Flying Circus, Eric Yaremko

Third: Blackfoot, Mike Corcoran