More boats checking in at Race Rocks

Passepartout just called, they are passing through Race Rocks.  They said that Siren is close, but behind them.  Kaizen and Kokopelli are behind them, but not by much. Peregrine is also somewhere nearby,

California Girl is expected to finish quite soon.

Velocity has finished, other boats at Race Rocks

Velocity finished at 10:11 pm tonight.

While they were finishing we got a call from Frank Colistro on Wy'East.  They were passing through Race Rocks.  They could see a boat they thought was Passepartout nearby.

While doing this post, we got a call from Bums Rush.  They are at Race Rocks too - looks like things are pretty busy at Race Rocks right now!

New finishes

Anam Cara finished at 9:26.  Right behind her was Riva at 9:28.54

While they were finishing, we heard from Velocity that they were about an hour out and from California Girl that she was at Race Rocks.

Looks like it's going to be a busy night!

Riva, Anam Cara & Velocity

OK, RC is getting really tired of technology. 

Riva reported she was at Race Rocks at 8 pm and I am just now getting things working again so I could make the report.

Anam Cara also reported that she is at Race Rocks at 8 pm.

We heard from Velocity that she went through Race Rocks at about 8:30 tonight.

Today's Check-ins with Seattle Traffic

Following are the boats that have checked in with Seattle Vessel Traffic:

0650 - Kaizen
0730 - Bum's Rush
0745 - California Girl
0850 - Peregrine
0900 - Rage
1005 - Wy'East
1045 - Cool Change
1158 - Shamrock
1219 - Kokopelli
1445 - Thirsty
1600 - Velocity

We heard that Anam Cara was at Sheringham Point some time ago, but apparently they had not checked in with VTS

Report from Thirsty

At 1:30 this afternoon, Thirsty reported that they were in light air, near Rya and Kokopelli.  They were doing about 4 knots.  Yesterday was lumpy, with winds up to 37 knots.  They were running with their 135 and a double reefed main, still hitting 10.5 knots.  It was really cold, but not much sea sickness on their boat.

Report from Velocity

We got a text from Velocity. They tore their only spinnaker and are "continuing under white sails." Their batteries are failing but claim that a boat full of old duffers know how to navigate the old fashioned way. At 8:30 this morning, they were off Neah Bay.

L'Orca hit by whale!!!

In an Oregon Offshore first, the ironically named L'Orca was hit by a whale when heading to the start this morning.

The first information we have is that an approximately 30' whale hit the starboard side of the boat taking out the lifelines and the rig. All 8 of the crew were in the cockpit at the time and the spinnaker was up.  All the crew is safe and no one was injured. We do know that they had to cut away their rig (making those annoying bolt cutters on the list of required equipment actually useful).

They were being escorted back to the West Basin in Astoria under Coast Guard escort.

We will post more as we hear the details from them.  Our cell phone coverage was spotty when they called to report, so hopefully when everyone has had a chance to catch their breath we will get more details.

Yes, its true, L'orca was hit by a broaching whale yesterday

L'Orca at the dock in Astoria after the whale collision (from US Coast Guard)
Due to technical issues at Blogger, our post yesterday about L'Orca being hit by a whale disappeared.  Since then I had a chance to talk with Ryan Barnes, who was driving L’Orca when the whale breached and hit the boat.  One of the crew saw unusual gray water and heard a noise just before the whale breached, hitting the rig above the spreader.  The whale took out the rig, the lifelines and toe rail.

L’Orca had her spinnaker up and was moving well.  After the whale hit, they cut the rigging to release the broken mast and also had to cut the sails loose.  When the whale hit the boat rolled to port and rolled back to starboard.  Crewmember Daniel Martinet almost fell off the boat and ended up holding on to the transom.

They tried to lash the rig to the boat, but there was too much pressure and they were unable to save the mast or the rest of the rig.

The whale was approximately 30' long and appeared to be a humpback.  They do not know what happened to the whale.  After hitting the boat, it went underwater and was not seen again.  The crew found a few bits of whale skin and blubber left on the boat.

