Walker Rock Race
February 22, 2009

The 2009 Walker Rock Race, at 17.5 nautical miles one of the longest ones on the Club roster, saw six boats start under overcast sky and light wind, soon followed by chilling drizzle with the air temperature hovering around 4 Celsius. BOOMER, IMP, FANDANGO, CALIENTE, EMPEZAR and OASIS crossed the start line at 09:30. The N to NE wind on the course, via U49 (Welbury spar) to Walker Rock and back, allowed a down wind start; most boats found clean air for a spinnaker launch across the line or just after.

At the first mark (Welbury spar), our club being a strong promoter of the official racing rules, the two boats in the lead, CALIENTE and IMP took some time to review details of Rule 18.1 while underway (At mark, overlapped, re: room to pass), with hails such as "CALIENTE, I am sailing my proper course and I will need room at the mark" eliciting a shrug and the sotto voce response "You do whatever you want, we're going around". Your rookie reporter hasn't located the section of the Sailing Rules listing that response, but will keep looking.

Chutes were held until Nose Point when the beat up Trincomali Channel began with the wind filling in over the end of a weak flood tide. The fleet stayed within a few hundred metres for essentially the entire race and the lead changed to nearly every boat, making it a true match. The approach to Walker Rock was made exciting by the convergence of a tug and log boom with the racing fleet; some boats prepared to divert course to avoid the challenge as the distance closed but the tug captain slid his window open and informed that he was changing course instead to accommodate the racing boats. He was close enough that he didn't have to shout much over the deep throb of his engine, so it was both timely and much appreciated. The tug veered toward Galiano and the deadly cable and log boom impressively followed while we passed unscathed. That courtesy from a working boat shows that not all such skippers think of sailors as unwelcome inconveniences on the water, and is acknowledged with thanks.

First around Walker Rock was OASIS, followed closely by IMP and FANDANGO, with CALIENTE and BOOMER only boat lengths behind. Chutes were raised again for the long downwind leg as boats searched for the most favored side of Trincomali, which again turned out to be the Galiano side rather than Salt Spring. The skippers' respective decisions sealed their place in the race from that point on, with the building ebb tide providing all boats with the welcome flush through Captain Passage until the turn up Ganges Harbour. Back at the Club, the race finish in a passing rain shower saw IMP cross the line first, followed by FANDANGO, CALIENTE, OASIS and BOOMER. A last dash tacking duel to the line between OASIS and CALIENTE was enjoyed by dock spectators as the two boats finished within seconds of each other.

On corrected time, the race was won by BOOMER whose skipper Scott Simmons received a special round of applause for single-handing on a cold day. He was spotted doing jumping jacks in the cockpit to warm up while underway; maybe it was just uncontrollable happiness at heading home. Next were FANDANGO, IMP, OASIS and CALIENTE. EMPEZAR unfortunately ran out of wind in Captain passage on the way home, and had to motor.

The sun broke out while boats were being tidied at the dock and the racers warmed up, a "welcome home" bonus after six hours of decent winter sailing.

Philippe Erdmer