Getting to the finish line first would never occur to the skippers of 36 boats from five local yacht clubs that participated in the Meydenbauer Bay Yacht Club’s (MBYC) Boomerang predicted log race on Saturday, March 6.
This year’s race, which circumnavigated Mercer Island, is a test of a boater’s navigational skills and his ability to predict in advance the amount of time it will take him to reach a certain number of control points along a course of 22 miles with 18 turns and subject to winds that are uncertain.
The winning skipper will ordinarily predict his time between each control point so accurately that his boat will arrive at the finish line within 20 seconds of the time predicted. His speed may have been considerably less than the other competing boats, making the race not about speed at all.
The competitors cannot use speedometers or watches and cannot adjust their throttles to change speed except in the case of an emergency to avoid a collision with another boat. An outside “observer” on the boat, who is generally unknown to the skipper before the race, records the time of day in hours, minutes and seconds as the boat passes the control points.
As in past year’s, MBYC had the help of about 20 eager and excited cadets from the University of Washington Naval ROTC program as volunteer observers. The cadets realize the growing sport puts many more safe, competent and concerned boaters out on the water
Since predicted log racing is primarily a social event in addition to a test of navigational skills, MBYC provides a full weekend of activities for the contestants from Queen City Yacht Club, Poulsbo Yacht Club, Bremerton Yacht Club, and Seattle Yacht Club including a grand dinner and awards ceremony on Saturday night.
Loretta Pieretti, the Fleet Captain of MBYC wants to get more boaters, even those not affiliated with a yacht club, involved in the sport and has arranged for Coastal Explorer, the authors of “Rose Point Navigation,” a navigation software program with special log racing calculations, unlike other navigation programs, to present a series of four free log-racing classes next year. The public is invited. More information is available from Loretta at 425-454-8880.
Age and gender are not a factor in the sport with one of the most active participants the father-daughter team of Bud and Terynia Smith who compete aboard the “Patty Wagon.” Terynia has been competing as a navigator since she was 12.
The racing season runs from November until May and helps boaters stay active during the winter months.
The overall winners of the 2010 MBYC Boomerang race were
First – Dick Timmerman, Poulsbo Yacht Club, aboard “Vagabond”; Second – Mike Henry, Bremerton Yacht Club, aboard “Peachey Keen”; and Third – Bruce Cullen, Meydenbauer Bay Yacht Club aboard “Caroline.”
The Boomerang Trophy is awarded to the yacht club that has the best score for the top five racers from that club. The 2010 winner was the Meydenbauer Bay Yacht Club, taking back the trophy from the Queen City Yacht club, which has had it for the past few years.
