With an Olson 29 that’s new to them (and newly refit), the Sabotage crew’s first two races of CYC’s Center Sound Series showed the breadth and challenge of spring racing conditions in the Pacific Northwest.
Last summer, when we traded our beloved Capri 25 Little Wing for the Olson 29 formerly known as Ronin, we knew we needed to make some repairs, updates and improvements. So in October we put the boat in a warehouse and got to work. Our refit to-do list was long, but with a large indoor space and a bit of help, we felt confident we could make the time cut for Corinthian Yacht Club of Seattle’s Center Sound Series on March 1, 2025, which for many sailors is the unofficial start of the racing season.
The Ronin-to-Sabotage Refit
The first projects to get attention were the rudder and the bottom. A new race bottom was needed for the Olson 29’s potential to be reached, and the existing original rudder was damaged. It was full of water and the internal foam had collapsed around the rudder post. The first call we made was to Larry Tuttle at Waterat Sailing Equipment in Santa Cruz. Our new exquisite carbon and foam appendage arrived on time and ready for install. At the same time I attacked the bottom, first with chemical stripper and then hours upon hours of sanding. I burned through my trusty palm sander which had lasted four-and-a-half bottom jobs (I’m stoked I got so many projects out of that thing)!
While the bottom was being stripped it was a great time to call in local carbon pro Simon Miles to install a bigger rudder tube to accommodate the larger diameter post on the new rudder. While I can do some composite work on my own, Simon’s work is truly grand prix level and the rudder is not something I wanted to risk not doing correctly myself. With Simon’s work, I’m sure the rudder area is the strongest part of the boat now!
After a lot of prep, I was able to get four coats of bottom paint sprayed on the bottom and we installed the rudder with some custom parts. The rest of the projects entailed mast strengthening and reinforcement at the butt and lower spreaders, fabricating a new mast step, making some deck layout tweaks, buffing the hull, splicing new running rigging, and a few new sails that we built in the loft where I work. By adding asymmetric spinnakers to the quiver, a bow pulpit modification was needed as well. The folks at Rail Makers in Marysville did a bang up job with the pulpit and finally, Prism Graphics made the new name.
With the clock ticking toward that first race, we had a few setbacks—including a re-grind of my hull/keel joint fairing— that delayed the launch. Thanks to an exhaustive effort by several talented and generous people, we got it done. After a re-naming ceremony to appease the gods, Sabotage was launched at the Shilshole hoist. With one more on-the-fly mast modification, the rig went up with one day to spare.
Center Sound Series #1: March 1, 2025
On race day, dense fog greeted us at the dock. We were grateful for the dockside postponement as this allowed us to get some hardware installed. But we were anxious to get going so we motored out to the start area to wait out the postponement.
The AP flag flew into the afternoon and the race committee was worried we wouldn’t make the start time cutoff. We had to keep checking Navionics
to make sure we weren’t drifting too far in any direction as the fog was the thickest I have been in during my three years in Seattle. At about 1:15 p.m. the fog finally cleared and PRO Charley Rathkopf called for a shortened course with turns at West Point and a temporary mark nearEdmonds.
Our class is stacked with talented Puget Sound sailors, so we had our work cut out for us. With a conservative downwind start and our first hoist of the new sails, we made our way out of the lee of the J/80s in our class and joined the drag race to West Point. The J/80 Jolly Green nailed the start and it was a close mark rounding with the Hobie 33 TC and the Ross 930 Gaucho. The beat up to Edmonds was a light and shifty affair with Jolly Green retiring early after getting stuck in a hole. Meanwhile, Sabotage, TC and Gaucho exchanged the lead several times. TC then stepped way out ahead on the outside and we rounded the second and final mark of the race well behind TC but just slightly ahead of Gaucho.
With our new A1.5 spinnaker drawing, we worked hard to reel in TC and keep Gaucho in the rear view mirror. As we raced into nightfall, TC sailed into a hole near the finish line but we saw breeze lingering near Meadow Point. We reached up to the breeze and managed to finish just behind TC and just ahead of Gaucho, saving our time on both and winning the race.
The first outing for Sabotage was a success. But what would round 2 to Possession Point have in store?
Center Sound Series #2: March 8, 2025
For the week between races, I kept a close eye on the forecast. Later in the week, the weather started looking a lot like it did last year when it blew over 40 knots from the south.
There were no delays here. The second Center Sound race was another downwind start, taking the fleet to Possession Point off the southern tip of Whidbey Island. We started in medium breeze, nailing the start with our new A2 spinnaker flying.
As we made our way north, the breeze steadily built, the waves got bigger, and our boatspeed climbed steadily higher. We had a hard time shaking Jolly Green and Gaucho. But conditions changed so much that keeping Sabotage on her feet became the priority. As we rolled into our second gybe of the day, I steered too fast and we wiped out, bigtime, coming out of the gybe. We had one crew member fall to leeward into the drink but kept onboard with one hand on the spin sheet and a foot in the mainsheet. My first thought was, “Welp, I guess we’ll be going back for Greg.” Then as I noticed what was keeping him on board was also keeping the boat pinned down. My next thought was, “Welp, I guess we aren’t going anywhere until Greg is on board.” Thankfully, we managed to get Greg on board, release the main and spin sheets, get upright, trim the sails, and keep blasting downwind.
The wind kept building and we briefly hit 18 knots of boatspeed as white water rushed over the boat and into my lap. While these spinnaker runs—with the boat humming and bow wave at the mast—are what sailing dreams are made of, on the radio we soon heard the Riptide 41 Blue’s “crew overboard” call and keenly listened to the rescue efforts that were taking place in front of us (Editor’s note: Everyone involved in the crew overboard situation and rescue has our respect and admiration, and 48° North is actively working on a more detailed story digging into the takeaways from those directly involved and affected). We also saw all the big boats heading back south under power and knew it was time to get the kite down and slow the boat. Sabotage’s crew executed a perfect letterbox drop and we hoisted a jib. Understanding from the radio that the rescue was handled, we continued, still surfing at 10-12 knots with main and jib but well behind Jolly Green and Gaucho.
With a J4 jib up, we made the turn near Whidbey and started the upwind bash towards the finish. The breeze began to subside and, with two more headsail changes, we managed to reel in Jolly Green tacking up to Edmonds and along Spring Beach. But we couldn’t catch Gaucho. The wind was now super shifty and puffy leading to the finish. In these tricky conditions, we couldn’t save our time on Jolly Green and ended up third in our class behind them and class winner Gaucho. Good sailing to both of those teams, and thanks beyond measure to all involved in the successful crew overboard rescue.
It’s a great feeling to be getting to know our new race boat, all while having a blast sailing with friends on our crew and great competitors (as sailors and people) throughout the fleet. We can’t wait for Center Sound #3 to Blakely Rock to round out the series!
