The first of the 2017 Spring Training Programs came in cool and blustery with the Catlin Gabel School from Portland.
The weather fore cast was for SW 25 to 35 which lived up to its promise, we saw apparent wind to 34, and the students loved it!
It was quite a hoot boiling up and down Port Townsend Bay with a single reefed main, main and fore staysails.
This is our second year with this school and the students are very open to adventure and challenge.
The Second Adventure of the season was the Port Townsend Sailing Association sponsored
Smith Island Race, which is the first long distance race of the year.
The wind was forecast to be light and it was certainly that, with the fleet working out of the bay and into the straits riding a strong ebb from puff to puff.
The Team MARTHA youth crew did a great job of changing sails, trimming and having a good time. Once the wind came up in the last quarter of the race, MARTHA and all the boats enjoyed rumbling back to the Bay with the flood tide.
We were able to reel in BLEW BIRD, a well sailed Thunder Bird, unfortunately we were not able to reel in the well sailed SPARKLE.
The line honors list read SPARKLE 1st,
MARTHA 2nd BLEW BIRD 3rd.
You can read about the Race here. http://ptsail.org/2017/04/03/smith-island-race-2017/#more-10161
