The Shaw Island Summer Classic hosted by San Juan Island Yacht Club is always just that. Classic. Summer. Fun.

With the San Juan Islands in the best days of summer and a weekend in Friday Harbor, you couldn’t go wrong if you tried! The race is among the last of the “you can go either way” events in which you get the joy of predicting currents and wind, and where there’s a bit more human ingenuity (or error) when it comes to hitting the choke points correctly. If you get it wrong, blame the conditions; if you get it right, it was clearly your sailing smarts!

It’s especially fun in this case because the corners where you can see the finish are equally distant whichever way you circumnavigated Shaw. You round the corner to the back of the island and get to see who’s coming the other direction, and hopefully you’re ahead of the competition that went the other way. After rounding the back corner, both sides have a straight shot at the finish and the race is really on. And then you’re in beautiful Friday Harbor in August!

This year’s Shaw Island Classic was the 56th running which took place on Saturday, August 8, and it looked 100% like a counter-clockwise year. A decent westerly breeze was predicted and the currents were going to be in our favor for the majority of the race in that direction. However, as we arrived in the starting area, the only breeze on the course was on the left side and it was easterly. For the first start, the easterly was definitely hanging on, but up in the harbor there was a westerly filling in. 

There was the usual last-minute texting and yelling across the water, “Which way are you going?” Followed up with, “You aren’t even in our division…” Finished with, “Just kidding, we won’t tell!”  

A few boats showed their cards by setting up for a kite hoist, but a lot of sailors had yet to make up their minds. There are two starts, with cruisers and some one-design boats going first, followed 15 minutes later by PHRF racing divisions. Almost any sort of sailing craft is invited, which meant there was a Laser, a Hobie 16, and a Westsail 32 on the same line! In total, 38 boats came out to tackle the course, including local students from Friday Harbor High School Sailing Team. 

There we all were at noon and the wind hadn’t settled. Off went the cruisers and the venerable Martin 242 fleet, many hoisting kites and heading for a clockwise race. No way!  On my Santa Cruz 27 Wild Rumpus we stuck to our guns, and the westerly kept creeping closer. Our division included two J/70s, race legend Wally Lum on his 6 meter, a modified Wylie Wabbit, a J/32, and us. Add a bunch of big Beneteaus, and well-known local characters Rhys Balmer and Arne Hammer on the Soverel 33 Elsewhere, Mark Bunker on the Dash 34 Interface, the King 40 Hydra, and the dinghies, and a whole lot of boats of all sorts of flavors. 

It was a wild time on the starting line with boats going all different directions, with some hoisting kites and others trying to get upwind. Everyone was on their best behavior and just trying not to run into each other. The westerly started to fill, alternating between some big puffs that laid you over and then switching to a drifter on the opposite tack, and right back. Add some crazy whirlpools at Turn Rock and it was a wild ride.

Eventually, it was time to turn left and hoist the kite. Upright Channel was a nice easy sail, with a great chance to stretch out a hard-earned lead in our division. We were feeling pretty good about our race, and it was windy enough that I was thinking that I better talk through the jibe with crew that weren’t as familiar with the boat. Up ahead, Nige Oswald on the Race to Alaska winning F-32SR Kelona was making some interesting moves going way into the Lopez Island shore, and they seemed like they were getting larger on the horizon. Mark Ward with his Shields one-design Ginger and the Martin 242 Rozz were in the same neighborhood and appeared to be waiting for us.  

Waiting because… uh oh, the breeze was fading to zero up ahead. I had already noticed an eddy along the Shaw Island shore and we were in slightly negative current in the middle of the channel. Isn’t there usually a shore breeze when everything else fails, and isn’t the Shaw Island shore where we eventually need to be? I had all the reasons for going there. As they say in sailboat racing, we went from the penthouse to the outhouse right then and there. The breeze filled back in right in the middle and the entire fleet caught us, including every single cruising boat and dinghies, and even kayaks along the shore were passing us. Add to it that the clockwise boats appeared from around the corner. Seriously, there was Chris White on the Martin 242 Boomer, who was first to the halfway, ahead of Kelona, and had done the half that we assumed was the hard part. Big props to them, we just had to laugh. You never know!

Sometimes, that’s how the story ends in the Shaw Island Summer Classic, but fortunately for us it was just the slow chapter in our race. The wind died for the boats out in the middle, the eddy slowly did what it was supposed to, the shore breeze materialized, and we were in fact closest to the left turn. Other than Wally Lum, who was right next to us dodging kayaks and rocks and also having a great time, our friends on Interface were on our right, and the breeze kept filling in the Cayou Channel where the three of us had a lovely sail together for quite awhile. We crossed the halfway line in a good position and assumed that it would be a full-course finish.  

It was easy sailing until the dreaded Wasp Pass at the last corner. We had Hydra and Elsewhere in front, giving us some ideas about what was to come. While that was somewhat helpful, it still didn’t prevent us from having a complete fire drill takedown at Bell Rock. We knew that Hydra and Elsewhere were pretty close to us, and Kelona was still visible, but what we didn’t know was the whereabouts of the Martin 242 Boomer leading the pack going the other way.  

As we rounded the corner we were at the top end of the #1, fully hiked out and considering the small jib. There was Chris coming around the other corner, with a kite up! It was a drag race to the finish line, and all we wanted in the world at that moment was to cross the line first! Boomer got headed and went to a jib and then re-hoisted just boat lengths from the finish. It was a super close finish and we got there just a minute ahead. Penthouse to the outhouse and back to the penthouse! We ended up correcting ahead and winning PHRF-B and the overall. 

Spirits were high as racers gathered at the SJIYC clubhouse overlooking the harbor for post-race banter and a hearty lasagna dinner served by the First Mates. Thank you to the San Juan Island Yacht Club for another super fun year of the Shaw Island Summer Classic!

Full results can be found at sjiyc.com/shaw.

Feature image by Susan Mazzarella.