When asked before the race for the most interesting thing they did getting ready for the Offshore, they said that all the race preparation went well this year, with nothing interesting to report.

KATU interviewed the crew and broadcast the incident on their 11 pm news tonight. 

They wish to thank Sol Pacifico for turning back to help them and Sol Pacifico, Cool Change and Thirsty for remaining with them until the Coast Guard arrived to assist.  Sol Pacifico, Cool Change and Thirsty have now continued racing.  We look forward to seeing them in Victoria.

Rage is first to finish.

Rage finished this afternoon at 2:44.35 pm under the "Frankenstein" chute. (According to Nancy Rander, it has that name because it has been repaired so often). It was also the last masthead chute they had left.

Rage as she finished this afternoon

It appears that many boats had issues and damage yesterday. We will be doing updates as quickly as we can.

Updates

We just heard from Rage; she is coming through Race Rocks.

Anam Cara is at Sheringham Point.

Shamrock made it around the corner at about 11:20 this morning.

More to come...

We are back!

We and blogger have both had significant technical problems.  We will be doing a bunch of blogging and updating this afternoon.

Skipper's meeting tonight

Looking forward to seeing everyone at the Skipper's meeting tonight.  Doors to the Astoria Event Center open at 1800 hours and the Skipper's meeting and weather briefing start at 1830.

Race time is drawing near

This weekend many of our racing boats will be heading to Astoria in preparation for the race.  We have boats coming from Portland, Seattle, and Port Townsend.  All are expected to converge on the West Basin in Astoria to complete their final preparation for the race.

The next event on the agenda is the Skipper's Meeting in Astoria on Wednesday, May 11.  Doors at the Astoria Event Center open at 1800 hours and the meeting is at 1830 hours.

CYC member and long time offshore racer Timm Lessley will give the weather briefing after the Skipper's meeting.  Timm always has some interesting insights about the race.

Our start is Thursday morning at the civilized time of 1030 hours.  This year the tides just worked out!

Tethers Recalled by West Marine

SAFETY RECALL - West Marine Single and Double Safety Tethers

If you have any questions please contact West Marine by telephone at 1-800-BOATING or by email wmCustomerService@westmarine.com.
Manufacturer: West Marine
Part Numbers: 9553512 and 9553504



Last summer, West Marine issued a recall of some of its tethers.  Since many of us don't check recall notices regularly, I thought this might be of interest to our racers.  If you have one of these tethers, contact West Marine.  Thanks to Michelle Bennett for bringing this to our attention.

We have added a link to West Marine's product recall list to our links on the left side of this page.

One last minute entry

Today I received a (slightly) late entry from Pete Shainin of Passepartout.  I had wondered where this stalwart of the Offshore fleet was, and now I know the entry got lost in the mail!  When he didn't see her listed on the list of racers, he contacted me.  Passepartout is a Stevens 47 with a PHRF of 115.  She will be joining the B fleet.

Third Amendment to NOR

We have made a third amendment to the Notice of Race.  It is available by clicking on the heading for this post or on the left of the posts.

This amendment requires that all boats that have not been inspected in Portland this year to be available and ready for inspection no later than 1 p.m. on May 11, 2011.  This will allow our inspectors sufficient time to inspect boats and will give the boats time to get any violations corrected before the mandatory Skippers Meeting that evening.

Second Amendment to NOR is posted

The Second Amendment to the Amended Notice of Race is now posted.  See the link above or on the left.  This amendment corrects the required charts and also clarifies the lifejacket/harness requirements.  We will require that all lifejackets and harnesses have a crotch/thigh strap.

Kick-Off is tonight

Everyone is invited to join the Oregon Offshore's Kick-Off party tonight at Kells Irish Restaurant & Pub, 112 SW Second Ave. Portland.  The festivities start at 6 pm.  We will have this year's edition of the Offshore shirts available for purchase.  We will also have a raffle of a variety of nautical items.  Looking forward to seeing everyone there.