This will be the 24th edition of the two day event that takes double handed boats from Shilshole Bay Marina to Port Townsend on Saturday, and back on Sunday. It is a great way to get 75 miles in without having to sail at night. The on shore social activities in Port Townsend during the layover are legendary. The staggered starts make sure everyone arrives at about the same time.
The 2025 Sloop Tavern Yacht Club Race to the Straits is SOLD OUT
The 90 boat limit was reached in 37 minutes! There are many other Sloop Tavern events still available, so follow the link and pick another one.
Live Race Reports
Send pics by txt (206-909-4800) or email (jaycleon@yachtracing.tv) and I will post them and give you full credit!
Saturday, May 3rd
0910: Thank you Jay Renehan on Hooligan for this picture of the starts ongoing. Clearly conditions are light, and the Golden Gardens Sailflow wind meter seems to be spinning around. And the AIS shows boats making progress towards PT.
1005: Thank you Frederic Laffitte for these pics from Kyrnos. So light the AIS is showing boats going every which way. Fingers crossed for the northerly to make it down the sound soon. Right now blowing 7 at Marrowstone Is.
1035: And just like that the northerly filled in ahead of schedule and the fleet is off to the races!
1140: Working up the west side of the sound towards Point No Point. Thank you to Derek Bottles on ‘Pip’ that looks to be on the layline for PnP, and Jay Renehan for the picture of John Renehan on ‘Hooligan’ with ‘Nefarious’ in the background.
1300: Great pics in from ‘Kyrnos’, thank you Laffittes! Hooligan gets the jump out of the Double Bluff half way check in by going inside and probably getting a special current swirl. It looks like some boats got swept past the mark by the current and are having to come back against the current to round.
1310: Great video here from Janet Laffitte on ‘Kyrnos’ showing how awesome it is to have the current helping — until you miss the mark and have to come back.
1350: Hooligan leads the boats (the ones on AIS anyway) past Bush Point. Great pics of the sky and everyone wishing for more wind from Janet Laffitte on ‘Kyrnos’. John Renehan’s picture of the instruments on ‘Hooligan’ tells the story. Marrowstone in the distance, no wind on the water, .6 boatspeed, 4 knots over the ground, 1.7 knots of windspeed.
‘Hooligan’ reports that Mark Brink’s ‘Tonic’ is ahead of them (but not visible to us on AIS).
1500: Boats about to hit the marina. See you at the party!
Thank you to Frederic and Janet Laffitte for the many great photos today. The northerly finally came in and got Kyrnos up and rumbling!
Top 5 finishing order for Saturday:
Hooligan: Jay and John Renehan
Humdinger: Anthony and Haley Boscolo
Kyrnos: Fredric and Janet Laffitte
Ripple: Justin and Chris Wolfe
Zulu Tango: Zachary Tuck and ___________ (don’t hesitate to send me a name at jaycleon@yachtracing.tv)
Thank you Shannon and the terrific team of volunteers for a really fun half way party with mouth watering BBQ from Bubbas Country Cue. Jay Leon photos.
Sunday, May 4th
0900: The starts are underway and Moonshadow is the first around Marrowstone Point, where it is blowing 13!! The ebb doesn’t start rolling for about an hour. Thank you to David Brink on ‘Tonic’ for the awesome photo.
Later: Correction! Moonshadow is not in this race. Greg Davenport’s ‘Bardo’ leads the boats visible on AIS.
0925: More great pictures in from Fredric Laffitte on ‘Kyrnos’ at the Sunday start.
1008: All boats have started now. Bardo is leading the early starters down the east side of the sound to Bush Point, where the current is just now starting the ebb — that will build to over 2 knots by 1500. ‘Hooligan’ is taking the most westerly position near Marrowstone with ‘Ripple’ and ‘Flash’ and ‘Kahuna’ slightly more to the east. Thank you John Renehan for the photo.
Later: Maybe not ‘Ripple’ in that photo. Might be ‘Zulu Tango’…
1047: Well fans… I completely missed Jeff Dubrule’s ‘Blue Jeans’ on the AIS who is well ahead of the other AIS reporting boats and now almost to Point No Point. In my defense, ‘Blue Jeans’ was mixed in with some other boats that do not seem to be in RTTS. Either way, he (and possibly other boats without AIS transmitters) are building up a lead that the big boats may not overcome.
1104: This just in from David Brink on ‘Tonic’ leading ‘Norn’ and ‘Pell Mell’ past Double Bluff.
1130: These photos from John Renehan on ‘Hooligan’ as the big boats are getting to Double Bluff. 20 miles to go for them. The early starters, most that we cannot see on AIS, are now past Point No Point. The only one we can see on AIS is ‘Blue Jeans’, that has about 12 miles to go. I’m no math genius, but those big boats had better get moving if they want to make it happen.
1140: Great photo here of ‘Try to be Nice’ from Janet Laffitte on ‘Kyrnos’.
1315: The racing must be getting good because I haven’t gotten a picture in a while. The fleet is bunched up just north of Kingston with yesterday’s leader ‘Hooligan’ pulling out of the pack. Somewhere in the distance, presumably ahead, is ‘Tonic’ - that may be the boat standing in the way of ‘Hooligan’ winning. If I am doing the math correctly, ‘Tonic’ owes ‘Hooligan’ about 10 mins from yesterday — so the race is on. Thank you John Renehan for the picture of the orca (look closely - it’s not just a picture of the water!).
1400: ‘Hooligan’ has somehow worked its way through the fleet and almost caught up with ‘Blue Jeans’ — the boat in the front of all AIS reporting boats all day. Of the top 5 boats from yesterday, I am pretty sure ‘Hooligan’ is ahead of everyone — but I am not sure about ‘Humdinger’ because I have not gotten a report of their position all day. This would be an awesome time to have a helicopter!
1435: First boats have finished, ‘Hooligan’ ahead of ‘Humdinger’, not sure about the gap to ‘Tonic’. May have to wait for the official results before we know who won.
The results are in!
Mark and David Brink on ‘Tonic’ edged out Jay and John Renehan on ‘Hooligan’ by 52 seconds. Now that is close!
Top 5 Saturday & Sunday Combined:
Tonic: Mark and David Brink
Hooligan: Jay and John Renehan
Humdinger: Anthony and Haley Boscolo
Madame Pele: Tom Andrews
Ripple: Chris and Justin Wolfe