The Orcas Island Yacht Club and the Friday Harbor Sailing Club are seeking participants for the 21st Annual Round the County Sailboat Race on Nov. 8 and 9. The race circles the San Juan Islands archipelago that comprises San Juan County Washington considered by many to be one of the more beautiful sailing venues on earth.
Organizers say that the course is often challenging, with numerous islands marking the edge of the course, a wide range of wind conditions experienced through the two days, and the confusing tidal currents that careen around islands.
The event starts on the evening of Friday, Nov. 7 with a rendezvous at the Orcas Island Yacht Club in the West Sound area of Orcas Island, which will include a skippers meeting, pre-race briefing, no host cocktail party and an informal rehearing of the travails encountered by the previous year’s competitors.
Saturday’s race starts at Lydia Shoal in Rosario Strait, just East of Obstruction Pass. The course goes south past Blakely Island, Decatur Island, around Lopez Island past Cattle Pass, across The Salmon Bank, up the west side of San Juan Island and finishes in Mosquito Bay. The course is thirty-one nautical miles. Sunday’s second leg starts by Battle Ship Island just outside of Roche Harbor, goes north toward Stuart Island, around the light house at Turn Point, up Boundary Pass, outside of Patos Island, Sucia Island, Matia Island, Clark Island, south east along Orcas Island and finishes at Lydia Shoal. The course is 35 nautical miles in length. An awards dinner follows at the Orcas Island Yacht Club at West Sound.
All yachts participating are required to have a current Performance Handicap Racing Fleet (PHRF) certificate and meet Pacific International Yachting Association (PIYA) Category II equipment and safety standards. The entry fee for boats 40 feet in length or less is $87 and $80 for United States (US) Sailing Members and for boats greater than 40 feet in length it is $110 or $100 for US Sailing Members. The first 50 completed entries will be assured a spot in the race. Additional entries may be added at the discretion of the Race Committee to balance divisions. For more information contact Betsy Wareham, Race Chairman, at the Orcas Island Yacht Club, P.O. BOX 119, Orcas, WA 98280 or call 376-2314 or 376-4258 or fax 376-4634.
