The West Island Race lived up to its challenging reputation this year. We had beautiful weather for the day after a 15 minute rain squall at the start. Winds were a bit shifty from SW to SE and varied from 5 kts to 12-14 kts. We had 10 boats participate; 8 in the non-spin class and 2 multihulls. Only one boat signed up for spin but switched to the non-spin fleet for the race.
The West Island start is a short upwind leg to #10 where each boat then makes their course choice: East clockwise (cw) or West counter-clockwise (ccw). This year the fleet split evenly and the two multihulls joined the West group.
We had a 8-10 kt SW wind and rain at the start. For the West/cw course the wind went south about 2/3 to Crazy Charlie so short tacks were needed. At the turn a shifty S to SE wind along Fire Island to #19 kept everyone busy trimming. Then the downwind run to #9 at Great River had most boats putting their poles to good use.
The final leg back to #10 in Bay Shore was a nice reach. It started with an 8-10 kt South wind and built to a 12 kt SW at the finish.
First to finish was Trillium (Multihull) and Shadow (Nonspin) who both went West/ccw. Dark Star and Rettsie (both Nonspin) took the East/cw course and were next over the line.
The race took about 3 hours to complete the 15.7 mile course. In the end it was a very close race for non-spin honors, with only 51 secs between 1st & 2nd place and 25 secs between 2nd & 3rd place. Now that’s a race!
Here are the final race results.
WEST ISLAND INVITATIONAL RACE- 2023
Non-Spin:
1st - Dark Star
2nd - Naughty Dog
3rd - Shadow
4th - Kickin’ Back
5th - Rettsie
6th -Adventure Time
7th - Derailed
8th -Lady in Red
Multihull:
1st place- Trillium
2nd place- Getting There
Deale Trophy Winner- 2023: Dark Star
Congrats to the final corrected Handicap 1st - 3rd place winners.
So was there a favored course this year? Tough to answer, but given the competition and close results it looks like it was not the course choice but the boat/crew that determined the winner. (FYI- 1st place winner Dark Star went East/cw, the next three place winners Naughty Dog, Shadow and Kickin Back all went West/ccw).
A special SBCC thanks goes to John Davis and crew for handling the West Island Race Committee duties again this year. Thanks also to Marty O’Connell for his pinch-hitting with scoring. Our West Island race tradition continues.
