The second running of the new course for the Islands Race closed out the Southern Sound Series for 2025-2026 in challenging light-air conditions.
The Islands Race is the last of the four-race Southern Sound Series, and this is the second year with the race’s new hosts at Corinthian Yacht Club of Tacoma. The course is also new as of last year, and moves the racing area entriely into East Passage on the way to Blake Island and back, while employing marks keeping the fleet more on the east side headed north and on the west side headed south.
This year’s Islands Race provided light air challenges on March 14. After a week of decidedly odd weather: heavy winds and moderate temperatures ended on Friday with a sudden temperature drop and late-season snow. Saturday morning’s 35-degree temperatures and snow-covered decks left some boats at the dock. The wind forecast remained light for the day. Racers who did venture out to Browns Point were rewarded with enough southerly wind to start the Commodore class on time, followed 30 minutes later by the PHRF and ORC classes with no delay. Most boats were able to deploy chutes at the start. The modest 5-6 knots held until around Dash Point where the PHRF and ORC fleets began compressing; ORC and PHRF 2 closed the distance on PHRF 3, 5, 6, and 7.
With the current still flowing north and a 30-minute head start on the PHRF and ORC fleets, however, the Commodore class managed to stay strong leading most of the way to the Three Tree Point Yacht Club Charlie mark. C&C 37 Xocomil and Hunter 31 Blown Away went left and were able to pick their way through the zephyrs to make their way up the Maury Island shore under Point Robinson. Cal 40 White Squall stayed in the middle and kept pace with her companions on the left, and the whole group maintained an impressive lead on PHRF and ORC boats most of the way to the mark.
In the first 90 minutes, much of the fleet compressed between Dumas Bay and Des Moines, with speed over ground for most boats dropping to 0-1 kts. Romeo Charlie (RC), the CYCT chase boat, eventually needed to set the turning mark at Blake Island, but paused in the vicinity of Tango Bravo to take an anemometer reading and assess wind forecasts from multiple models. At that point, neither real-time readings nor forecasts were promising: both were showing/predicting 1-4 knots at Des Moines, Alki, and Tacoma.
RC at that moment was abeam of Xocomil as they ghosted up the Maury shore a mile to the west, while White Squall to the north still had faint pressure in her white sails. RC was drifting northward at about a knot in flat water. The RC crew was now contemplating the first mark, TTPYC Charlie, off to starboard up ahead, just below Three Tree Point. It seemed a little early to call a race with a 13-hour time limit, but if things didn’t improve soon, the fleet might appreciate being put out of their misery and having an opportunity to use the rest of the sunny afternoon for… mowing the lawn?
The bulk of the fleet behind to the south was not getting any bigger, but Xocomil and White Squall got ever-so-appreciably smaller. Then Aerodyne 38 Kahuna, who also went left, began moving again up the Maury Island shore, quickly closing the gap on Xocomil just under Robinson. With the wind filling from the north, RC proceeded to Charlie Mark.
Kahuna was approaching quickly and the whole fleet was moving again. Kahuna rounded first at about 12:21 p.m., followed three minutes later by Xocomil, then White Squall six minutes after that. After that, the rest of the fleet came hard and fast. In less than 20 minutes, the group that had rounded included much of PHRF3 like J/35 Grace E, Tripp 33 Short Circuit, and Antrim 27 Goes to 11; the ORC boats; Afterburner from PHRF6; and Cherokee and Aurora from PHRF7. All were moving well and heading for the north end of Blake Island. It was pretty clear there was enough juice for the fleet to make it at least to the Blake turning mark.
At this point, AIS showed Kahuna beating north at 8+ kts approaching Fauntleroy. Since the turning mark is approximately 8 miles from TTPYC Charlie, it was time to go. RC zipped ahead and secured the turning mark on the shelf at the north end of Blake Island. Wind forecasts on multiple models were updated to 10 to 15 knots, staying out of the north. Kahuna rounded looking strong at 1:30, a little over an hour after rounding Charlie and confirming that they were making close to 8 knots for that leg! With the rest of the fleet in sight with visible pressure in their kites and ten hours left on the time limit, this was going the full distance. That was the hope, at least. The next vessel to round at Blake was Xocomil, almost an hour behind. The rest of the fleet rounded steadily and all boats were headed south prior to 5:00—still 6 hours on the clock.
By 6:00, the breeze was northerly, but not with the forecast freshness—in East Passage, it had completely evaporated. Some boats had retired by this time, while those still in the race were making their way slowly south on still-full kites, carrying less conviction than earlier in the day.
Sunset at 7:15 brought renewed breeze. Grace E, now in the lead after Kahuna’s retirement, made way slowly down the eastern Vashon shore toward Maury Island. Looking north, the rest of the fleet’s progress was slow, but chutes were fuller in the strengthening wind.
Around dusk, the familiar pink and yellow J/35 kite could be seen gliding over the top of the lighthouse as Grace E emerged from behind Robinson and started her final run toward the finish. About an hour later, Grace E glided across amid cheers from Race Committee and their own celebration of the hard-won line honors and overall victory. Shortly thereafter Arcona 380 Raven’s Haven vanished, followed by a steady stream of crossings. The one time-limit casualty was Santa Cruz 27 Solitaire who made it to within a quarter-mile of the finish before time ran out. Truly heartbreaking for those of us who have been there, but nevertheless the Solitaire crew are to be commended for grit.
For those who persevered, bravo! It was a rewarding day of sailing in challenging conditions, and a great test to wrap up the 2025-2026 Southern Sound Series!
Congratulations: Grace E 1st; Ravens Haven 2nd; Athena 3rd. (PHRF3); Take Off 1st; Goes to 11 2nd. (PHRF5); Afterburner 1st; (PHRF6); Aurora 1st; Cherokee 2nd (PHRF7); Mako 1st; Zulu Tango 2nd (ORC).
Title background photo by Michael Stanford.
